Finnish education constantly attracts the interest of the world community. Today we will get to know in detail the education system of Finland, its structure and main features.
general characteristics
It is hard to believe, but the notorious education system in Finland was formed relatively recently. It began to emerge in the sixties, centuries passed, and in a short period of time managed to pass a serious path. Today, the state has 29 universities. 10 of them have a narrow specialization: 3 economic, 3 polytechnic, and 4 art. The remaining universities are multi-faculty and cover a wide range of knowledge.
Most of the country's higher educational institutions were founded in the postwar years. However, there are some exceptions. The Royal Turku Academy was founded in 1640, when Finland was still part of the Kingdom of Sweden. After the great fire of 1828, she moved to the city of Helsinki. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the University of Technology and the School of Economics and Government were opened. Academies in the cities of Turku and Abo were founded in 1918. However, education in Finland, just like in any other country, does not begin with higher education institutions, but with kindergartens. We will begin our review with them.
Preschool education in Finland
As you know, secondary and higher education in the state is free, which can not be said about preschool. Finnish kindergartens are of three types: private, municipal and family. Parents can independently choose where to send their child to study. Payment kindergarten varies in a very wide range. The maximum monthly fee for a Finnish kindergarten is about 250 euros, and the minimum is 10 times less. Kindergartens accept children from nine months to eight years of age. From the age of 6 they begin to prepare them for school for free.
Sometimes there are not enough places in kindergartens. In this case, the state pays the family 500 euros per month so that one of the parents can sit at home and deal with the child. Moreover, in kindergartens, according to the law, there are only 4 children per teacher. Groups in kindergartens are usually small. Primary education in Finland is designed to fully prepare the child for school. Therefore, the government pays special attention to him.
Secondary education
School education in Finland has its own characteristics, the whole world knows about it. The reason for this was the outstanding success of Finnish schoolchildren. The latter are regularly distinguished within the framework of the PISA program for the international assessment of education. In 2000 and 2003, the country not only won first place in this “competition”, it became the only European state to be among the leaders. What is the reason for this success?
Primary school - the so-called second stage of Finnish education, teaches children from 7 to 16 years old. In principle, this is not surprising - the usual world practice. But if you dig deeper, you can notice a number of interesting features of Finnish school education. Firstly, the country's schools do not pass absolutely no exams, and even graduation. Secondly, in Finland, differentiation of instruction, that is, an in-depth study of some educational disciplines, to the detriment of others, is not at all welcomed. Thirdly, such a concept as “elite classes” does not exist in the state.The private school sector, if developed, is completely insignificant.
The Finnish Ministry of Education is actively pursuing a policy of equalizing education. It strives to ensure that education is the same in terms of accessibility and content throughout the country and for all segments of the population. The alignment policy is hindered by the geographic features of the country. According to this paradigm, the density of educational institutions should be the same throughout the territory so heterogeneous, in terms of population density, of a country like Finland. Helsinki and other central cities, according to this policy, should have as many schools as there are sparsely populated regions.
Individual approach
It is interesting to note that the buildings of Finnish schools are designed by professional architects. At the same time, when building a new school, the preferences of future students and their families are taken into account. Therefore, a typical Finnish school does not look like a hospital or barracks, as in many other countries.
The approach to classes here is individual in nature, that is, the teacher tries to approach each child from a special perspective. Every student here is respected as a person. The individuality of children is not only appreciated, but also fully developed. In each class, two teachers work simultaneously. This, on the one hand, removes the burden from each of them, and on the other hand, simplifies and speeds up the process of making responsible decisions. At the end of each lesson, students tell what they understood and what not. At the same time, teachers ask students about how much they have learned material, so that they really want to answer and figure out incomprehensible moments. The student’s incomplete mastery of the material is considered to be a teacher’s defect in the design of the knowledge delivery system.
According to Finnish tradition, children are always sent to that school, which is closer to home. Moreover, before the law of the country forbade parents to choose their own school for the child. This ban was lifted recently. However, as a rule, parents do not bother to choose the most suitable school for their child, but give it to the one closest to home. They do this quite calmly, remembering the policy of leveling education conducted in the state.
Schools and gymnasiums
As an alternative to high school, students can go to school or vocational schools. For them, this is the first opportunity to independently choose an educational institution. Today, there are 441 gymnasiums operating in the country (the total number of students is about 130 thousand people) and 334 vocational schools (the total number of students is about 160 thousand people). As in the case of school education, the state takes full care of students in gymnasiums and schools - pays them food, travel and teaching aids. By and large, such education is equivalent to high school.
Higher education in Finland
At the age of 19, Finns graduate from school. At this stage, they still have to pass their first and only school nationwide matriculation exam. When entering a university, it practically does not affect the chances of an applicant. That is why this test is not considered an exam in the usual sense of the word.
