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Until the early twentieth century, Finland was part of Sweden or Russia. In 1155, the first missionaries arrived in Finland from Sweden. Sweden ruled Finland from the twelfth to the nineteenth centuries. Russia ruled Finland from 1809 to 1917, when Finland finally won its independence. The political and social character of the Finnish people has been shaped by their relationships with Sweden, Russ…
The overall responsibility for educational, scientific, and cultural policies lies with the Ministry of Education. The ministry has responsibilities beyond schools and universities, promoting education, science, culture, sports, and youth work in the country, and emphasizing their significance for the citizens and society at large. There are two ministers at the Ministry of Education: the Minister…
The Ministry of Education oversees education as schooling and as culture. Within education, the Minister of Education and Sciences oversees the schools and universities including the divisions of general education, vocational education, polytechnic, university, adult education and training, and science policy. Compulsory Education: Basic education is required of all pupils between the ages of 7 an…
General Survey: Preprimary and primary education has two major divisions, preprimary and comprehensive schools. In 1998, there were 124,600 preprimary pupils attending programs in municipal and private schools, as well as preprimary education programs held at comprehensive school. These programs are not officially a part of the Finnish education system, but plans are underway to reform preprimary …
General Survey: Finnish education has two tracks for secondary education: general upper secondary education and vocational education and training. Both tracks are for students from 16 to 19 years of age. The number of students enrolled in upper secondary schools in 1999 was 111,328. The general upper secondary education schools are for students who plan to attend university. The vocational
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There are two types of higher education institutions in Finland: universities and polytechnics (AMK institutions or ammattkorkeakoulut). There were 29 polytechnics as of fall 2000. There are 20 universities in Finland. Polytechnics: Polytechnics provide instruction for expert functioning in the following areas: national resources, technology and communication, business and administration, tourism,…
The Finnish parliament sets the broad educational agenda, fixes the general principles of educational policies, and frames educational legislation. The government, Ministry of Education, and National Board of Education are responsible for the implementation of policy at the central administrative level. The Ministry of Education takes a big picture approach to education. Its areas of responsibilit…
Adult Education: Adult education is available through universities and polytechnics, public and private institutions, adult education centers, and summer universities. Adult upper secondary schools, study centers and institutes, sports centers, and music institutes also offer adult education programs. In-service training, outside the normal educational institutions, provided by employers, is the m…
Training & Qualifications: Universities provide teacher education. Classroom teachers (loukanopettaja) who teach most of the subjects at the lower stages of comprehensive schools must have a master's degree in education, which is called maisteri. The degree amounts to 160 credits and studies take 5 years including practical training. The education for subject teachers (who teach diff…
General Assessment: Finland has a strong, inclusive, and in many ways "cutting edge" educational system. The compulsory education (ages 7 to 16) has the highest completion rate in the world. The upper secondary and vocational programs for 16 to 19 year old students provides education and access to over 75 percent of children this age. Finnish universities are internationally recogniz…
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