Finnish school system

Finnish school system

There must be a certain reason, why the Finnish school system is considered to be one of the best school systems in the whole world. I spent three months in a primary school in Turku and had the chance to see a little bit behind the scenes. The biggest differences I recognized were the breaks, free lunch and education and WILMA - more about it on this blog:

After every lesson ,which last just 45 minutes, the pupils have to go outside and freshen their brains. Even it's very cold outside this 15 minute break between each lesson is obligatory. The pupils are not allowed to stay inside.

All the pupils are staying at school over lunch which allows them to end schooldays at 1 or 2 pm. Additionally, the lunch break is quite early. They eat that early to have half of the lessons before lunch and half of it are held after lunch. The lunch is paid by the government, more exactly by the taxes.

Also the education is free in Finland to anyone. From kindergarten until university, students don't have to pay anything in order to get education. The students get a grant from the Finnish welfare system so that they can afford a flat as well handle their daily life. The grant is around € 500.- a month. If it's not enough, the students can apply for a study grant. The study grant have to be paid back. My home country Switzerland supports us as students as well. But they do not provide for example a study grant which you can use for paying a flat. By the Swiss law, parents have to provide their child money for a first education such as a apprenticeship or university. Having provided a grant like Finland does to its inhabitants is very nice.

In the online system called WILMA all the teachers can mark if a pupil was absent, forgot something at home or did not behave well. Just the teacher and the students parents have access to it. It's a easy tool to communicate between teacher and parent.