Do you know that the age of compulsory schooling in Finland extends to 18 years? Knowledge of this change was disclosed to us at an event we co-hosted with Moniheli through the “Omapolku” project on March 7th. The change comes into immediate effect this year (2021).
Extending compulsory schooling to 18 entails every child living in Finland has an obligation to enroll in a compulsory education. The law obliges both a prodiver of basic or upper secondary education and parents or guardians to ensure that every child fulfills his/her compulsory education. This change also makes Upper secondary education entirely free of charge, and that students will not pay for mandatory school materials and services.
During the online session, Omapolku’s peer tutor, Hope Nwosu provided information about the Finnish education system as well as the various options ranging from kindergarten to University. The information session package was followed by Q&A and discussion among the participants, during which participants shared opinions and discussed basic and early childhood education issues in the Finnish context.
The role of parents in Finland was naturally a central topic of discussion.
There seems to be a general feeling that Parents should be active in collaborating with school authorities (teachers, curators, principals), engaging in proactive discussions, and asking crucial questions . Parents might and often think that, when the education system is understood to be perfect, they do not need to be active and contribute to pupil continuous development. Unfortunately, this is a misguided perception and parents in Finland must be and indeed need to be involved practically in children’s academic and educational growth by being aware of the process and willing to provide adequate support.
There is dire need for strong cooperation between parents, students, teachers and study counselors, so as to provide substantial support. Unfortunately, during the discussions, it was also highlighted that many parents do not know the existence, purpose and benefit of cooperating with school study counselors. In middle and upper secondary school for instance, study counselors are responsible for providing guidance related to academic, educational or career choices.
Parents could contact study counselors by phone, email or Wilma (web interface for the student administration) and arrange meetings to discuss a child’s study and career paths.
Finnish language competence and skills or the lack of such soft skills of foreign parents poses challenges of limitations (how much is understood; and how active they communicate with schools, etc.
However, in many schools parents have the right to request for professional interpreters to facilitate discussions.
Another thing we learned in this event was that from August, 2022, preparatory trainings for upper secondary education known as tenth grade, VALMA (‘Valmistava Luokka’) and LUVA (‘lukioon valmistava’) will be combined into one training called TUVA (‘tutkintokoulutukseen valmentava’). During TUVA training, students would be able to focus on their future study plans, improve the grades of basic education or complete some subjects as part of upper secondary and vocational education. TUVA education is a one year transition period between primary school and upper secondary school.
We welcome you to attend our next session in May. More information on this will be announced on our Facebook page.
Here are useful links to help parents support their children’s education and career choices:
1.Studyinfo.fi-service: https://studyinfo.fi/wp2/en/
2.Ohjaamo: https://ohjaamot.fi/etusivu
3.TE-services’s counseling for education and career: http://www.te-palvelut.fi/te/en/jobseekers/career_education_training/choosing_occupation_educational/support_concerning_education_career/index.html
4.(FI) AVO ammatinvalintaohjelma: https://asiointi.mol.fi/avo/responsive/front-page.xhtml
5.(FI) Kunkoululoppuu.fi: https://www.kunkoululoppuu.fi/
6.Esim. Ammatinvalintatesti duunikone: https://www.kunkoululoppuu.fi/duunikone/
7.Esim. Lukio vai amis? -testi: https://www.kunkoululoppuu.fi/lukio-vai-amis-testi/
8.(FI) Ammattibarometri.fi: https://www.ammattibarometri.fi/
9.https://pokka.kukunori.fi/moniheli/16bc2c57-d539-4fa3-af85-b9b2f4fb8e54
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Post written by Senghor Nkuliza (Outreach Lead; Treasurer) of Think Africa
