As part of the worldwide public education system the Finnish Model of Education has been producing graduates much more proficient in math, sciences, and the languages than those of all other OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development). BullyingNewsVideos Sep 30, 2010 reporting on an analysis of the Finnish system points to the importance of Finland's Bluprint which incoporates a:
- Tough National Curriculum,
- Master's Degree for All Teachers
- and Up to 3 Teachers per Classroom.
In Finland, there are virtually no private schools. One may ask Why is this? Because the public schools in Finland function like independent schools in the U.S.A. There are no rankings, no comparisons or competition between students, schools or regions. Finland’s schools are publicly funded. The following information comes from a recent Smithsonian magazine feature on what they’re doing in Finland, and what we might be able to learn from them. Of great importance is the fact the the people in the government agencies running the system, from national officials to local authorities, are for all intense purposes educators not business men, military leaders or career politicians.
The Finnish Ministry focus on getting the best teachers this means that all teachers
must have master’s degrees and that only 10 percent, the cream of the crop of
undergraduates, are accepted into the teacher training program. The ministry
deliberately restricts access to the program, believing that restrictions
increase attraction. Unlike other education system's were private investment is to the fore in Finland, it’s
not the money but the status and prestige of teaching that attracts the best and
brightest into the profession. This gives all students a chance at gaining a good education based on equality and not the privatisation of the education system.
Recent survey by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). “Equality is the most important word in Finnish education. All political parties on the right and left agree on this,” said Olli Luukkainen, president of Finland’s powerful teachers union. Ninety-three percent of Finns graduate from academic or vocational high schools, 17.5 percentage points higher than the United States, and 66 percent go on to higher education, the highest rate in the European Union. Yet Finland spends about 30 percent less per student than the United States. The result is that a Finnish child has a good shot at getting the same quality of education no matter whether he or she lives in a university town or a rural village and this why the Finnish Model has been producing graduates much more proficient in math, sciences, and the languages than those of all other OECD countries such as the US.
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