10 Facts About Finland's Schools

I came across this article on Edudemic and found it interesting for a few reasons:

1. It's easy to assume that there is only one "right" way to do something - obviously there can be more than one!
2. We need to communicate more with our neighbors - there's a lot we can learn.
3. We ought to take a step back every now and then to take a look at what we're doing - there might be a simpler way to achieve the same (or better) results.

Finland has the same number of teachers as New York City but nearly half the amount of students. Finland has about 600,000 students while NYC has close to 1.1 million.

Every single teacher in Finland needs to have a master’s degree. That degree is fully subsidized by the state, too.

Students in Finland don’t start school until they’re 7 years old.

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The only mandatory test is taken when students are 16 years old.

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There aren’t any separate classrooms for accelerated learning or special education. All students are taught in the same classroom.

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Compared to the U.S., Finland spends about 30% less per student.

About two-thirds of students in Finland attend college. That’s the highest rate in all of Europe.

Sipoo Upper Secondary School, IT College in Sipoo, Finland

Only the top 10% of graduates are eligible to become teachers.

The classroom size of science courses is limited to 16 students. This is so students can do actual in-person experiments in the lab.

Elementary school students in the U.S. get about half an hour of recess. Students in Finland get about 75 minutes.