In Finland, illiteracy does not actually exist, and
the number of published papers and books per capita is among the highest in the
world. Students in Finland seem to be the only ones in the world who not only
achieve excellent academic results, but also like to go to school. They love
reading. There is also high investment in education, representing 7% of the
national income.
In the Finnish school no one cheats, no one fail to
work, and absenteeism in classes is a marginal phenomenon. Youth behaves in
accordance with the general social norms, so in the schools are not needed not
only guards, but even the janitors, about cleanliness and care policing the
students themselves. Finnish Ministry of Justice shows that crime among
teenagers and even lighter offenses are very rare. Year after year, their rates
are falling, for example, in 1995-2000 the incidence of negative behaviors in
different categories decreased by 20-50%.
Researches
In recent PISA
study (Project for International Student Assessment), conducted by the OECD,
Finnish students in all areas except for math, where they were on the second
position, took first place in the world. Finnish education system was reformed
in the early seventies with the German model, which was considered inefficient.
Almost all schools in Finland are public schools and for non-public schools
parents do not pay, because it is financed by the state. Also, all universities
are state-owned, some of the existing universities are nationalized
universities that once were in the hands of private.
Marks
In Finnish schools marks do not appear any more.
However, they are used in the overall evaluation levels (4 to 10), but they
determine the severity of a given subject and do not have a negative effect on
a child's educational career, giving him only orientation in their acting
skills and tips to further learning. However, parents once or twice a year
receive school report on the child`s progress. For the first three years
elementary school, you can not leave your child for a second year in the same
class (in elementary school, if the parents do not agree), there is a
prohibition on discrimination on any ground: the origin, financial status of
the parents, etc.
Extra lessons
An interesting innovation in the Finnish education
system is internal tutoring. It should be noted that the tuition fee are all
banned, after all, education should be free. It is known, however, that almost
all the students can not cope with some of the challenges of school. Finns are
installed in every school so few tutors who intervene immediately when the
teacher observes that the student has a problem, helping him during a lesson in
the classroom or in a separate room until it is defeated. In grades VII-IX
every student has the right to extra lessons, a support 1-2 times a week.
From primary school it is compulsory to learn English,
since junior high school - Swedish language (you can select at the end of
primary school). In high school, you can choose a third language in high
school, English and Swedish are continued.
Primary School (Perus-koulu)
Primary school in Finland lasts 9 years, and there is a division between the lower classes (from first to sixth) and higher (from the seventh to ninth). Apparently the Finnish education system is one of the most equitable in the world. Besides teaching, books, meals and travel to a school for children living further than 5 km from the school - are free. The school year begins in mid-August and lasts until the end of May, sometimes to the middle of June, and has about 190 days.
High School (Lukio)
Learning in high school in Finland lasts three years.
Secondary school is intended to prepare young people to become involved in
education at higher education levels. In high school, there is a mandatory
program of activities and the number of hours. The Finnish high school have a
system of courses. Each student selects and arranges their own schedule from a
wide set of thematic courses. It is important that within 3 years of education
completed by the school determined number of courses. For each of them is given
the amount of courses, which must be present in order to include the course. As
a rule, these are 38-hour courses. At the end of the course include the final
test.
High School crowned state final examinations. Matura consists
of four compulsory subjects and one free to choose. Interestingly, students can
approach the exam three times, and when they decide they are ready for it now.
This does not necessarily take place after three years. This may well be the
beginning of the study. However, only one in three high school learners gets to
college. Although the purpose of schools is to prepare young people to study in
colleges and universities, only 10-15% of the students find a place at
university. Sometimes, high school graduates waiting for a chance to study several
years.
Secondary education is also a two or three-year
vocational schools. They prepare skilled workers and technicians. Studying in
some of them required “matura exams”, in others it is not necessary (if the curriculum
is aimed at preparing students for the matriculation examination). Some
students graduate from high school career only to gain additional points needed
to begin their studies.
Universities
Higher education in Finland is
divided into two sectors - universities and polytechnics. The study at this
level is also free. But there is a lot of candidates and it is difficult to get
there. Admission to the study determines the result of the matriculation
examination. However, the next step is the decision of university examination
committee. Universities in Finland are located in Helsinki, Turku, Tampere,
Kuopio, Oulu, Jyväskylä, Joensuu, Rovaniemi and Vasa. The first university in
Finland was founded in 1640 in Turku, in 1828 years, it was transferred to
Helsinki.
In Finland, there is also a
widely developed system of adult education, labor force and the students
learning in the evenings. It is a very popular activity.
Every year in courses for adults attending 1.4 million from five million Finns.
