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The Structure of the European Education Systems 2019-20_Schematic-Diagrams

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The Structure of the European Education Systems 2019-20_Schematic-Diagrams

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Education is publicly funded.

2% of compulsory education students attend schools with private providers, which are publicly funded and prohibited from charging tuition fees.

Education from pre-primary to higher education is free, including school meals and learning materials.

In remote and sparsely populated areas, free school transport is provided to ensure accessibility.

Focus on life-long learning

In 2017, more than 27% of adults in Finland engaged in adult education, surpassing the EU average of 11%. The majority of this participation was in non-formal education.

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Reading, mathematics and science continued to decline, which began after 2006.

In reading and science, the decline was particularly noticeable amongst the lowest-achieving students.

The gender gap in reading (52 score points) was one of the widest across all PISA 2018- participating countries/economies.

The performance gap associated with students' socio-economic status is 79 score points, smaller than the average difference between advantaged and disadvantaged students across OECD countries, which is 89. However, this gap has widened since PISA 2009, increasing from 61 score points.

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from the seminar 2 slides

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Share of 25-64 year-olds with below upper secondary attainment, Share of 25-64 year-olds with upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary attainment, Share of 25-64 year-olds with tertiary attainment, Share of 25-34 year-olds with below upper secondary attainment, Share of 25-34 year-olds with upper secondary attainment, Share of 25-34 year-olds with tertiary

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Outperformance of Finland compared to other developed nations

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Outperformance of Finland compared to other developed nations

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Why Finland's schools outperform most others across the developed world | 7.30

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10 reasons why Finland’s education system is the best in the world

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10 reasons why Finland’s education system is the best in the world

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No standardised testing

Accountability for teachers prioritised

Focus on cooperation, not competition

Prioritises the basics

School begins at an older age

Provision of professional options past a traditional college degree

Students wake up later for less strenuous schooldays

Consistent instruction from the same teacher

A more relaxed atmosphere

Less homework and outside work are required

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10 reasons why Finland's education system is the best in the world

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From tests to teachers, a number of simple changes have transformed Finland's education system into one of the world's most successful. Read to know them.

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PISA tourism- people learning from Finish education system,

The system relies on highly committed teachers- is this possible to achieve in other countries? Teachers in England are underpaid and overworked and less likely to commit without a governmental restructuring of the industry. So, would applying Finish principles to England work without the critical element of teacher commitment?

10 years after curriculum/ teacher training reforms were implemented- teachers received more autonomy and the career gained prestige, decentralization of the system was crucial for teacher performance as they were trusted but it took about 20 years before teachers received autonomy

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Finland's Education System: The Journey to Success

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Also available in: Español | Français When Finnish students scored amongst the top in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA, a very influential international assessment administered by the OECD) in 2001, many people in the field of education were intrigued. How could this small nation, which had not been characterized by surprisingly ...

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Finland’s title of ‘Best Education System’ is not without disputes

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Finland’s title of ‘Best Education System’ is not without disputes

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China and Singapore have extremely high performance

PISA 2018 Results- China, Singapore, Estonia. Finland 7th.

How do we rank education systems- on academic achievement or satisfaction?

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Every three years in the worldwide education systems, OECD conducts PISA to test the critical thinking of 15-year-olds in math, science, and reading in over 65 countries that make up 90% of the world's economies.

What Is PISA? Why Does It Matter?

Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is a global program whereby around 600,000 15 year students from different countries are put under a two-hour test to gauge their skills and knowledge, mainly in science, reading, and mathematics. PISA test questions don't gauge memorization of facts but demand that students draw on real-world problem-solving skills and knowledge.

Since a high ranking on PISA corresponds to economic success, researchers have concluded that PISA is one of the indicators of whether school systems are preparing students for the 21st-century global knowledge economy.

U.S. critics of PISA state that the state has a higher percentage of disadvantaged children and therefore cannot fair as well as other OECD countries on the test. Data from the OECD shows that the U.S actually has around the OECD average of disadvantaged students.

However, the U.S has more students from socio-economically advantaged backgrounds. Meaning students in the U.S are better off than the average OECD country.

PISA 2022

Typically, PISA is on a three-yearly cycle, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, PISA 2021 was postponed to 2022.

85 countries are taking part in PISA 2022, intended to take place from 26 July to 16 September 2022. Three key learning subject areas are tested: reading literacy, mathematics, and science. These are accompanied by an innovative domain that varies from cycle to cycle. Mathematics is the key focus, while creative thinking is the innovative domain.

Around 6,300 students aged between 15-years-3-months and 16-years-2-months at the time of assessment will participate in the PISA 2022 Main Survey, conducted under the auspices of the OECD.

2018 PISA Score by Country

The latest PISA results information is PISA 2018 results

With a mean score of 1,736, China topped the list ahead of Singapore in the second spot and Estonia in the third spot. The United States only made it into 22nd place with a total average score of 1,485, just slightly above the 1,465 average scores for all OECD countries assessed.

China's apparent dominance of this measure of student attainment was somehow taken with a pinch of salt. Unlike the other countries assessed, China's scores were based on pupils in Beijing, Shanghai, and its two neighboring provinces -- Jiangsu and Zhejiang, home to just 183 million of China's 1.4 billion inhabitants. However, the report did note that the level of income of these Chinese regions is well below the OECD average.

