Basic education in Finland
Basic education is a free nine-year education provided for the whole age group (currently c. 60,000 children) in comprehensive schools. Compulsory schooling starts in the year when a child turns seven and ends after the basic education syllabus has been completed or after ten years.
The local or school curriculum is based on a national core curriculum. Completing the basic education syllabus does not lead to any qualification, but the school-leaving certificate gives access to all upper secondary education and training. Nearly all children complete their compulsory schooling.
Young people who have completed their compulsory schooling can opt for one extra year. This voluntary education is intended to help and encourage young people to continue their studies at the upper secondary level.
Basic education is free of charge for pupils
Textbooks and other materials, tools etc. are free of charge in basic education and pupils are offered a free daily meal. In addition, school health care and other welfare services are free to the pupils. All pupils of compulsory school age have the right to guidance and support in learning and other schoolwork as soon as need arises.
The school year, which has 190 working days, starts in mid-August and ends in the beginning of June. The summer holidays are over 60 days.
The network of comprehensive schools covers the whole country. Education is provided in neighbourhood schools or other suitable places which make school travel as short and safe as possible. Local authorities have a statutory duty to provide education for children of compulsory school age living in their areas.The language of instruction is mostly Finnish or Swedish.
In primary and lower secondary education there are around 25 000 pupils (4,6 %) with immigrant background, whose integration is supported in many ways.
Highly qualified teachers
Basic education is divided into grades. Year-classes 1–6 are mainly taught by class teachers and year-classes 7–9 by specialised subject teachers. As a rule, all teachers have a Master's-level university degree.
Teachers themselves can choose the teaching methods they use in order to achieve the objectives stated in the curriculum. The national core curriculum includes the guidelines for choosing the methods.
Learning materials are mostly produced by commercial publishers. The schools and teachers themselves decide on the material and textbooks used. The same applies to the use of ICT.
Laws and regulations
Basic education is governed by the Basic Education Act (628/1998) and Basic Education Decree (852/1998) and the Government Decree on the General National Objectives and Distribution of Lesson Hours in Basic Education (1435/2001).
The Government decides on the overall time allocation by defining the minimum number of lessons for core subjects during basic education.
The national core curriculum is determined by the Finnish National Board of Education. It includes the objectives and core contents of different subjects, as well as the principles of pupil assessment, special-needs education, pupil welfare and educational guidance.
The education providers, usually the local education authorities and the schools themselves draw up their own curricula for pre-primary and basic education within the framework of the national core curriculum.
Administration and finance
Most institutions providing basic education are maintained by local authorities, which are obligated to organise basic education free of charge for school-aged children living within their respective areas.
Private education providers are licensed by the Government. Private provision is often run by associations and societies with a religious basis or based on a certain language (English, Russian, and German) or Steiner pedagogy. The private schools follow the same legislation and national core curricula as public schools.
Responsibility for educational funding is divided between the State and the local authorities. Funding for basic education forms part of statutory government transfers to local authority basic services, which are managed by the Ministry of Finance.The education provider makes the decisions on the use of central Government transfers. The funding is not earmarked.
The Ministry of Education and Culture manages part of the funding for basic education and funds areas such as voluntary additional basic education and instruction preparing immigrant children for basic education. The Ministry also manages start-up funding for private education providers and funding for basic education organised abroad.