First interview

in the first interview we asked Eva Nastevski.She is 21 years old. She has
been studying and living in Finland for 3 years and we asked her to tell us
about the education system there.

1. How does the education system work in Finland and what is it made
up of?
As you all know, Finland is among the top countries with the highest level of
ranked education systems.it consists of
1 year of compulsory pre-school
9 years of primary education (comprehensive school)
higher secondary education, which consists of general and professional
education
higher education, provided by universities and universities of applied sciences
(UAS)

2. would you be able to explain and tell us more details?

Yes of course . The Finnish education system has no dead-ends. Learners can always
continue their studies on a higher level of education, whatever choices they make in
between. Both general and vocational upper secondary certificates provide eligibility for
further studies. The practice of recognition of prior learning has been developed in order
to avoid unnecessary overlapping of studies.

Both higher education sectors have their own profiles. The mission of universities is to
conduct scientific research and provide instruction and postgraduate education based on
it. The UAS education is professionally oriented higher education. Polytechnics / UAS
train professionals in response to labour market needs and conduct R&D (research and
development) which supports instruction and promotes regional development.

3. WHY DID YOU CHOOSE TO STUDY IN FINLAND?

One is because I heard a lot about the education system and how it’s one of the best in
the world. You can choose your courses and schedule your years in university how you
like. You can structure your degree how you want until you get enough credits to
graduate. Also, there is practical approach. For example, in some courses, we do
assignments for case companies and get into real life problems. There are also
exchange opportunities and internships abroad. During my studies, I have done
internships in Croatia and Slovenia and exchange studies in Hong Kong. The processes
were also very easy. Another reason is the standard of living in Finland is very high. It’s
a good country to move and plan your future life.
4. HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR STUDIES?
In university, we have more academic articles and scientific literature to read. We didn’t
have that in UAS. University is a good choice for those who want to continue their career
in academic world or get into PhD. Although it’s not necessary to be a scientific person
and to have the desire to study PhD to get into university. University is also very
practical. For example, I now have a course in strategic foresight where we get to work
on a case company as our assignment. University is a little bit more difficult, but you also
gain more knowledge. It is very informal, relaxing, nice and I really like it. Classes were
very international during my bachelor’s degree. We had several nationalities or people
from different countries in my class. For masters, there are a few international students
but there are really a lot of them in other programs and also exchange students. It’s not
a problem to find international friends.

5. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PART ABOUT STUDYING IN FINLAND?

That there is a lot of opportunities for students. You can go for exchange studies, try
different things and if you don’t want to go abroad for a semester, you can also do
different things because there’s lots of different student associations where you can take
part in. Before the pandemic, there were lots of events where you can meet people but
now there are some online events which are also really nice.

6. HOW IS IT LIKE TO LIVE IN FINLAND?

It’s very comfortable and welcoming. All staff members and students are all very
welcoming to international students and are always there to help if we don’t know
something or if we have problems. They try to make student life the best possible.

7. WHAT ARE YOUR FUTURE PLANS?

I would like to stay in Finland because I really like this country. I have lived in four other
countries and whenever I go back to Finland it always feels like a place where I belong
to. I want to find a job in education industry or in business.

8. WHAT IS YOUR ADVICE TO POTENTIAL INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS?

Start studying Finnish language as soon as possible because it is very important. When I
moved to Finland, I didn’t know any single word in Finnish. At first it seems like Finnish is
hard, you would say that what’s the point of learning it if I’ll never be fluent because it
has so difficult grammar. But it really helps when you start to have small talk and you
don’t have to be fluent.