Education in Finland

Historical Development of Finnish

Society
§  Population:
§  Poor agricultural country, large geographical area year 2012: 5,421,827
§  Independence 1917 density: 16/km2
§  Heavy losses in war 1939-1945 §  Area: total 338,424 km2
water 10 %
§  Fast growth, investment on education,
creation of welfare state structures §  GDP (nominal) 2011
estimate:
- Good education FOR ALL total $254 billion
- High employment rate per capita $47. 262
- Broad-based taxation
- Public services
 
 Finland is one of the innovation leaders  
Human resources in rankings
INSEAD  Global   World  Economic   WEF  and  INSEAD   Innova/on  Union   Global  Crea/vity  
Innova/on  Index  2013   Forum  2012-­‐2013   The  Networked   Scoreboard  2013   Index  2011  
Human  Capital     Higher  Educa/on  and   Readiness  Index  2013     Human  Resources   Overall  rankings  
and  Research   Training  

1.  Finland   1.  Finland   1.  Finland     1.  Sweden   1.  Sweden  

2.  Rep.  of  Korea   2.  Singapore   2.  Singapore   2.  Finland   2.  United  States  
3.  Singapore   3.  Switzerland   3.  Sweden   3.  Ireland   3.  Finland  
4.  Sweden   4.  Belgium   4.  Netherlands   4.  United  Kingdom   4.  Denmark  
5.  Iceland   5.  Germany   5.  Norway   5.  Slovakia   5.  Australia  
6.  United  States   6.  Netherlands   6.  Switzerland   6.  Slovenia   6.  New  Zealand  
7.  Denmark   7.  Sweden   7.  United  Kingdom   7.  France   7.  Canada  
8.  Israel   8.  United  States   8.  Denmark   8.  Netherlands   8.  Norway  
9.  Ireland   9.  Taiwan,  China   9.  United  States   9.  Lithuania   9.  Singapore  
10.  Austria   10.  New  Zealand   10.  Taiwan,  China   10.  Belgium   10.  Netherlands  

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Education above all

§  Finnish people place great value on education.

§  Equal opportunities, professional teachers and
a student-centred approach lie at the heart of
learning.
§  Research shows that three quarters of the
Finnish population believe that the Finnish
comprehensive school system is one of the most
noteworthy factors in Finnish history and creates
a foundation for wellbeing.
Cornerstones in Finnish education
§  Political decisions in 1960s and 1970s
good education for all
§  Faith and trust in the importance of education

§  Universal and free education with free school meals

§  Equal opportunities to all pupils whatever their
place of residence, gender, family background or financial standing
§  No ´dead ends´ in the system
§  Focus on learning, not steering
§  The evaluation of the learning outcomes of schools
and students is encouraging and supportive by nature.
§  Information that helps both schools and students
develop.
§  No national testing of learning outcomes, school
ranking lists or inspection systems.
§  Strong role of municipalities and schools
§  Competent teachers with master´s degree and
autonomy in their work
…Cornerstones in Finnish education
Flexible system
§  The education system
gives each student
great flexibility.
§  Binding decisions are
not expected to be
made at an early
stage.
§  The road all the way
to tertiary education is
untracked, with none
of the paths leading
to a dead end.

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•  50 % to general
upper secondary
schools
•  45 % to vocational
education and
training
•  60 % to universities
and polytecnics 60%

50% 45%

Kupiainen, Hautamäki & Karjalainen (2009): The Finnish Education system and PISA

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Kupiainen, Hautamäki & Karjalainen (2009): The Finnish Education system and PISA.
10
Student performance in Finnish
primary and lower secondary
schools is one of the best in the
world. Finnish students’ proficiency
in reading, mathematics and
science in the international PISA
assessments has been ranked
among the best from year to year.
Efficient and effective

§  Students spend much less time

in the classroom than in other
countries
§  The average class size is
20 students.
§  Good learning outcomes are
achieved at just average
expense.
13
 Competent teachers

§  On all school levels, teachers are highly qualified

and committed.
§  They require Master’s degrees, and teacher education
includes teaching practice.
§  Teaching profession is very popular in Finland, and
universities can select the most motivated and talented
applicants.
§  Teachers work independently and have strong autonomy
towards their work.

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 The attraction of vocational
education and training has been
steadily growing; at present
some 45 per cent of 9th grade
students (certificate received)
continue immediately in vocational
education and training.
 Basic skills of Finnish
adults one of the best in
the OECD countries
The good average scores of
Finland are largely thanks to the
good skills of 20 to 39-year-olds.

The Survey of
Adult Skills
(PIAAC 2012)
OECD
 The Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC 2012)

Ability to solve problems in technology-rich

environments

•  Altogether 41% of all Finns have either good or excellent ability to

solve problems in technology-rich environments. This is well over
the OECD average (34%).
•  The only country to exceed Finland in this area is Sweden.
•  Japan was 10th
•  Korea 16 th

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PIAAC 2012
Higher education system
§  The Finnish higher education system comprises
of 14 universities and 24 polytechnics.
§  Both sectors educate, based on research, at bachelor
and at master degree level.
§  Only universities confer doctoral degrees.
§  The focus of universities is in scientific research,
whereas polytechnics are more engaged in research and
development and leveraging close ties to job sectors.
§  Despite their autonomy and legal entity, 66 % of
universities’ and 85 % of polytechnics’ funding
is directed from the state budget.
 Two parallel sectors

•  University sector
–  14 research universities
–  Student enrollment 168 000, (114 000 FTE), of which 18 000 doctoral
students
–  All institutions funded by the state
•  Polytechnic sector [universities of applied sciences] (est.
in the mid-1990s)
–  24 institutions
–  Student enrollment 148 000, (114 000 FTE)
–  Institutions partly funded by the state, partly by municipalities
–  Regional development tasks
–  Bachelor degrees (vocational and professional degrees)
–  (Professional) Master’s degrees in selected fields
 Higher education institution network

•  Population of 5,4 million

•  Higher education
institution network covers
the populated parts of the
country University (blue)
–  14 universities (four in the Polytechnic (green)
Research institute (red)
great Helsinki area)
–  24 polytechnics
•  Student enrollment
altogether ca. 316 000
 Challenges now
•  Economically hard times, growing social disparities
•  Youth unemployment
•  Growing impact of socio-economic background
•  Ageing society; growing welfare expenditure
•  Regional development (rural vs urban)
•  Migration and multiculturalism
•  Gender disparities
•  Pupil welfare and safe school environment
•  Group size in basic education
•  Digital learning and new technologies