What can PH learn from the Finnish education system?
Helsinki, Finland. (Photo by Toshket/Istock.com via Agence France-Presse)
(First of two parts)
HELSINKI — Finland’s education system has been appreciated worldwide, as it is consistently ranked among the top countries in the world. Program for international student assessment (Pisa) and other third-party international studies.
With Ministry of Education What can the Philippines learn from the Finnish education model as you look at the full opening of schools in November and address the ongoing learning crisis exacerbated by the pandemic?
Anita Lehikoinen, head of the Ministry of Education and Culture’s office, said that the children “focus on learning and not on guidance”, so a standardized national test is not given.
“We don’t have ranking lists of schools or colleges, and we have [it a] as a policy, that every school is the best possible school for all the children of their locality, Lehikoinen told the foreign media, who visited the country at the invitation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland.
After World War II, the country was among the poorest in Europe, prompting its government to invest heavily in education so “we can find a good level of employment and industrialize the country,” he said.
Learning through play
Education is free in Finland at all levels, from pre-school to university education.
Pre-primary and basic education even provides daily meals and transportation for students who live far away.
“Equal opportunity [for] All this means that public funding must be invested in, so that it is not dependent on families and their ability to pay for education, Lehikoinen said.
The typical age to start elementary school (grades 1-9) is 7 years, which is very late compared to other countries, according to Lehikoinen.
“But it has to do with the idea that we believe very much in the scientific evidence that children learn through doing and through play,” she said.
Students can continue their high school studies (grades 10-12) by choosing either general education or vocational education.
Grade 12 ends with the national matriculation examination, which consists of four compulsory tests: mother tongue and, according to the student’s choice, three of the following: another domestic language, a foreign language, mathematics or one subject in general studies, such as humanities and natural sciences.
Finnish schools get autonomy. They are not managed by a central authority because there is a “high degree of trust” between national and local officials. They decide on funding, curricula and staff recruitment.
Highly qualified teachers
Lehikoinen said that a high level of education for teachers is necessary because they are allowed to decide their own teaching methods and the textbooks and materials to be used.
Erja Schunk, lecturer and coordinator of international relations at the University of Helsinki’s Viikki teacher training school, said that because teachers are not under the control of their superiors, teachers save themselves from tasks such as paperwork – a problem that plagues their Filipino colleagues.
“I don’t have to show my lesson plans or materials to anyone. My boss never comes into my classroom to see what I’m doing [because] there is a lot of trust,” Schunk said.
(To be continued)
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