Since August 2020, more than 18,000 users have shared on social media claiming that private education in Finland is “forbidden” , “eliminated” or “abolished” . In September 2021, it circulated again, but it is false: Finland does have private schools. What is prohibited is basic education for profit.
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Since August 2020, more than 18,000 users have shared on social media claiming that private education in Finland is “forbidden” , “eliminated” or “abolished” . In September 2021 it circulated again, but it is false: Finland does have private schools. What is prohibited is basic education for profit.
The statements circulating on Facebook about the Finnish education system are diverse. "A few years ago, Finland abolished private education," this user writes . “Finland has the best education in the world and private education is prohibited, all education from kindergarten to university is PUBLIC” , says another of the sentences ( 1 , 2 , 3 ).
Another version, shared again in September 2021 by thousands of users, states : “Private schools are prohibited in Finland. Since rich children must go to the same school as poor children, their parents make sure that the schools are excellent .
Few, but private schools exist
Reetta Niinimäki, assistant attaché at the Finnish embassy in Spain, explained to AFP Factual: "Private education is not prohibited in Finland, but for-profit basic education is . "
Niinimäki referred to a note published on the embassy page in 2019 on the educational system of the Nordic European country, in which the following figure is given: there were then 416 basic education centers in the country, of which 95 were private. "In Finland, basic education can be organized by municipalities, groups of municipalities, the State or private centers that have obtained a government authorization ," says the note.
Uruguayan Doctor of Education Lidia Barboza , who worked in Finland, said in an email to AFP Factual that in Finland "there is no conception of private education at the compulsory level [from 7 to 16 years old] as a for-profit company . " Private education is "government-dependent" since it "depends on public funding ," she explained.
“There are private schools in Finland, but they offer the same education based on the national education plan, just like public schools. Private schools get funding from the state and cannot charge fees” to generate profit, according to Niinimäki, who added that private schools need government permission to operate.
About the 1970s that some viral posts talk about , Niinimäki pointed out that in 1968 the law of basic education came into force, which was implemented during the following decade throughout Finland. “The rumors about 'private schools' may be based on the type of schools that existed before the reform law” , since it “forced the municipalities to offer public basic education” .
Based on this law, “the nine-year compulsory and free basic education system was created. The basic education reform [up to age 16, NDLR] drastically equalized Finnish society ,” the embassy source noted. Early childhood education, up to the age of seven, is free and compulsory since 2015 .
This Finnish national statistics page recalls that in the 1970/1971 school year, “55% of upper secondary school students attended private institutions. The situation changed, however, with the educational reform. Most of the state and private upper secondary general schools passed into the hands of the municipalities. During the 2005/2006 school year, 8% of upper secondary school students attended private schools” .
Preschool and compulsory basic education (7-16 years, also called "comprehensive"), are organized by the municipal authorities and are free, although there are also private "early childhood" and comprehensive centers. After the compulsory stage, upper secondary education is also usually free for students. Later, the higher education offered by the universities can be “free or subject to payment” .
The comprehensive school, the Finnish Ministry of Education clarifies in its virtual headquarters , is maintained thanks to municipal authorities and other providers: "Less than 2% of comprehensive school students go to private or state centers . "
In the Frequently Asked Questions section of the page of the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture, one can read about it: “Private schools (schools not run by the Government or local authorities) have not been abolished, although they are very few: only 2% of all schools are private .
"Basic education is free for students" , states the embassy note, although there are exceptions such as "centres with teaching in foreign languages or in Finnish schools abroad" , which can charge tuition.
According to the note from the embassy referred to above, “in Finland a few very small private schools operate without government authorization” , which do not receive public money “nor do they have permission to issue certificates of study” . "The municipality where the student resides monitors her progress and issues the transcript" in these cases, says the statement.
Therefore, the claims that private education has been abolished or banned in Finland are false: private schools still exist, even though basic education is free for students and even private schools that provide it cannot have the profit. A 1968 reform of the Finnish educational system changed access to education, but did not eliminate the private part.