OECD praises Finnish education again

Report finds that Finnish pupils are rarely made to repeat a grade

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A report published by the OECD on Tuesday finds that Finnish schools achieve good results, even though pupils are made to repeat a grade less frequently than in many other countries.
     The comparative study found that in 2003 reading skills among Finnish 15-year-olds were better than among their contemporaries in other countries. The results of the most recent Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) study will be released next year.
     According to the report, fewer than seven percent of Finnish pupils have to repeat a grade.
     For instance, in Switzerland, The Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Spain, Portugal, Germany, France, Turkey, and Mexico, more than 15 percent of primary school pupils are kept behind a year.
     The OECD finds that the Finnish education system is efficient in other ways as well: costs and use of time are about average.
     For instance, in 2003 6.1 percent of Finnish GDP was spent on education, while the OECD average is 6.3 percent, even though Finnish participation in education is more common than average.
     
One of the challenges for the future involves the shrinking size of the age groups.
     Only in seven OECD countries is the 5-14 year age bracket growing by 2015, and in Finland it will shrink more than the OECD average. However, the situation is even worse in Germany, Austria, and South Korea.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Finnish youngsters´ high score in mathematics surprises experts (7.12.2004)
  Finnish teens place number one in comparison of math skills (25.11.2004)
  OECD study: Finnish teenagers are best readers (5.12.2001)

Links:
  Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) web site

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