OECDOrganisation for Economic Cooperation & Development conducts PISA testsProgramme for International Student Assessment tests are conducted every 3 years. on the 65 countries that make up 90 percent of the world’s economies, and evaluates critical thinking in math, science, and reading among 15 year olds.
Finland consistently features among the top 5 in the world & top 3 among non-Asian countries, a performance that experts believe is attributable to various reasons.
Reason 1: The bar to become a teacher is very high.
To become a teacher one must meet certain criteria, the first being a Master’s degree from one of Finland’s research universities; this degree takes 5 to 6 years to complete.
Then there is a multi-part entrance exam that includes reading and remembering the reading material, doing role plays with imaginary students, and panel-interviews.
It is said that around 8,500 candidates appearing for a typical entrance exam are so qualified that they could comfortably get into law, medicine, science, etc., but only 750 (8%) get selected to be teachers.
Reason 2: Nobody asks, “Which is the best school?”
All schools are the same with the same national goals and they draw from the same pool of university-trained educators.
So, every student, be it someone in a rural village or in a university town, learns from the best.
All schools are funded by the government and it is illegal to set-up a private school to charge fees; everything in the school i.e. lunches, books, excursions, taxis (if required), etc. are free.
Reason 3: No-pressure, customizable teaching
A child in Finland starts education (Grade 1)It is mandatory by law that all students attend school from age 7 to age 16. at 7 years of age and is required to attend just 20 hours per week (on average, 4 hours per weekday) and this includes lunch and play times.
Individual teachers decide how the curriculum is taught and teaching is customized based on individual needsIf one thing doesn’t work with a student, they try something else. Nearly 30% of all Finnish students receive some kind of special help during the first 9 years of their school. and learning styles; teachers spend as much (possibly more) time preparing teaching strategies than in the classrooms.
Tests & exams are given regularly but the results are not published or shared; they are used to evaluate the effectiveness of the teaching system.
Students start school between 9:00 am & 9:45 am because an early start is believed to affect learning and health.
Many schools are small enough so that teachers know every student, and students often have the same teacher for up to 6 years, making it family-like learning where a teacher takes the role of a mentor.
