1. 31.08.04 Leijola/ETLA Education system in Finland – Development and Equality FINLAND AS A KNOWLEDGE ECONOMY WORKSHOP Helsinki August 30 – 31, 2004 Liisa Leijola ETLA 31.08.2004

2. 31.08.04 Leijola/ETLA ETLA Discussion Paper No. 909 Liisa Leijola Education system in Finland – Development and equality http://www.etla.fi/julkaisuhaku.php?type=details&id=986

3. 31.08.04 Leijola/ETLA Education system in Finland BASIC EDUCATION UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL VOCATIONAL SCHOOL UNIVERSITIESPOLYTECHNICS Primary school Lower secondary school Matriculation examination Professional qualification Bachelor’s degree Master’s degree Licentiate degree Doctoral degree Polytechnic degree (Post-graduate polytechnic degree) 6 years 3 years 4 years Compulsory education ISCED 1 2 4 3 5 6 7 8

4. 31.08.04 Leijola/ETLA Timeline of development 12th century: schooling in Latin for the clergy 1543: first textbook in Finnish 19th century: Swedish schools and gymnasiums 1866: Education for all, common schools in Finnish 1898: School districts: < 2 km to school 1921: Basic right and duty for 7 to 12 -year-olds 1960s: 6 years common school, 5 years middle school, 3 yrs gymnasium 1970s: Basic education system, 9 years for 7 to 16 -year-olds Sweden Russia Finland

5. 31.08.04 Leijola/ETLA Principle of equality Regional Gender Socio-economic Intitially focus on regional equality and physical access to schools Number of schools and participation Currently equality in educational opportunity, gender and socio-economic equality Learning results Individual and school differences Further education for everyone Social security system: no unemployment benefits unless secondary education

6. 31.08.04 Leijola/ETLA Basic education In practice 100% participation Municipalities Free of charge Lunch, supplies, transportation, after school activities Girls perform better than boys Regional differences, interactions between types of inequality

7. 31.08.04 Leijola/ETLA Secondary education Upper secondary shools (high school) 2 to 4 years Matriculation examination Municipalities Vocational schools (2 to 4 years) Professional qualifications State & municipalities Selection into schools, polarisation, gender differences 55% of 9th grade students in 1999 enrolled in upper secondary schools, 35% in vocational schools the following year 7% did not continue schooling Displacement, unemployment

8. 31.08.04 Leijola/ETLA Adult education Half of working age population participates, public and private organisers Employer-sponsored education Technical fields Computer skills Reduces generation gap in educational achievement Coping with technological change in the workplace

9. 31.08.04 Leijola/ETLA Higher education 20 universities Bachelor, Master, Licentiate, Doctorate State-owned, autonomous, private funding 35% 29 polytechnic insitutes Bachelor, (Master) Municipalities, foundations Entrance examinations (<5….% of applicants admitted) Financial aid to students, working while studying Long study times

10. 31.08.04 Leijola/ETLA University network University Source: Statistics Finland

11. 31.08.04 Leijola/ETLA Financing education Figure 2. Expenditure on primary and lower secondary eduation and all education, % of GDP in 1998. Source: OECD

12. 31.08.04 Leijola/ETLA Financing education Table 1. Total expenditure on education in Finland 1997-2001 and distribution between levels in 2001. Source: Statistics Finland

13. 31.08.04 Leijola/ETLA Financing education Figure 1. Education expenditure per student in 2001 Source: Statistics Finland

14. 31.08.04 Leijola/ETLA Financial aid to students Financial aid to higher education students: Study grant 259.01 € Housing supplement 171.55 € +Student loan 220 € Total 650.56 €/month Working while studying very common (50%), 1/3 takes student loan

15. 31.08.04 Leijola/ETLA PISA 2000 Finland #1 in reading literacy Top 5 in science skills and maths Least deviation in scores Least effect from socio-demographic background, gender Expenditure per student in basic education OECD average Student /teacher ratio OECD average Time use in school OECD average

16. 31.08.04 Leijola/ETLA What is the reason for success in basic education level? Principle of equality Society Education Universal basic education Appreciation for education & reading (TV subtitles!)

17. 31.08.04 Leijola/ETLA Higher education policy and economic development 1940s and 1950s General education level, academic ideals: Humanistic & Natural Sciences 1960s and 1970s Welfare state: Social sciences, public sector 1990s High technology, ICT: Engineering, technology 2000s Overeducation? Private funding? More specialisation? Ageing of the population? Crisis of the welfare state?

18. 31.08.04 Leijola/ETLA Education system in Finland – Development and Equality FINLAND AS A KNOWLEDGE ECONOMY WORKSHOP Helsinki August 30 – 31, 2004 Liisa Leijola ETLA 31.08.2004