School's out for the summer; 31,000 school-leavers put on their white caps
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Saturday marked the end of the school year in Finland, with graduation ceremonies at upper secondary schools culminating in the award of around 31,000 white caps to those who passed the matriculation exams.
Graduation from high school remains an important rite of passage in this education-conscious country, and in the afternoon following the ceremonies there are parties at home, with the new cap-holder plied with gifts, champagne, roses, and the inevitable remarks from distant relatives about how he or she has grown.
Later in the evening, the high school graduates - and plenty of other young people who have simply finished another year’s schooling - tend to congregate in town centres to let off steam. It can be liquid and rowdy, but police in Helsinki reported that things went off relatively quietly this year, despite large crowds in Kaivopuisto Park and on the beach at Hietaniemi.
This was perhaps a consequence of the unsettled and chilly weather, but some have claimed that young people, in the capital region at least, are taking a more negative attitude towards binge-drinking. It is regarded by some new urbanites as gauche and "something only the hicks do".
School is now officially out for the summer: pupils go back in mid-August.
Those who have completed their school education cannot necessarily rest, however. Some will be cramming for university entrance exams (competition is fierce and few, if any, will find a place on their school certificates alone), and many of the boys - and since 1995 even a few volunteer girls - are looking at doing their military service from July.
Helsingin Sanomat
