How does Finland’s top-ranking education system work?

BIG THINK

The key to Finland's success is to view education not as a privilege, but a right.​

Finland has been a top contender on every Program for International Student Assessment survey. The country built a comprehensive education structure designed to offer citizens free education with no dead ends. The inspiration for Finland's approach was American education research and philosophers such as John Dewey. Finland's education system enjoys a lot of buzz lately. It is considered one of the best education systems in the world. It routinely outperforms the United States in reading, science, and mathematics. And it has been a top performer since the first Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) triennial international survey back in 2000.

But ask someone what's so great about Finland's schools, and you'll typically be supplied with a factoid or three. They have shorter school days. They don't do standardized tests. They all must be smart because the Finnish language is a nightmare.

While these facts are true — except for that last one — they miss Finland's well-raked forests for its trees. Finland's education system works because its entire structure has been around several core principles. First and foremost, equal access to education is a constitutional right. Another important principle is that one should be allowed to choose their educative path, which should never lead to a dead end.

Here's how Finland's education system works to meet those principles.

Finland's early education is designed around concepts of learning through play.

Imagine you're a Finnish parent (or you are one, in which case, hyvää päivää). You've received state-sponsored maternity leave, a maternity grant, and even a wee-baby care box that doubles as a bed, so you can enjoy those first precious months in one of best countries to raise children. Now, you're starting to think about your child's education.

Don't worry, you have time. Finnish children aren't required to go to school until age 6, when pre-primary education begins. You are free to spend those early years playing, teaching, and bonding with your little one. If you want to start your child's education earlier, the Finnish system offers an expansive early childhood education and care (ECEC) program, too.

The program adopts a "learning through play" model to promote "balanced growth," according to the Finnish National Agency for Education's website. Although guided by the National Core Curriculum for ECEC, your local municipality handles ECEC services and has broad autonomy, allowing resident administrators to make the calls regarding budget, class size, and educational aims.

There will be a fee, but one that is heavily subsidized. Parents foot roughly 14 percent of the total bill, but the burden placed on individual households is based on income and number of children. The program is evidently popular, as Finland's enrollment rate for children ages 3 to 5 stands at nearly 80 percent.

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フィンランドの教育成功の鍵は、教育を受けることが特権ではなく権利と捉えていることでしょう。

フィンランドは、すべての国際学生評価プログラムの調査でトップの最有力候補です。 この国は、行き止まりのない無料の教育を市民に提供するように設計された包括的な教育構造を構築しました。 フィンランドのアプローチのインスピレーションは、アメリカの教育研究とジョン・デューイなどの哲学者でした。

フィンランドの教育システムは最近多くの話題を集めています。これは、世界で最高の教育システムの1つと考えられています。それは、読書、科学、数学の点で米国を定期的に上回っています。また、2000年の最初の国際学生評価プログラム（PISA）の3年ごとの国際調査以来、最高の成績を残しています。