Well as we're celebrating the Independence Day here today (95 years now from breaking off Russia - a peaceful break actually, the wars with USSR came later; and 204 years from being part of Sweden) it feels quite fitting to comment on this post.
You know every time an international study comes out showing how Finland excels in this or that, how people react is to try their darnest to find ways to explain how the study is skewed in our favour and thus is without value, because it
just can't be that anything was done well here. :lol: Part of it is a young-nation complex I'm sure, part of it perhaps a way for the rightists to argue that the current system must be driven down. :x
But there was just a while ago a columnist arguing quite convincingly that one of the reasons why the Finnish school system seems to do such a good job is that due to still a pretty strong ethnic homogenity, most kids have the chance to learn on their own language. Note that this is not to say that the immigrant kids were stupid or unable to learn - but it's harder to learn on a foreign language. I can attest this - I've been at a point teaching immigrant children in a high school and while the kids were just as bright as any other kids I have taught, it was obvious that the language was a problem. The fact that those kids (in a sadly notorious "ghetto school" around here) were lumped together in waaaay too big groups practically impossible to teach because no teacher wanted them and the added work in ther class didn't help the kids either I'm sure. :x Anyway spending time with those totally cool young people is one of the main reasons I am so absolutely disgusted by the current Finnish racism.
It's been always said that one of the things that teaches Finnish kids both English and reading skills is the TV. The TV shows a lot of English and American programs and Finns don't like dubs. Only the programs for really small children might be dubbed. So kids spend their TV watching time reading Finnish, while hearing English. Good practice!
It's not only the teachers that have their degrees fully subsidised, but all education is free. The idea behind this is that in a small country with not many people and very limited natural resources, talent can't be wasted. If a farmer's daughter has a sharp intelligence, it makes no sense that she would forego higher education because she can't afford it, or is unwilling to take a big financial risk. This means that to get a place to study, the competition is really hard, but those who get in are likely to be very motivated as they had to work their arses out to get in. Students also tend to be somewhat older when the do get in, perhaps having spent a couple of years working odd jobs to apply again if the first time wasn't succesful. This is currently considered a huge problem, that this kids "waste years" before getting educated, which I find a bunch of bollocks as they're most likely working anyway and growing a bit more mature, figuring out what they want.
The teacher's pay might not be big on American terms, but you have to take in account that the teacher is not going to have a huge student loan to pay away, so teaching is as good job as anything. With both state-funded healthcare and childcare, it's a perfectly livable wage. What actually
is a big bonus in teaching in a school, is the long holidays, especially the long summer holiday.
The numbers on applicants for teaching jobs and jobs available doesn't look quite right though - I believe many schools try to save money by, if the just anyway can, not looking for a real full-time teacher but to hire unqualified staff they can throw out when the 2-month summer holiday rolls in. They can still be very good teachers, but they're used for sure. :x
I don't know how it is nowadays, but back when I was in school the exams started right away and the proper ratings at age of 9. I wouldn't be sad if this had changed now, what I can grasp about the psychology of children is that numbers are bad motivators for little kids.
I think we had some practical experiments at age of 14-15, but dunno perhaps it was the crap poor highschool I went to, but they weren't much to speak off. We did some stuff but I don't remember understanding much of it, and cut open a kidney and giggled at the smell of pee.
The student-teacher ratio has grown worse year by year. When I started school one class consisted of 24 pupils; when I ended, the number was 32.
And when it comes to the "best people fleeing", as much as I detest the wording in itself, well... depends what they're doing with their lives. Finland is a rather good place to start a family in. There will be free education all the way up, children are really looked after when it comes to health care (this actually starts from the pregnancy of the mother), the schools are generally considered good, and the streets are safe. I think that last one plays a big part in favour of raising a family in Finland.
Oh and guns? Yup there's awfully lot of guns around here. You need to hop through a lot of bureaucratic hoops to get one, but there's still a lot of them, as hunting is big here. But I can honestly say that I have never in my life seen a handgun, or known a person who owned one.
But yes in many ways, I would say that the system used to be really cool, something I'm glad to be a bit proud of on a national holiday as this. It was created with vision and heart, with no interest in quick profits. I hope a spirit like that will come back one day, although with how the things are going right now, I'm not holding by breath.
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