The PISA tests consistently show that Finland is number one in Europe in educational attainments. Spain has not been doing well, and the government knows that the lack of education in the citizenry is a major source of Spain’s economic problems.
An article in ABC describes the results of research into the differences in education between the two countries. 8% of Finish children do not finish high school; 30% of Spanish children do not finish.
(some of the following is from the longer Kindle version of the article)
An educational psychologist from Barcelona studied the differences, and discovered some surprises.
More than half of Finnish 4-5 year olds are NOT in pre-school.
They do not start school until 7 years old; their brains are better developed then and they learn to read in two months.
Finnish children spend 608 hours a year in school; Spanish children spend 875 hours a year in school.
Finnish children do not have excessive homework.
Schools do not foster competition; students do not get grades until the fifth grade,
During the first six years most students have the same teacher for all six years.
Education and all education materials are free through university.
Parents take responsibility for their children’s education; 80% of families visit the library every weekend.
The Finnish consider children to be the national treasure and entrust their education only to the most qualified professionals in the nation.
Finland spend 12% of its budget on education.
The examinations for primary school teachers are the most rigorous examinations in the whole country.
In addition to achieving an average of 90% in t classes, teachers must demonstrate communication skills, empathy, artistic sensibility, knowledge of mathematics and technology.
Teachers are highly honored; many want to enter the profession; Finnish pay, although good, is LOWER than Spanish pay for these positions.
Korea and Japan archive a high level of education but an enormous cost to their students; 50 hours a week of homework, endless tutoring, stress, and suicide.
The Finnish have a humane system which produces the best education citizens in the European Union. The key is excellent teachers in the lower grades when children are most malleable. Alas, in the US college students who can’t make it in other courses of study too often go into primary education. In Baltimore some of the public primary school teachers are semi-literate. Any education that goes on in the schools is largely coincidental. The schools exist to provide middle-class jobs to people who could otherwise not attain them, and those people in turn give money to the politicians (almost always Democrats) who funnel money into this failed system, in return for votes. The children and ultimately the nation suffer; especially the inner-city children who cannot afford the superior private system and are locked into poverty and dependency on government, which throws them crumbs in return for their votes.
The Democrats generally support this failed system; but Republicans are unwilling to spend the money for an excellent public system, even if we could replace the current crop of teachers with teachers as qualified as the Finnish one.
How does the Finnish school system correlate to family life? Marriage, two parents, ability of one parent to bring in enough income, income taxation. How is it possible for one parent to stay home to take care of the children until age seven?
I found this information. The majority of mothers of small children are not employed. Some see this as a problem. The situation may hurt the Finnish birthrate, but it may also help the educational attainments of Finnish children (who do better than Swedish children).
In many respects Finland does well in reconciling work and family life. The female employment rate in Finland, at 66%, is well above the OECD average of 55%, and more than 9 out of 10 Finnish woman and mothers who have jobs in employment work full-time.
Behind these figures, there are causes for concern though. Only half of the mothers with very young children are employed (about 20 percentage points lower than in Sweden), and 44% of female employees in their twenties have a temporary employment contract, leading to job insecurity. Many Finnish women find it difficult to combine a career with motherhood: 27% of women in their early 40s who have completed the second stage of tertiary education are childless, compared with only 15% of 40-year old Swedish women.
The Finnish model of work and family reconciliation stands out in international comparison because of the manner in which it provides choice to parents with young children. Finnish policy reduces barriers to employment by providing all families with young children with guaranteed access to a subsidised childcare place. Home Care payments provide financial support to those who do not make use of the childcare offer. Because childcare is relatively expensive, most of the larger municipalities make additional Home Care payments to discourage use of local government childcare facilities. As a result, the financial incentives in the current system tilt the balance of work and care options towards mothers choosing to stay at home: only 44% of 2- year olds are in formal childcare (compared to 85% in Sweden).
Why have the Scandanavians been on the cutting edge of social legislation? In terms of social safety nets, education, etc. The Netherlands and Germany are ahead of Canada which in turn is ahead of the US, but the Scandinavians are ahead of everyone! The embarasing thing (for more pius countries) is that the norse are not particularly religious.
Since there is more time for bonding with parents if the children do not go to school until age seven; then, maybe, a more bonded child is a happier child. Happier children are more educable, more hopeful, less likely to become depressed should life not be a bed of roses. Maybe this is more important than the emotional ties derived from organized religious rituals. Comments here have pointed out that organized religious rituals do not always provide emotional support for the distressed.