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The main aim of the Finnish education system is to ensure that the entire population has access to education and training. The principle of lifelong learning, the idea that people are always capable of learning new things at all stages of life, is an important principle for all education provision, from basic schooling to adult education. In 1998, public spending on education accounted for 6.2 per cent of GDP in Finland (against an OECD average of 5.3 per cent). Finnish people have a high standard of education. Young people, in particular, have been rated very highly in international comparisons. The OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), which evaluates the educational achievement of children of school age in the OECD countries, placed Finland among the top countries in 2001.
The Finnish school system does not have any actual pre-schools, but pre-school teaching is provided at schools and daycare centres. Pre-school teaching means education provided in the year before children start comprehensive school. The aim is to improve children's capacity for learning. In practice, children are taught new facts and new skills through play. There is legislation which requires all municipalities to provide pre-school teaching free of charge to all children aged six, but participation in such teaching is voluntary. Most six-year-olds now go to pre-school.
Compulsory education in Finland really starts with comprehensive school, which generally starts in the year children turn seven. Comprehensive school lasts for nine years and ends once a young person has completed the curriculum of the comprehensive school or when ten years have passed since the start of their compulsory education. Children who are permanently resident in Finland - and that includes children of other nationalities - are required by law to complete the curriculum of compulsory education. This can be done by attending comprehensive school or by acquiring the equivalent education by other means. This means that compulsory school attendance does not actually exist in Finland. The principle of compulsory education, however, has been in force for almost as long as Finland has been an independent country; Finland gained its independence in 1917 and general compulsory education came into effect in 1921. The legislation on basic education currently in force dates from 1998.
It is the municipalities' responsibility to arrange basic education. There are about 450 municipalities in Finland, and each of them is responsible for providing education for all their children, or for ensuring that education is available to all children of school age. The law states that basic education is free of charge. This means that, in addition to teaching and school attendance, school books and other materials are also free. School pupils also receive one hot meal a day free of charge. The law also states that basic education must be provided near home. The arrangement and cost of school journeys longer than five kilometres are the responsibility of the municipality.
There is no actual graduation certificate or qualification to be gained upon completing comprehensive school, but once one's compulsory education is over, it opens the way to all secondary education options, i.e. different types of vocational training or upper secondary school.
There are about 4,000 comprehensive schools in Finland. Every autumn, some 60,000 children start the first grade and in 2002, there were altogether about 580,000 comprehensive school pupils in Finland.
For the first six years of comprehensive school, the children are taught by a class teacher, who generally teaches all or at least most subjects. Then, during the last three years of comprehensive school, the different subjects are taught by specialized subject teachers. It has been made a general aim of basic education in Finland to encourage pupils to become well-adjusted and ethically responsible members of society. Comprehensive school places a special emphasis on teaching pupils the facts and skills they will need later in life as members of society. Pupils suffering from learning disabilities are entitled to special teaching under the law.
The subjects in comprehensive school are the mother tongue (i.e. Finnish or Swedish), the other national language (i.e. Swedish or Finnish), foreign languages, mathematics, physics, chemistry, history, social studies, physical education, music, visual arts, crafts, home economics, religion or ethics, biology, geography and environmental studies. In addition, pupils in the different grades can choose certain special subjects, depending on their own interests. The Finnish education system has achieved very favourable results in international comparisons. For instance, the reading skills of Finnish school pupils are among the best in the world.
The comprehensive school year consists of 190 school days. Finnish schools close in spring at the end of May or beginning of June, when the pupils' summer holiday begins. The school year usually starts again in the middle of August. During the year, there are also certain specific school holidays: an autumn break, Christmas break, and a one-week 'ski holiday' in February/March.
After comprehensive school ends, young people face an important choice: whether to continue in general education, i.e. upper secondary school, or to apply for vocational education.
Upper secondary school is mainly intended for students aged 16-19. The schools select their own pupils, based on their comprehensive school grades. It takes from two to four years to complete upper secondary school, but the pace of study and the progress made is very individual. Studies are divided into courses, and the choice of courses partly determines the progress that a student makes. Due to the course-based system, there are no year-classes in upper secondary school. The subjects taught include various compulsory studies, advanced studies and practical studies.
