Foreword
Education in Finland continues to interest educationalists all over the world. This report contributes by providing data on early childhood education and care and basic education in English. The report focuses on children and pupils in Finnish early childhood education and care, pre-primary education and basic education. The focus is on participation, support for learning, teachers and the school environment. The aim is to highlight perspectives of international interest or characteristics otherwise typical of the Finnish early childhood and basic education system and the instruction provided. Where applicable, the information presented has also been linked to its international frame of ref- erence. Indicators from the OECD Education at a Glance have been used as sources of international comparative data. The main source of quantitative data from Finland is Vipunen, the statistical data service provided by the education administration.
The report is divided into two main chapters, the first of which explores the number of pupils in early childhood education and care, pre-primary education and basic education and the choice of subjects, the completion of the syllabus and admission to further education among pupils in basic education. The second chapter concentrates on the school environment containing data on teachers, the school network, group size and measures related to support for learning and school attendance. The report concludes with a section examining the cost of education. The subchapters each begin with an infobox providing context for the topic at hand and outlining key factors that have emerged in the assessment.
The report lends support to the common perceptions according to which the strengths of early childhood education and care and basic education in Finland lie in equal opportunities for education, less prominent differences between schools compared to other countries, a high educational level among early childhood educators and teachers and the delegation of the power to make decisions to the local level. Basic education in Finland can be assessed to be relatively effective. The cost of basic education is close to the average of OECD countries, the amount of instruction time in compulsory subjects is lower is than the average of OECD countries, and repeating a grade is rare.