What Makes Finland the Most Popular Country for Students

What Makes Finland the Most Popular Country for Students

“The first thing I wanted to do after paying for my monthly Frontier deals was to look for a suitable place to go to for higher studies. To my surprise, Finland was among the best places for education, surpassing the States.”

Angry Birds- you read the name and the image of grumpy little birds comes before your eyes.

Well, thanks to the Finnish company whose creative team designed a game that will be remembered for ages to come. We owe one to Finland for effortlessly persuading us to cling to our screens for hours. I remember upgrading my Frontier deals package to the one with more data capacity just to be able to play endless levels of ‘Angry Birds’. Anyhow, guess what else is the country in headlines for these days?

Yes, it’s education! Well, Finland has been recognized as one of the best countries for students leaving the States behind with its model of educations.

Here’s how:

Cooperation over Competition

Country for Students

The word competition does not exist in Finland’s dictionary. They go by the rule of cooperation. The schools in Finland are not a part of any competitive race against each other. Rather, they coordinate with each other. Not even a single school in Finland is a private entity, they are all public schools where the very well paid teachers make their own tests instead of giving standardized tests to the students. The education system trusts the teachers enough to allow them to come up with their own version to test the kids and not get in any type of competition with the teachers of others schools. The students are taught the same, as the Finnish believe that cooperation gets you further in life than the competition does.

This is possible because of the fact that the highly trained teachers are given the autonomy and are trusted with designing activities and curricula for their students themselves. They discuss the activities they plan for their class with peer teachers to implant creativity in their students’ minds.

Research and Experiment

Technology Education

While schools in other countries often find themselves caged between the politics that restrict them from experimenting. In Finland, it is done otherwise. Finnish give a lot of importance to research and don’t shy away from implementing the results of the research in their education system. They are not afraid to experiment. If a research reveals a certain activity or a particular way of carrying out classroom activity as fruitful, the school will experiment. If the results of the experiment show a progress in the performance of the students or reveal an improvement in the way the system is run, it will become a law.

They mean it when they say they will implement it. Researches, on which thousands (at times millions) of Euros are spent are a serious business in Finland!

It’s Playtime

If there is any country that values playtime for children, it is Finland. The country knows the importance of recess and its impact on the learning abilities of the students. Finnish are very well aware of the fact that the brain needs a break!

In fact, they are a much too aware as the children get a 15 min recess in Finnish schools after a 45 min lecture.

Makes you wanna fly to Finland, doesn’t it?

The recent studies have also revealed that students who are allowed breathers in between exhausting lectures, perform better in their assignments and tests than students who are not.

Free is Thy Education

Yes, you heard that right!

Rated as one of the best countries in the world for education, Finland does not charge the students to go to school. Not only is the education free at school level (all schools are public schools), but the colleges and universities do not charge the nationals money to acquire knowledge as well. This saves the families thousands of euros that they would have otherwise spent on giving their children quality education. Apart from that, it also takes away the worry from the parents regarding the management of funds to enroll their kids in colleges or universities. However, free education does not come at the expense of quality of education. Finland has managed to rank as one of the best countries in the world to get an education from.

Also, important is the fact that the homogeneity in the education system is what the Finnish schools and colleges practice as well. While I can’t convince myself to stick to a single internet connection (Frontier internet plans these days), the Finnish government sticks to one, homogeneous education plan for all. I am impressed by their level of commitment. Way to go to Finland!

Leave a Reply