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Every three years in the worldwide education systems, OECD conducts PISA to test the critical thinking of 15-year-olds in math, science, and reading in over 65 countries that make up 90% of the world's economies.

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EdStats (Education Statistics) provides data and analysis on a wide range of education topics such as access, quality, learning outcomes, teachers, education expenditures, and education equality.

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The World Inequality Database on Education (WIDE) highlights the powerful influence of circumstances, such as wealth, gender, ethnicity and location, over which people have little control but which play an important role in shaping their opportunities for education and life.

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Key features of the education system

A key feature of the national education culture is to ensure equal opportunities for all. Individual support measures are in place to guarantee that every pupil and student can reach their full potential. Differences between schools are small and the quality of teaching is high all around the country. The education system does not have any dead-ends which would affect an individual's learning career.

In Finland, education is publicly funded. Only two per cent of pupils in compulsory education attend schools that have a private provider. Also these schools are publicly funded and they cannot have any tuition fees.

Education from pre-primary to higher education, is free. School meals and all learning materials are provided free and access in remote and sparsely populated areas is ensured through free school transport.

The education system is based on trust and responsibility

In Finland the provision of education is steered through regulations, information and funding. Local autonomy is high. Most of the funding comes from local budgets and the government transfers are not earmarked.

One of the regulations, the national core curriculum leaves room for local variations and therefore individual schools and teachers have a lot of freedom in designing their own curricula and instruction.

Also Finnish higher education institutions enjoy extensive autonomy. They are independent regarding their finances and administration. Institutions are autonomous regarding their teaching and research.

There is very little external control, such as school or textbook inspections. The first national examination takes place at the end of general upper secondary education. The most important quality assurance mechanism is the self-evaluation carried out by the education providers themselves. Nationally sample-based assessment are carried out according to an assessment plan. HE institutions are also expected to follow the quality of their operations and teaching.

Life-long learning in focus

Life-long learning is ensured by making it possible for leaners to take up studies at any stage of their lives. Education for adults is provided at all levels of education. Also informal and non-formal education is recognised. In vocational education, for example, competence-based qualifications offer a way to demonstrate prior learning.

Adult learning is very popular. Different institutions arrange a great variety of courses and programmes for adults at all levels of formal education, and the provision of liberal adult education is extensive. Adult education includes self-motivated education, staff training and labour market training. It may lead to qualifications or be related to general self-development.

In 2017 over 27 per cent of Finnish adults participated in adult education compared to an EU average of 11 per cent. Most of this is non-formal education.

Good learning outcomes are achieved at average expenditure.

The average costs per pupil or student are close to the average rates in the EU as well as OECD. In 2019 the average expenditure in USD per pupil was

Source: OECD Education at a Glance 2022

Of all public spending in Finland, 10.2% was used for education in 2021. Most of the total cost was spent on basic education. The biggest component is teaching, but for example in basic education the cost per pupil also comprises school, meals, school transport, health and welfare services.

Stages of the education system

ISCED 0

early childhood education and care (varhaiskasvatus)

Participation in early childhood education and care is a universal right for all children under school age, that is, aged 0-6 years. It is mainly organised in day-care institutions and so-called family day-care. There are moderate fees for families.

pre-primary education (esiopetus)

Compulsory pre-primary education stats one year before basic education at the age of six. Municipalities have to provide pre-primary education of a minimum of 700 hours per year. Generally this is organised so that the children have half a day of pre-primary education activities and the rest of the day is early childhood education and care. Pre-primary education is entirely free for the families.

ISCED 1-2

single-structure primary and lower secondary education (perusopetus)

Comprehensive school education begins at the age of 7 and lasts for 9 years. It is provided in a single structure system. It includes grades 1-9. Education is free for pupils as well as learning materials, daily school meal, health and welfare services and transport from home to school if the way to school is long or dangerous.

ISCED 3

upper secondary education (toisen asteen koulutus)

general upper secondary education (lukiokoulutus)

vocational upper secondary education (ammatillinen koulutus)

Upper secondary education is provided by general and vocational upper secondary institutions. The general age to participate in upper secondary studies is from 16 to 19 years. In vocational upper secondary education in particular many students are older.

ISCED 6-8

higher education (korkeakoulutus)

university (yliopisto)

university of applied sciences (ammattikorkeakoulu)

Higher education is provided by universities and universities of applied sciences. The first are more academically oriented and the latter more professionally-oriented institutions. ISCED 8 level qualifications, such as doctorates can only be granted by universities.

Structure of the national education system
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Useful links

For more information on Finnish education system
Ministry of Education and Culture Finnish Education in a Nutshell Statistics Finland - Education The Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities - Education and culture The Trade Union of Education in Finland, OAJ
Teacher education e.g. University of Helsinki - Department of Education

Common European reference tools provided by the Eurydice network

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Key features of the education system Equity in education A key feature of the national education culture is to ensure equal opportunities for all. Individual support measures are in place to guarantee that every pupil and student can reach their full potential. Differences between schools are small and the quality of teaching is high all around the country.

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United Nations Development Assistance Frameworks

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Ministry of Education and Culture

Finnish National Agency for Education

Finnish Education in a Nutshell

Statistics Finland - Education

The Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities - Education and culture

The Trade Union of Education in Finland, OAJ

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Ministry of Education and Culture

(https://okm.fi/en/education-system)