Education in Finland

The Finnish Education system consists of the following:

Early childhood education and care (ECEC) (voluntary)

Pre-primary education (1 year, compulsory)

Basic education (9 years, compulsory)

Upper secondary education, vocational and/or general education

Adult education

Introduction

Finland lies in the north of Europe in between Sweden and Russia. It has
5.498.211 inhabitants. The capital of Finland is Helsinki and the official
languages are Fins and Swedish.
Finland is called The land of thousand lakes because they have 188.000
lakes in total. Around 65% of Finlands total land area is covered in forest.

The Finnish sauna is a substantial part of the Finnish culture. There are
over three million saunas in Finland - an average of one per household.

81% of the people in Finland are protestant. About 17% in not religious.
Finland was also the first country where woman had the right to vote.

Early childhood education and care (ECEC)

Early childhood education is a broad term used to describe any type of

educational program that serves children in their preschool years, before
they are of legal age to enter kindergarten. Early childhood education may
consist of any number of activities and experiences designed to aid in the
cognitive and social development of pre-schoolers before they enter
elementary school.

How and where early childhood education is provided can be very different
from one state, or even one program, to the next. Early childhood
education programs may be designed for three-, four-, or five-year olds,
and they may be provided in childcare, day-care, nursery school,
preschool, or pre-kindergarten settings.

One of the first early childhood education initiatives in the U.S. was the
Head Start program, which was created in 1965. This federally funded
education initiative, which is funded by the Department of Health and
Human Services, provides children from low-socioeconomic families or
those who qualify under a specific at-risk category with free access to
early childhood education programs.

Pre-primary education in Finland

Compulsory education starts in the year when a child becomes seven
years. During the year before compulsory education begins, the child can
participate in pre-primary education. Its aim is to develop children's
learning skills as part of early childhood education and care.
Local authorities have a statutory duty to arrange pre-primary education,
but for children participation is voluntary and decided by parents. About
96% of the six-year-olds go to pre-primary school.
It is up to local authorities to decide if pre-primary education takes place in
a school or in a day-care center, a family day care place or other
appropriate places. Pre-primary education may also be offered by private
basic education providers. Pre-primary instructors have either a
kindergarten teacher or class teacher qualification.
Pre-primary education is available free of charge. Pre-primary pupils are
entitled to free school transportation is they live over five kilometers from
school or if the route is to dangerous. Children are also entitled to a day-
care place. In day care, there is an income-based fee. (Inkomensafhankelijke
vergoeding.)

Curriculum for pre-primary education

Pre-primary education lays emphasis on the preparation for school. The
national core curriculum for pre-primary education is determined by the
Finnish National Board of Education.
The minimum requirements for the organization of time in pre-primary
education are provided by the Basic Education Decree. The minimum
scope of pre-primary education is 700 hours per year. Each pre-primary
education provider decides on the timetables of pre-primary education and
other practical arrangements.
Local authorities and other providers of pre-primary education receive
statutory Government transfers.

Basic education

In most countries, the term "comprehensive school" is used to refer to

comprehensive schools attended after primary school. The objective of
basic education is to support pupils growth towards humanity and
ethically responsible membership of society and to provide them with the
knowledge and skills needed in life.

Basic education encompasses nine years and caters for all those between
7 and 16 years. Schools do not select their students. Every student is
allocated a place in a nearby school, but they can also choose another
school with some restrictions.

Classes are small, seldom more than twenty pupils. From the outset pupils
are expected to learn two languages in addition to the language of the
school (usually Finnish or Swedish), and students in grades one through
nine spend from four to eleven periods each week taking classes in art,
music, cooking, carpentry, metalwork, and textiles. Inside the school, the
atmosphere is relaxed and informal, and the buildings are so clean that
students often wear socks and no shoes. Outdoor activities are stressed,
even in the coldest weather; and homework is minimal to leave room for
extra-curricular activities. Extra-curricular activities are activities who are
outside school.

All school follow a national core curriculum, which includes the objectives
and core contents of different subjects. The education providers, usually
the local education authorities and the schools themselves draw up their
own curricula within the framework of the national core curriculum.

Upper secondary education, vocational and/or general

education
After compulsory basic education school-leavers can choose for general or
vocational upper secondary education. Both forms usually take three years
and you can easily go to higher education. Vocational education and
training is popular in Finland, more than 40 percent of the relevant age
group starts vocational upper secondary studies immediately after basic
education. The biggest fields are technology, communications and
transport and social services, health and sports.

They select a group of students for upper secondary school based on the
grade point average for the theoretical subjects in the basic education
certificate. Entrance and aptitude tests may also be used, and students
can also earn points for hobbies and other relevant activities.

Vocational qualifications can be completed in upper secondary VET,

apprenticeship training or as competence-based qualifications. Most young
learners complete their upper secondary vocational qualifications at
vocational institutions. Competence-based qualifications are usually
completed by adults.

Academic Vocational Typical Upper secondary education is non-graded

degrees degrees ages and course-based, so students are
upper vocational 18-19 responsible for their own progress and
secondary school 17-18 studies. Upper secondary education can be
school (voluntary) 16-17 completed in two to four years. At the end of
(voluntary their studies, the students take their
) matriculation examination. Students may
comprehensive school 15-16 also complete upper secondary school in an
(compulsory) 14-15 upper secondary school for adults, a
13-14 distance-learning upper secondary school, or
12-13 through separate examinations. The
11-12
10-11
9-10
8-9
7-8
pre-school 6-7
minimum scope of upper secondary school is 75 courses in an ordinary
school, and 44 courses in an upper secondary school for adults. On
average, one course corresponds with 38 classes.

Adult education

Completing secondary school on a vocational program with full classes on

a three-year curriculum provides a formal qualification for further studies.
However, it may prove necessary to obtain post-secondary education
before being admitted to a university, as the entrance examinations
require a relatively high level of knowledge. Post-secondary education is
provided by municipal schools or independent 'adult education centers',
which can give either vocational education or teaching at comprehensive
or upper secondary school levels. It is possible to obtain the matriculation
diploma, or to better the comprehensive school grades, in these programs.
A new trade can also be learned by an adult at an adult education center,
for example, if structural change of the economy has made the old trade
redundant.

In universities, the "Open University" program enables people without

student status to enroll in individual university courses. There are no
requirements, but there is a modest tuition fee (e.g., 60 euros per course).
Universities of applied sciences have their own similar program. While
"Open University" students cannot pursue studies towards a degree, they
may, after passing enough separately determined courses with a
sufficiently high grade point average, be eligible for transfer into an
undergraduate degree program. Alternatively, a few institutions offer
foreign qualifications

A third branch of adult education is formed by the "Free Education". This is

formed by the partially state-funded, independent educational institutes
offering diverse courses varying in length and academic level. The purpose
of the "Free Education" is not to provide professional or degree-oriented
education but to "support the multi-faceted development of personality,
the ability to act in the community and to pursue the fulfilment of
democracy, equality and diversity in the society." Historically, the "Free
education" stems from the late 19th century efforts to educate the general
populace with little previous academic experience.