Finland vs USA Education System

Logo for Ministry of Education in Finland,

Finland is the number one happiest country in the world, the US is number 18, and their education systems might have something to do with it.

Finland is a noticeably innovative country when it comes to its education system, and its innovation has shown results. Finland is consistently one of the highest performing countries on the PISA (Program for International Student Assessment,)one of the more important tools for measuring education systems around the world.

    Here are some things that Finland does better than the United States when it comes to education.

1. Better standardized tests

Finnish students take only one standardized test in their entire primary and secondary schooling. In contrast, the US, directed by No Child Left Behind and Common Core instruction, requires students from third to eighth to take annual standardized tests to track performance.
    The Finnish test is called National Matriculation Examination and it is taken at the end of high school. This test is graded by teachers, not computers and it isn’t cautious of more complex concepts.
       2.  College tuition is completely free
    In Finland, bachelor, master, and doctoral degrees are completely free. Students feel free to pursue higher education goals without worrying about loads of student debt that many Americans face. And the same deal goes for foreign students. Tuition is 100% free for any student accepted into a college or graduate program in Finland.
    This greatly contrasts with the US. In 2017, the average student loan debt was 37,000.
       3.  More time for play
    Finnish students spend very little time on homework. In a 2014 study on 15-year-olds around the world by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said that on average, Finnish students spend about 2.8 hours on homework a week. This is a very small amount of time compared to the 6.1 hours Americans spend on homework per week.
    Fins put a lot of value on free time and play. By law, teachers must give 15 minutes of free time for every 45 minutes of work or lecture time, wherein the US, kids and teens typically get less than half an hour of free time a day.
      4.  Teaching is one of the more respected professions
    Teachers in Finland aren’t underpaid like the ones in the US. Actually, they’re valued a lot. In Finland, the average teaching salary is about 70,000 per year.  This is insanely high compared to the 35,000 that US teachers earn each year.
Teaching is such an important occupation because Finland puts a lot of dependence on their children as the foundation for the development of the future.

To become a teacher in Finland, the candidate must have at least a masters degree and complete the equivalent of a residency program in US medical schools. As a result, teachers strive to make the best learning environment possible
   
As you can see, maybe the US could learn a few things from Finland with our annual standardized tests, overly expensive college tuition, small amount of free time, and our under-appreciated, underpaid teachers.
 
Story by Ava Macie 

Works Cited
Taylor, Adam. “26 Amazing Facts About Finland's Unorthodox Education System.” Business Insider, Business Insider, 14 Dec. 2011, www.businessinsider.com/finland-education-school-2011-12#in-an-international-standardized-measurement-in-2001-finnish-children-came-top-or-very-close-to-the-top-for-science-reading-and-mathematics-25.
Tung, Stephen. “How the Finnish School System Outshines U.S. Education.” Stanford University, 20 Jan. 2012, news.stanford.edu/news/2012/january/finnish-schools-reform-012012.html.
Weller, Chris. “8 Reasons Finland's Education System Puts the US Model to Shame.” Business Insider, Business Insider, 6 Dec. 2017, www.businessinsider.com/finland-education-beats-us-2017-5.

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