Radio | News week in plain Finnish | Saturday 16 March 2024

Changes in the Finnish primary school.

The topic of the news week is the Finnish primary school. There are bigger differences between schools in Finland than before. The learning results of young Finns are also worse than before. In Finland, so few children are born that schools will have to be closed in the future. We will tell you more about all this now.

Differences between schools

The differences between schools are even greater in Finland. In some schools, the majority of students do well. In some schools, on the other hand, children’s learning results are poor.

A child’s family background has an even greater influence on which school the child goes to. There are schools in Finland where families with many children have many different problems. This affects children’s school success.

If the child’s parents have a high education and a good salary, the child is often sent to a school with a good reputation. In such schools, children often get good grades.

In the capital region, some schools have many students with an immigrant background. Children with an immigrant background may have problems with the Finnish language, for example.

Learning outcomes

The learning results of Finnish youth are worse than before. Young people’s literacy is worse than before. Young people also know mathematics worse than before.

However, the learning results of Finnish young people are still better than in many other European countries. Children’s learning results are even worse in other parts of Europe.

Closing schools

There will soon be so few children in Finland that municipalities will have to close schools. Not all schools have enough students. Especially small schools in rural areas must be closed.

Many municipalities in Finland have only 1 primary school. At the same time, children’s journey to school is longer than before.

In 2030, there will be perhaps 80,000 fewer elementary school students in Finland than now.

Repeat

The topic of the news week was a Finnish elementary school. Let’s repeat the most important things. There are bigger differences between schools than before. The learning results of young Finns have weakened. Schools will have to be closed in the future, because only a few children are born in Finland.

This was Uutisviikko in plain Finnish, see you again. Goodbye!