Vorschulische Erziehung

Soll die sechsjährigen Kinder erreichen, die im darauf folgenden Jahr eingeschult werden. Die Teilnahme an der vorschulischen Erziehung ist freiwillig und findet in Kindertagesstätten und Vorschulklassen statt, die an Gesamtschulen angebunden sind. Im Herbst 1998 besuchten 7.500 Kinder Vorschulklassen und 35.000 Kinder Kindertagesstätten. Das sind zusammen 65 Prozent der Altersgruppe.

Grundschule/Gesamtschule

Allgemeine Grundbildung

The objective of basic education is to support pupils' growth towards humanity and ethically responsible membership of society, and to provide them with the knowledge and skills necessary in life.

The instruction shall promote equality in society and the pupils' abilities to participate in education and to otherwise develop themselves during their lives.
Basic Education Act 628/1998

Basic education is general education provided free of charge for entire age groups. Basic education is governed by the Basic Education Act of 1998. According to the act, comprehensive school lasts nine years and is intended for children between 7 and 16 years of age. Children are summoned to school in the year that they become seven years of age. Within certain limits, pupils are free to choose the comprehensive school of their preference from those located in their municipality of residence. If it is impossible for a pupil to attend school for medical or other reasons, the municipality of residence is obligated to arrange corresponding instruction in some other form.

The network of comprehensive schools covers the entire country. Schools offering instruction in the first six forms are particularly close-set in order to avoid unreasonably long school journeys. For school journeys exceeding five kilometres, transportation is provided free of charge.

All Finnish citizens are subject to compulsory education for a period of ten years starting in the year that they become seven years of age. Compulsory education ends when the pupil reaches the age of 17 or when he or she has completed the comprehensive school syllabus, whichever occurs first. Compulsory education does not entail an obligation to attend school, but pupils may also acquire the equivalent knowledge and skills in some other way. In practice, however, almost all Finns go to nine-year comprehensive school.

Teaching groups in basic education are formed according to year classes, i.e. forms. During the first six years, instruction is usually given by the class teacher, who teaches all or most subjects. Instruction in the three highest forms is usually in the form of subject teaching, where different subjects are taught by subject teachers. Basic education also includes pupil counselling and, if necessary, special education.

The basic education syllabus includes at least the following subjects: mother tongue and literature (Finnish or Swedish), the other national language (Swedish or Finnish), foreign languages, environmental studies, civics, religion or ethics, history, social studies, mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, geography, physical education, music, visual arts, craft and home economics. The broad national objectives and the allocation of teaching time to instruction in different subjects and subject groups and to pupil counselling are decided by the Government. The National Board of Education decides on the objectives and core contents of instruction by confirming the core curriculum. Based on these, each provider of education prepares the local basic education curriculum.

Features of basic education:
* no admission requirements
* no charges
* a nine-year comprehensive school
* may include voluntary one-year pre-school education and voluntary one-year additional education (10th form)
* instruction arranged in schools near the home
* no official qualification; final certificate granted for acceptable completion of the syllabus
* provides eligibility for all upper secondary education
* almost all Finnish children complete comprehensive school
* interruption and repeating a form is rare
* compulsory education is fulfilled by completing the basic education syllabus

General Upper Secondary Education

The objective of general upper secondary education is to promote the development of students into good, balanced and civilised individuals and members of society and to provide students with the knowledge and skills necessary in further studies, working life, personal interests and the versatile development of their personality. Moreover, the education shall support the students' opportunities for lifelong learning and self-development during their lives.
Upper Secondary Schools Act 629/1998

Upper secondary school offers general education for students of about 16-19 years of age. It continues the educational task of comprehensive school and gives students eligibility for all studies at the tertiary level. Upper secondary school ends with the matriculation examination.

The statutes governing upper secondary schools were thoroughly reformed in 1998. The Ministry of Education grants licences to organise general upper secondary education. A provider ofeducation can be a municipality, federation of municipalities or private organisation. Formerly, the provision of general upper secondary education was regulated by decisions concerning student places, but this principle was abolished in 1993, and the number of student places now follows the local needs. The average number of students in one upper secondary school is 250.

Since 1982, instruction in upper secondary schools has been divided into courses, each consisting of about 38 lessons. The school year is usually divided into five or six periods. A separate timetable is drawn up for each period, concentrating on certain subjects. Students' progress and the composition of teaching groups thus depends on the students' choice of courses. Consequently, year classes have been abolished in all upper secondary schools, which now function without fixed forms.

Upper secondary school studies consist of compulsory, specialisation and applied courses. All students must complete the compulsory courses. Schools must provide specialisation courses for students to choose from. Each student is responsible for completing a sufficient number of courses. Applied courses may be either further studies in subjects already studied or other subjects. The provision of these courses can be decided independently by each school. They can also be offered in co-operation with other educational institutions, such as vocational or music institutions.

The broad national objectives and the allocation of time to the instruction in different subjects and subject groups and to student counselling are decided by the Government. The National Board of Education decides on the objectives and core contents of instruction by confirming the core curriculum. Based on these, each provider of education prepares the local curriculum. The curriculum must provide students with individual choices concerning studies, also utilising the instruction offered by other education providers, if necessary.

The matriculation examination concluding upper secondary school studies is drawn up nationally, and there is a centralised body to check its individual tests according to uniform criteria. There are four compulsory tests in the matriculation examination: mother tongue, the other national language, foreign language and either mathematics or general studies test. In addition, candidates may voluntarily take optional tests. Tests are arranged each spring and autumn, and candidates may complete the examination either entirely in one examination period or in parts within a maximum of three different examination periods.

Features of upper secondary school:

the admission requirement for the upper secondary school is the completion of comprehensive school,
upper secondary schools select their students mainly on the basis of previous study record
in practice application takes place through the national joint application procedure
upper secondary school studies primarily aim at further studies at the tertiary level
progress in studies is individual
syllabus planned for three years
possible to finish in two years, maximum four years
students usually 16-19 years of age
upper secondary school instruction also provided for adults, adjusted to their circumstances
more than half of each age group complete upper secondary school.