The secrets to Finland's top-notch education system

Finland’s comprehensive school system has, over the years, placed the country at the top of world rankings. Deeply ingrained into its educational mission is the idea that equality is paramount to economic success and societal wellbeing. The belief of ‘the more equal a society is, the happier its citizens are’ underpins the nation’s policy – which is why Finland deploys almost a third of its GDP on supporting its social welfare system.

This includes equal education for everyone: all Finnish children are entitled to free pre-primary and basic education. There are no separate schools for girls and boys. While daycare centres and schools provide pre-primary education for six-year-olds, children in Finland don’t start formal schooling until they are seven, in order to promote the health and wellbeing of every child.  

To ensure equal access to education, all teaching and educational materials are free. And if the student lives more than five kilometres from school, transportation fee is subsidized. Free school meals are universally provided to about 900,000 Finnish pupils, covering pre-schools, high schools as well as vocational training colleges.

Meritocracy and streaming by ability do not exist in the state, nor do privatization and league tables. Learners are generally more content because of it: with shorter school hours and lighter homework loads, and the fact that after-school tutoring is rare, Finnish children are happier and less strained than their contemporaries in other countries.

The quality-not-quantity approach, nonetheless, is not realized at the expense of academic success, as PISA (Program for International Student Assessment) tests constantly show Finnish pupils producing some of the world’s highest scores in maths, science and reading. 

Rather than centralizing decision-making regarding education, Finland actually devolves more power to teachers and pupils to design and direct learning. Teachers are well paid, well-trained – they must complete a five-year master degree. Respected and trusted by parents and politicians alike, teachers have a huge amount of autonomy, including responsibility for assessing students, with almost no formal standardised tests.

Finland is also at the frontier of tackling bullying at school. The trailblazing anti-bullying program named KiVa, launched in 2007, is now adopted in most comprehensive schools across Finland, providing all students with lesson content that focuses on preventing bullying. With its promising results, other European countries follow suit, with a number of studies emerging in the Netherlands, Estonia, Italy, and Wales to evaluate the programme’s effects.

Given all these achievements, it is small wonder that Finland’s education system is often revered as the world’s best. Equity, community and shared success all lay the groundwork for a fulfilling and supportive education. It should serve as a good reference to governments worldwide as to how to provide a transformational education experience for our next generation.