Finland once again an EU star in education

Already nearly a quarter of EU teenagers considered weak readers

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The European Union is lagging behind badly in achievement of its educational goals, the EU Commission reported on Wednesday.
      Only Finland has reached all of its benchmarks, even though it, too, did not make it to the very top in every single sector.
      The reading ability of the 15-year-olds within the Union has even weakened since 2000. As far as their literacy is concerned, 23 per cent of the member states’ 15-year-olds are now regarded as low performers.
      “Finland had only 4.8% low performers, followed by Ireland (12.1%) and Estonia (13.6%)”, the Commission reports.
      “Finland, the top performer in 2000, managed to reduce its already low share of low achievers even further and reported the highest relative reduction in low performers (more than 31%).”
     
Finland can hold its head up high also when it comes to life-long learning activities.
      According to the EU Commission, “one out of four of the adult population in the EU have high educational attainment, but this is far behind the performance of both the US and Japan (40%). Only Finland and Norway have high education attainment rates above 35%.”
      The number of working-age adults within the EU with low educational attainment is 77 million, which corresponds to nearly a third of the Union’s 25 to 64-year-olds.
      In order for the European Union to reach the United States’ level of educational attainment, an additional EUR 200 billion per year should be invested in higher education, the Commission recommends.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  OECD praises Finnish education again (13.9.2006)
  PISA Conference visits Finland to learn secrets of scholastic success (15.3.2005)
  OECD comparison report: Finns educate themselves longer and longer (9.9.2009)
  OECD study: Finland has least mandatory classes in comprehensive school (19.9.2007)

Links:
  European Commission Education & Training: Progress towards the Lisbon objectives in education and training - Indicators and benchmarks 2009
  Full version of the 2009 report (.pdf file)
  Europa Press Release 25.11.

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