Finland Primary and Secondary Education
Figure 13. Education System, 1980s
The School System Act, passed in 1968, abolished the
twotrack elementary school system and replaced it with a
single
comprehensive school with a nine-year course of studies.
The new
school was uniform throughout the country and was
compulsory for
all children between the ages of seven and sixteen.
Children in
Finland began school at a later age than those in many
other
countries because of the distances some of them had to
travel in
sparsely settled areas. Private schools also were
gradually
incorporated into the system, which was fully in place by
the
late 1970s.
The school program was broken into two stages: a lower
level
for the first six grades and an upper level for grades
seven
through nine
(see
fig. 13). In some areas there was a
voluntary
tenth year. The school year began in the second half of
August
and ended in early June, with a two-week break at
Christmas and a
one-week break both in the winter and at Easter. The
pre-school
system was directed by the Ministry of Social Affairs and
Health.
In the mid-1980s, this system was able to accommodate only
onethird of the children of the relevant age group.
Instruction at comprehensive schools was free, as were
books,
a daily hot meal, transportation, and even lodging for
those
students who lived too far from a school to manage a daily
commute. Efforts were made to ensure that the quality of
instruction did not vary and that children in Lapland were
as
well instructed as those in Helsinki. In bilingual
communities,
children had the right to instruction in their own
language.
Children also had the right to classes in their own
religion,
unless there were too few students of a particular
religion to
make this practicable, or they could be excused from
religious
instruction. If at least five students had no religion, an
alternative nonreligious course was obligatory. Schools
were not
divided according to sex.
After graduation from a comprehensive school, students
continued their educations at either vocational schools or
the
more demanding vocational institutes, or at the
academically
oriented secondary schools. During the 1980s, a slight
majority
of students chose vocational training to prepare them for
one or
more of several hundred commercial and technical
occupations.
Some 60 percent of these students attended two-year to
three-year
courses at vocational schools, while the remainder
enrolled in
four-year to five-year courses at vocational institutes
that led
to careers in highly skilled fields or to management and
planning
positions. Students at the academic high schools had to
pass an
examination, after three years of study, before they could
attend
a university. Fewer than half passed this examination, and
only
about one-fourth of those successful managed to secure
places at
universities. Although the academic high school was the
most
common route to a university in the 1980s, an increasing
number
of places there were being held for graduates of
vocational
institutes.
The schools' curricula were set by law, and their
content was
determined at the national level by the Ministry of
Education,
the National Board of General Education, and the National
Board
of Vocational Education. Local authorities, however, had
some say
about how they would be taught. Language instruction
accounted
for one-third of teaching time in comprehensive schools
and for
somewhat more in secondary schools. In the third grade,
children
began taking a second language, usually Finnish for
Swedish
speakers and English for the others. Sciences and
mathematics
accounted for about 30 percent of teaching time at the
comprehensive level and for somewhat less at academic
schools at
the secondary level, while social and humanistic courses
accounted for 12 percent in the former and 18 percent in
the
latter. Comprehensive schools spent one-fourth of their
time on
art, physical education, and related courses, while
secondary
schools accorded them a little less than one-fifth of
their time.
The courses vocational schools offered varied greatly
because of
the wide variety of material taught. After the first year
of
general courses, most instruction was connected directly
with the
chosen specialty.
Since the late 1970s, all teachers in the comprehensive
and
secondary schools have been obliged to have a university
degree.
Two art academies and eight universities provided teacher
education. Vocational teachers, given the wide variety of
courses
they taught, could sometimes substitute occupational
experience
for university training. Teachers of the first six years
of
comprehensive school functioned as class teachers rather
than as
subject specialists and were required to have a Master of
Education degree, while their colleagues in the upper
levels
needed a master's degree in the subject they had chosen to
teach.
Although selection criteria for places in teacher training
were
stringent (only 10 percent of applicants were accepted),
Finland
had enough teachers to allow classes in the comprehensive
system
to average about 30 pupils; classes in the secondary
schools
averaged about 20 pupils. In sparsely populated areas,
however,
it was sometimes necessary to form classes with pupils of
different ages and grade levels.
Special education generally was accomplished within
regular
schools. This practice was in consonance with the overall
policy
of avoiding "tracking," which was seen to limit a pupil's
range
of educational opportunities by placing him or her at a
particular level of instruction. An attempt was made to
keep all
members of a class together and to address special needs
through
individual counseling and tutoring. This principle
reflected the
overriding goal of having an open and flexible school
system that
matched individual qualities and aspirations.
Data as of December 1988
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