Education at a Glance: Long study periods in Finland

Lags in moving into higher educational levels slow down the transition to the labour market.

In Finland, 86% of all 15 to 19-year-olds participate in education, which is slightly over the OECD average. One half of all 19-year-olds are enrolled in education in Finland, whereas the equivalent OECD average is close to 60%. Conscription partly explains the discrepancy in Finland but the main reason is that entry places for students immediately after secondary education is more limited in Finland than in most OECD countries. New rules that favour first-time applicants might alter the situation for this age group though. The data are based on figures for 2012.

Over 40% of those aged between 20 and 29 are enrolled in education in Finland, which is the second highest figure in the OECD after Denmark. In six OECD countries (Mexico, Luxembourg, Great Britain, Italy, France and Slovakia) the ratio of 20 to 29-year-olds participating in education is less than half that in Finland and Denmark. Naturally, it is expedient for nations if young age groups are highly educated, but the problem in Finland is that young people graduate later than their counterparts in other countries and enter the labour market at an older age.

The projected number of years of education for five-year-old children before they reach the age of 40 is 18 years in Finland, which is one of the longest in the OECD countries. The average duration in the OECD is nearly 1½ years shorter. With many countries having stepped up their supply of education, variation between different countries in the years of education has levelled off in recent years.

Children in other countries attend early childhood education from an early age

One of the education policy objectives of the European Union is to make sure that all children attend early childhood education from an early age. The aim is to ensure that 95% of all children from the age of four to the age when they start school take part in early childhood education. Finland does not meet this objective. This is partly because children in family day care are not included in the figures for early childhood education in international statistical data. Statistics Finland has estimated that once those in family day care are included in the statistics, the participation rate for Finland will increase by 10 percentage points to nearly 70%.

Over 80% of all four-year-olds already participate in early childhood education in the OECD countries. In many countries, such as France, Belgium, Great Britain, Luxembourg and Denmark, early childhood education for four-year-olds is universal. The participation rate in Finland has risen in recent years but still remains much below the OECD average. Altogether 59% of Finnish four-year-olds have access to early childhood education (in child day care centres where there are qualified kindergarten teachers).

School starts at the age of seven in Sweden and Finland while in the rest of the Nordic countries it starts at the age of six. More than nine in ten four-year-olds take part in early childhood education in all Nordic countries apart from Finland. This shows that Finland differs significantly from its reference group in the way it organises early childhood education.

Rise in educational level of population slowed down

Especially younger age groups in Finland have tended to have a high level of educational attainment relative to the rest of the OECD countries. However, comparative international studies reveal that growth in Finland has clearly slowed down in recent years. For instance, the figures for 2005 show that the proportion of people in Finland with tertiary education (university or polytechnic degree) among the adult population aged between 25 and 64 ranked in sixth place, whereas in 2012 Finland had dropped to tenth place.
The proportion of Finnish people whose educational attainment is below secondary level is much smaller than the OECD average but higher than in some countries in Europe, such as Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Slovenia. This is probably in part because Finland?s baby boom generation affects the statistics. Many of those born in the baby boom years in the 1950s and 1960s were not able to enrol in education because the supply of entry places was limited, which meant that many failed to gain formal qualifications.

Since formal qualifications do not reveal the whole truth about people?s competencies, the OECD uses the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) to assess performance in literacy, numeracy and problem-solving skills in a technology-rich environment among those of working age. Finland ranks among the best in literacy together with Japan, Sweden and the Netherlands. Very few of those with education that is below secondary school level rank in the highest performance levels (levels 4 and 5) in literacy, but Finland?s figure together with Norway and Australia was second best after Japan.

In the OECD countries on average, 12% of the population ranks in one or the other of the highest literacy levels. The figure is 10 percentage points higher in Finland and Japan, and 37% of those with tertiary level education reached levels 4 and 5 in literacy in these two countries.

Competitive salaries for teachers in secondary education

The salaries of female teachers teaching in secondary level schools in Finland are one quarter better than those of all other females with a tertiary level degree (universities, polytechnics, colleges). In the OECD on average, female teachers are only slightly better paid than all women with tertiary level qualifications. The relative position of male teachers is similar in international studies. However, male teachers teaching in secondary schools are slightly less well paid than other males with similar qualifications.

In relation to the national payroll structure, teachers in primary and secondary schools are better paid in Finland than their colleagues in the rest of the OECD. However, both male and female teachers working in primary and secondary schools fall short of the general wage level of those with comparable educational qualifications. Using this indicator of relative wages is problematic in Finland, because in this country teachers? salaries are compared with the salaries of all those who have graduated from university, polytechnic or college, even though teachers who hold a permanent position as teacher must have a Master?s level degree from university.
Inquiries:

- Mr Matti Kyrö, Counsellor of Education (Finnish National Board of Education), tel. +358 (0)295 3 31114
- www.oecd.org