The Finnish Education Model is gaining interest in India because of its innovative educational strategies that emphasize creativity and skill-based education.
With experiential and hands-on learning gaining ground globally, the focus of education seems to be shifting towards imparting knowledge both inside and outside the classroom. Previous methodologies of rote learning are no longer effective. Schools and higher education institutes are introducing innovative educational strategies that emphasise on creativity and skill-based education replacing exams and monotonous lectures with summative assessments. Academic topics are connected with real life.
In order to introduce such far-reaching reforms in the Indian education system, a lot needs to be changed. A cue can be taken from the Finnish education system where equality, accessibility, and inclusivity are most important. Finland has been celebrated as one of the best educated countries in the world and The Economist ranked it at the top of their Educating for the Future Index (2019). What makes the system so special?
Finland has methodically constructed an apparatus for academia and learning that’s superior to other countries. For instance, teachers there are extensively trained and encouraged to gain experience before they are formally inducted as regular teachers after an entrance exam, interview, and work experience proof. Education is treated as a fundamental right rather than a privilege; schools are publicly funded, run by highly trained educators from government agencies and every Finnish child gets the same quality of education regardless of financial, geographical or social status. Curriculum reforms are also common every few years and the country has a large number of vocational high schools.
According to Shashank Goenka, managing director, Finland International School, Thane, which is based on the Finnish pedagogy, “The educational system in Finland differs from the standardised ones practised in India, where government-appointed experts and agencies develop a curriculum, teachers instruct from prescribed texts, and children memorise it before being tested in hours-long tests.”
Cornell University most recently announced a hike in tuition prices that brings the school one of the closest to the $90,000 mark, along with almost all Ivy League schools like Harvard.