Upper secondary school ends with the matriculation exam, which is a nationwide final assessment. The exam comprises four compulsory test subjects: the pupil's mother tongue (Finnish or Swedish), the other national language (Swedish or Finnish), a foreign language and either mathematics or general studies test. In the general studies test, the student may choose the questions to answer from among several subjects: biology, geography, chemistry, physics, history and social studies, religion, ethics, philosophy or psychology. In addition to these compulsory tests, the student may also take extra subjects. Language tests consist of two parts: listening comprehension and a written test. The structure of the matriculation exam is to be reviewed at some point in the next few years. The exam is drawn up each year by the Matriculation Examination Board, which answers to the Ministry of Education. The Board also grades the tests of all students, using uniform criteria. Matriculation exam graduation parties are held each spring and autumn, when the students who matriculate receive a special white cap as a sign that they have graduated.
Young people who have completed upper secondary school have the option of going on to any form of higher education. In fact, the primary function of upper secondary school studies is to help young people to enter higher education. More than half of each year-class now completes upper secondary school in Finland. Upper secondary school can also be completed later in life, through adult education.
For those young people who choose initial vocational education after comprehensive school, there is a wealth of different training options and subjects to choose from. Initial vocational education is arranged both in educational institutions and in the form of apprenticeship training.
There are 75 initial vocational qualifications, in a range that includes the following sectors: renewable natural resources, technology and transport, commerce and administration, hotels, catering and home economics, health and social services, culture, leisure activities and physical education. According to the relevant legislation, the purpose of vocational education is to give students the vocational skills they will need in working life and the skills required to earn a living on a self-employed basis. The initial vocational qualification takes three years to complete and also qualifies the student for further studies in higher education.
Vocational education institutions generally choose their students based on their school grades, but some institutions also hold separate entrance exams. Subjects required in all vocational studies are: the mother tongue, the second national language, a foreign language, mathematics, physics and chemistry, physical and health education, social studies, entrepreneurship and workplace studies, and arts and cultural studies. The qualification also includes a diploma project.
It is characteristic of Finnish vocational education that, in addition to theoretical studies in the classroom, there are practical study periods in the workshops of the educational institution and on-the-job training at actual workplaces. Initial vocational education is arranged by the municipalities, joint municipal boards and private organizations, and is free of charge to students.
Apprenticeship training means that the education provider, the employer and the employee enter into a fixed-term employment agreement on the training. This thus takes place alongside work. It is also possible to take a qualification in the form of a competence-based test, where students can demonstrate through a practical test that they command the skills and knowledge needed for a given occupation, regardless of how they acquired that knowledge. Students may take part in competence-based tests without preparatory teaching, straight out of working life.
Higher education system consists of universities and polytechnics. The Finnish higher education system is made up of two parallel sectors: universities and polytechnics. The universities rely on the connection between research and teaching. Their basic purpose is to perform scientific research and to provide higher education connected with it. Students at universities may take a lower (Bachelor's) or higher (Master's) academic degree and also academic further education, consisting of licentiate and doctoral degree. Universities also arrange further education and open university teaching.
The polytechnics are usually regional higher education institutions which provide instruction in subjects from several sectors, and which emphasize a connection with working life. The degrees they provide are higher education degrees with a professional emphasis. There are universities and polytechnics all over Finland, and the ultimate aim is to ensure that all prospective students have equal opportunities for study, regardless of where they live.
The universities represent the oldest educational tradition in Finland. The first university, The Royal Academy of Turku was founded in 1640. Their operations are still based on academic freedom and individual autonomy. Autonomy means that the universities have considerable freedom and independence in making their own decisions. The universities and their faculties decide on the regulations applying to their degrees and on their own curriculums. They also decide how many students to admit each year to study the various subjects they teach. There are 20 universities in Finland, all of which are owned and largely funded by the Finnish government. University studies are available to all, in principle, as Finnish universities do not charge term fees.
According to the legal definition, it is the purpose of the universities to promote free academic research and scientific and cultural education, and to provide higher education based on research and scholarship. They are required to arrange their operations so as to attain a high international standard of research, education and instruction, whilst abiding by ethical principles and good scientific practice.
The universities choose their students themselves through entrance exams. There are starting places at university for about one third of each age class. The biggest sectors are technology, arts and humanities and the natural sciences. It generally takes three years to complete a lower academic degree (Bachelor's: 120 credits) and about five to six years to complete a higher degree (Master's: 160-180 credits).
In 2000, there were about 150,000 degree students at Finnish universities, including about 3,700 foreign students. The network of Finnish universities covers the entire country, even Lapland. Finland has 10 multidisciplinary universities, 3 technical universities, 3 schools of economics and business administration and 4 arts universities. In addition to these, there is the National Defence College, which lies outside the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education and provides higher education in the military and defence sector.