To become a university student, an applicant must pass entrance exams in it. Literally everything depends on them. The organization of these tests falls entirely on higher education institutions. During the entrance exams, differences between high school students and graduates of vocational schools are manifested. The former, as a rule, go to universities, and the latter to institutions. Of course, nobody forbids graduates from entering universities - there are no formal restrictions on this. These are statistics based on many years of experience in Finnish educational institutions.Speaking about statistics, one cannot fail to mention the fact that only a third of school graduates in Finland continue to study.
Higher education in Finland has a number of features. There is no private sector. A small number of operating private universities are under the full control of the country's Ministry of Education and receive funding in the form of subsidies. There is no secondary education as such in Finland. Thanks to this, the country's transition to the Bologna system of unification of university statuses has been greatly facilitated. Earlier in the country there was such a thing as secondary specialized educational institutions, but now most of them are equated in status with a university.
Generally speaking, higher education in Finland is somewhat peculiar. As mentioned above, 29 universities operate in the country. In addition to them, the Higher School of Defense operates, which operates outside the Ministry of Education, but has a university status. Finnish polytechnic institutes, like similar universities in other European countries, have a practical inclination. Their educational process without fail includes professional labor practice.
There is a clear line between universities and professional universities. Universities are engaged in basic research. They can assign their students a bachelor's and master's degree. They defend doctoral dissertations. But before defending a dissertation, the scientist receives the title of a licensee - an intermediate scientific title between the master and the doctor. In other countries of the world such a title does not exist. In the framework of the domestic education system, it is identified with a candidate for a doctor of science.
As for professional universities (they are also polytechnical or polytechnics), then all of the above does not fall into their competence. Recently, however, professional universities have begun to assign students a master's degree, which was not previously. In 2002, such universities were given permission to conduct pre-graduate training of specialists. Thus, the only thing that unites Finnish universities and professional universities is their uniform distribution throughout the country.
The most popular among students today are the following areas of education: management and business, technology and transport, as well as healthcare. Young people are also attracted to education in the field of culture and tourism. The course of education in such universities lasts from three and a half to four years.
Education for foreigners
In universities in Finland they teach mainly in Finnish and Swedish, but every year the English-language study program, which is created mainly for foreign students, is gaining more momentum. In order for a foreigner to graduate in Finland, he must be fluent in English. Otherwise, the applicant simply will not be allowed to study. All visitors confirm English proficiency by passing the test. Each of the foreign applicants can choose from two tests: IELTS or TOEFL. It is worth noting that the first of them is considered a standard test for any student who wants to study abroad whose native language is not English. And the second test is most often used when entering universities in America and Canada.
If a foreign applicant wants to study at a Finnish university, he must not only pass the entrance exams and prove knowledge of one of the acceptable languages, but also confirm his financial situation. Also, foreigners entering Finnish universities are required to complete secondary education. Some universities introduce quotas for the admission of foreigners.
It is worth noting that higher education in Finland for Russians and other visitors is conducted according to international programs and has a narrower focus than classical education conducted in Finnish. Therefore, to obtain a better and more comprehensive education, it is advisable to master the Finnish language. For example, the University of Economics (Helsinki) honestly admits that much less subjects in the international business are taught in English at a university than in Finnish.
About 250-300 thousand of its students and about 6-7 thousand newcomers study in Finland annually. Universities in Finland are most popular with both local students and visitors. They account for about 60-70% of people receiving higher education in this state. Polytechnics are preferred, respectively, from 30 to 40% of students. It is worth noting that foreign students are more likely to choose universities than local ones. The education system in Finland is quite complex and well-developed. At the same time, the northern state takes care of foreign youth, giving them the right to free education.
Cost of education
Finnish education is free, including for foreigners. The education system in Finland is funded by the state at 72 percent. Students of higher education institutions still need a certain amount. Students spend between 600 and 1000 euros per month on accommodation, food and compulsory union membership. It is worth noting that some areas of study in universities are still paid. For example, an MBA program at the Helsinki School of Economics will cost a student 18 thousand euros.
Finnish universities
For an illustrative example, consider several famous Finnish universities.
University of Helsinki. One of Finland's oldest and largest universities. About 40 thousand students study at the university, 5 thousand of which are graduate students. Here you can get a bachelor's, master's or doctoral degree. The educational institution has a botanical garden and many other organizations.
University of the Arts (Helsinki). The university was established in 2013 by the merger of three state universities specializing in painting, music and theater. Today, about two thousand people study here. It is noteworthy that this educational institution leads in the number of foreigners (29% of the total number of visiting students in Finland).
University of Technology Lappeenranta. Another university that Finland boasts. Helsinki is not the only city in which you can get a quality higher education, and the University of Lappeenranta is an excellent representation. The university, together with the city administration, developed a concept according to which small households can help the centralized city energy network by transferring excess solar energy from their panels into it.
Conclusion
Today we met with the education system of such a wonderful country like Finland. Education in this country is absolutely deserved has world recognition. Summarizing this article, it can be noted that the Finnish government really cares about its youth. This is manifested in everything from financial contributions to parents of children who could not get to kindergarten, ending with free higher education.