Contexts of migration

Legislative development responsibilities are divided between ministries and preparatory responsibilities for committees. For example, the Ministry of Education and Culture is responsible for developing legislation related to education in accordance with the current Government Program, and the Education and Culture Committee is responsible for preparing decisions.

Self-governed municipalities are responsible for organizing basic services (e.g. health care, social welfare, educational and cultural services and technical services) for citizens. There are 310 municipalities in Finland currently. Many municipalities are quite small in population, and in 2019 the average population of municipalities was less than 18,000 residents and the median population was about 6,000 residents. (Association of Finnish Municipalities.)

In the past hundred years, the emphasis on the economic structure has shifted from a agricultural sector to a service sector. In 2017, 74% of the population worked in service industries and administration, 22% in manufacturing and only 4% in agriculture and forestry. (Statistics Finland a.). Finland has about 5.5 million inhabitants, of whom almost 1.7 million lived in the province of Uusimaa, which also covers the capital. (Statistics Finland b.). The settlement is largely concentrated in large cities and their agglomerations. In Finland, the principle of a local school is followed, according to which a large number of schoolchildren go to the school in the neighbouring area, although not always the nearest one, assigned to them by the municipality. However, large-scale migration due to urbanization has created challenges for sparsely populated areas when school trips for some pupils have clearly lengthened. The aging of the population and the declining birth rate also pose challenges in Finnish society. At the end of 2019, approximately 16% of those under 15 years of age and 22% of those over 65 years of age. In Finland, the population dependency ratio was last higher than this in 1922. (Statistics Finland c.) The dependency ratio also varies significantly from region to region. There is only a little corruption and organized crime in Finland. Citizens also experience confidence in the judiciary, the police, the defense forces and the media. In addition, free elections and the purity of nature have been widely regarded as societal successes. In many respects, Finland has succeeded in comparisons measuring gender equality, the well-being of children and mothers, as well as education. (Statistics Finland d.)

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The basis of the current basic education was established in Finland in the 1960s. Teacher education is a master profession, teachers have strong autonomy and basic education is based on national and local curriculums. The national curriculum is updated every ten years. Because the diversity of Finnish schools has increased significantly over the years, among other things more multilingualism, language awareness and cultural diversity have been added to the latest curriculum (National Board of Education 2014).

In PISA surveys, Finnish education has appeared successful in many ways over time. In the latest PISA2018 Finnish young students were again among the top performers in reading literacy, even though there are noticeable boys’ weaker reading skills than girls’ and their very low reading motivation in results of Finland. The commitment to reading explained the variation in the results in Finland even more than in other OECD countries. Performance in mathematical literacy and science literacy is still better in Finland than the OECD average.

The generally recognized value base of Finnish education is to guarantee a quality education for all children, regardless of their background. Differences between schools are the smallest of all in Finland when schools’ differences were compared internationally. Nevertheless, studies’ results also cause concerns. Very alarming is that the performance of students with the second generation immigrant background were significantly weaker compared the performance of native population. Also immigrants’ educational transitions and the completion of upper secondary studies requires development efforts. Attention will also be paid to preventing the formation of skills gaps within schools and the territorial differentiation of schools in large cities. The impact of socioeconomic background on student competence was noticeable throughout all participating countries in the PISA assesses and these findings only more underline how important it is still to promote the equal education in goal-oriented and concrete way.

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The goal of the Finnish education system is a complete continuum between education levels. The education system consists of early childhood education and care, pre-primary education, basic education (comprehensive school), upper secondary education (vocational education or general upper secondary education), higher education (universities of applied sciences and universities) and adult education.

In Finland, children have the right to early childhood education, which is organised by municipalities or private service providers and implemented by early childhood education teachers and childminders in day care centres and family day care. In addition, there may be open guided early childhood education activities for children who are otherwise in home care. The goal of early childhood education is to support the child’s development and well-being in a planned and versatile way. Each child has their own individual early childhood education and care plan and the guardians also take an active role in the preparation. If necessary, children can also receive special education or support in Finnish or Swedish. The days in early childhood education typically involve a lot of play and outdoor activities.

Before starting comprehensive school, usually six-year-old children have to attend pre-primary education for a year. The aim of pre-primary education is to strengthen the preconditions for children’s learning and development. Pre-primary education is free of charge and is arranged in a kindergarten, school or as a purchased service from a private entity. Early childhood education teachers and classroom teachers are eligible to provide pre-primary education.