The special feature of the polytechnics is their close link with working life and their aim of providing skills for expert duties in different vocational sectors. The polytechnics system is fairly recent in Finland, having been created in the 1990s. The new system was introduced in an effort to channel the growth of the higher education sector from universities into the new polytechnics.
The requirement for entering a polytechnic is that the student has passed the matriculation exam or completed a initial vocational qualification. Polytechnics are different from universities in that they are not owned by the government, but by municipalities or private bodies. The government does, however, contribute 57 per cent of their basic funding. Degrees have a professional emphasis and take between 3.5 and 4 years to complete (140-160 credits). In addition to theoretical studies, polytechnic degrees also require practical training in the workplace and a diploma project.
The polytechnics provide instruction in the following sectors: technology and transport, business and administration, health and social services, culture, tourism, catering and institutional management, natural resources, the humanities and education. The Ministry of Education approves the training programmes leading to a degree, but the individual polytechnics make the decisions on their own curriculums. In 2002, polytechnic postgraduate degrees will be introduced on an experimental basis, with 40-60 credits in selected sectors where workplace needs require this. In 2000, the 29 polytechnics in Finland had a total of about 114,000 students in degree programmes.
The Finnish universities and polytechnics have starting places for about 65 per cent of each age class. It has been the Government's aim to ensure that increasing numbers of people take higher education.
Educational levels in Finland:(data for 2000 according to Statistics Finland categories) | |
| - no post-comprehensive education | 40.6 % |
| - secondary-level education | 36.1 % |
| - higher education | 23.3 % |
| - doctoral degree | 0.3 % |
Adult education has become an important part of Finnish education policy, particularly during the last twenty years. The education level of older generations is lower than that of the younger generations, so there is clear need for supplementary and further education. When the post-war baby boom generation retires from the labour market over the next few years, there will probably be even more need for adult education. Finnish people are keen to take part in adult education by international comparison; about a million people every year take part on their own initiative in adult education arranged by one of the over 1,000 educational institutions or universities and polytechnics providing such courses. The extent of the teaching provided totalled about 10 million hours.
Adult education is arranged for instance at universities, polytechnics, vocational schools, vocational adult education centres, folk high schools, adult education centres and summer universities. The types of study offered include teaching for basic qualifications, open access to studies which are part of degree programmes, training for competence-based tests (e.g. language tests and vocational qualifications), apprenticeship training, and additional and supplementary training in support of vocational skills. Adult education may also include studies on civic skills, social studies or the student's special interests. Adult education which leads to a qualification is free of charge. Most other types of training are subject to at least a partial fee, but there are also free courses on offer and courses at free-market prices. The Ministry of Education provides funding for adult education and is responsible for developing it.
Adults may also complete comprehensive school or upper secondary school, or take part in the matriculation examination, in special upper secondary schools for adults or in courses for adults at an ordinary upper secondary school. Upper secondary schools for adults also provide education for foreign students.
Most adult education students study alongside their work. New options for independent study and distance learning are constantly being developed in order to make it easier for people to work and study at the same time. Information technology brings constant advances in distance learning.
Adult re-employment training is an important form of adult education. Its aim is to improve the supply of skilled labour and make it easier for the unemployed to re-enter the labour market. The long-term unemployed are a special group in re-employment training, which increased particularly rapidly during the 1990s, when the worldwide recession reached Finland, causing a rise in unemployment. The Ministry of Labour is responsible for re-employment training, procuring courses and training from different educational institutions for the unemployed or for people under threat of unemployment. Re-employment training is free of charge for students.
In Finland, Parliament decides on the general principles of education policy and the related legislation. Implementation then rests with the Government, the Ministry of Education and the National Board of Education. The Ministry of Education is the highest education authority in Finland, and supervises all education and training provision that is covered by public subsidies. The administrative sector covered by the Ministry of Education accounts for about 14 per cent of the State budget. The Ministry's mission is to guarantee citizens an opportunity for personal development through education and cultural services and ensure the skills needed for working life, to strengthen Finland's cultural life and to promote international cooperation. At the central government level, its main partners in education policy are the Ministry of Labour, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, and the Ministry of Trade and Industry.
The Ministry of Education prepares acts, decrees and decisions in its sector for the Government and Parliament. It also helps to draft related legislation and decisions concerning cooperation in the European Union. The Ministry directs and develops operations in its sector of administration, makes grants to State-owned institutions and grants State subsidies and support to municipalities, joint municipal boards and private organizations.
Education and training leading to a degree is free of charge in Finland at all the educational institutions and universities which form part of the official education system. Students can also apply for student grants for all forms of training after comprehensive school.
Updated 10/17/2007
