Facts About Finland's Unorthodox Education System

Facts About Finland's Unorthodox Education System

Since it implemented huge education reforms 40 years ago, Finland's school system has consistently come at the top for the international rankings for education systems. So how do they do it? It's simple — by going against the evaluation-driven, centralized model that much of the Western world uses.

• Finnish children don't start school until they are 7.
• 66 percent of students go to college.
• Compared with other systems, they rarely take exams or do homework until they are well into their teens.
• The children are not measured at all for the first six years of their education.
• 30 percent of children receive extra help during their first nine years of school.
• Finland spends around 30 percent less per student than the United States.
• All children, clever or not, are taught in the same classrooms.
• There is only one mandatory standardized test in Finland, taken when children are 16.
• The school system is 100% state funded.
• All teachers in Finland must have a masters degree, which is fully subsidized.
• The national curriculum is only broad guidelines.
• Teachers are selected from the top 10% of graduates.
• In 2010, 6,600 applicants vied for 660 primary school training slots
• Finland has the same amount of teachers as New York City, but far fewer students.
• Science classes are capped at 16 students so that they may perform practical experiments every class.
• The average starting salary for a Finnish teacher was $29,000 in 2008
• However, high school teachers with 15 years of experience make 102 percent of what other college graduates make.
• Teachers only spend 4 hours a day in the classroom, and take 2 hours a week for "professional development".
• Elementary school students get 75 minutes of recess a day in Finnish versus an average of 27 minutes in the US.
• The difference between weakest and strongest students is the smallest in the World.
• 43 percent of Finnish high-school students go to vocational schools.
• 93 percent of Finns graduate from high school.
• There is no merit pay for teachers
• Teachers are effectively given the same status as doctors and lawyers
• In an international standardized measurement in 2001, Finnish children came top or very close to the top for science, reading and mathematics.
• In an international standardized measurement in 2001, Finnish children came top or very close to the top for science, reading and mathematics.
• And despite the differences between Finland and the US, it easily beats countries with a similar demographic

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