All children who live permanently in Finland have to also participate in basic education i.e. comprehensive school. Comprehensive school usually begins when children are seven-year-old and it usually lasts for nine years. According to the Basic Education Act, the aim is to support growth for humanity and ethically responsible membership in society, as well as to provide other necessary knowledge and skills. There are more than 2,000 schools providing basic education in Finland. Comprehensive schools are mainly upheld by municipalities, where the majority of students (98%) study (Association of Finnish Municipalities). Comprehensive school is free, including study materials and daily meal. Pupils are also provided with health care, three-step support and other support services. Basic education teachers have a master’s degree; classroom teachers in grades 1-6 have most often specialised in educational sciences and subject teachers in grades 7-9 have specialised in the subjects they teach. Teaching is guided by national and local curricula, but teachers also have a lot of autonomy to influence the implementation of teaching in Finland.

If a child or young person has just moved to Finland, he of she can receive preparatory education for basic education, and the aim is to develop the their Finnish or Swedish language skills and other school skills. Preparatory education usually lasts a year and a student has own study programme, which defines e.g. objectives, possible support measures and integration into age-appropriate mainstream education groups. After the preparatory teaching, the student can still study Finnish or Swedish as a second language (S2/R2), if he or she needs support in learning the language. After basic education, if the language skills are not yet sufficient for upper secondary education, the student can apply for LUVA or VALMA which prepare and train for upper secondary schools.

The most common options for upper secondary education are vocational schools and general upper secondary schools which upheld by municipalities and last for about three years. Secondary education is still mostly free, but students have to buy the learning materials. General upper secondary education is providing general knowledge and leading to the matriculation examination, while vocational education is more practical and offering the initial vocational qualification which can be continued to the further or specialist vocational qualifications. After the second degree, studies can be continued in higher education i.e. universities of applied sciences or universities.

Adult education is for adults and includes several options from basic education to higher education.

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Immigration and the visibility of cultural diversity have increased significantly in Finland over the last three decades, and the number of migrants has doubled between 2000 and 2019 (Statistics Finland e.). About 8 % of the population has a foreign background currently (Statistics Finland f.). The most common background countries of people with foreign background living in Finland are the former Soviet Union/Russia, Estonia, Iraq, Somalia and the former Yugoslavia (Statistics Finland g.). ​​In addition to Finnish and Swedish there are spoken about 150 other languages in Finland (Institute for the Languages of Finland).

Immigration in Finland is still clearly lower than in other Nordic countries. The population with an immigrant background is concentrated in larger centres especially in Southern Finland, and already the majority of immigrants live in the metropolitan area (Statistics Finland f.). Though, with the large flows of asylum seekers in 2015, reception centres were established also in smaller localities. However the amount of encounters and experiences related to cultural diversity still varies significantly across Finland.

In official goals of immigration policy are formulated to promote integration rather than assimilation. However, and the public discussion about immigration has lately become more polarized, and anti-immigration conceptions have also gained more ground in the political arena. Legislative preparation related to immigration policy is based on the guidelines of the current government, the common migration and asylum policy of the EU and international agreements. The Ministry of the Interior is responsible for immigration policy, and the Finnish Immigration Service, which operates under the Ministry of the Interior, handles matters concerning individuals, produces information for authorities and organizations, and maintains a register of people with foreign background. The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment is responsible for implementing the integration act. There is also the Non-Discrimination Ombudsman whose task is to promote equality and tackle discrimination. In addition to state and municipal officials, various voluntary organizations act as a significant support resource in Finland.

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In Finland all levels of education were transferred to distance learning on a fast schedule in March 2020. Distance teaching is provided online, and schools loaned computers to homes. For specific reasons only, a small proportion of students and staff worked in school buildings under exceptional arrangements. Students returned to contact learning for two weeks in May, after which the students’ summer holiday began in June.

The exception period significantly increased the stress not only on teachers but also on families. In particular, the resources of families of children receiving special and intensified support were weakened. One major concern was that some students were poorly reached or not reached at all during the distance period. On the other hand, during the corona period, optimism was also experienced through a reduction in the pressures associated with hurry and social situations, and distance learning was even felt to improve children’s coping. Hence many guardians hope flexible teaching arrangements in the future as well. (Kankaanranta & Kantola 2020.)

In August 2020 schools began the fall semester mainly in contact teaching. Particular attention will continue to be paid to the prevention of infections, and nobody should go to early childhood education, school or workplace if they have any symptoms of respiratory infection until the possibility of a coronavirus infection has been ruled out by tests. Large public events are still not recommended. The corona situation is constantly monitored and schools switch to distance learning if the epidemiological situation so requires. Universities and universities of applied sciences still organize their teaching as distance teaching largely.