6.10 Current debates and reforms
On this page
On this page
Forthcoming policy developments
Based on the ‘Current issues’ published by The Ministry of Education and Culture on January 17th 2020, the Government is to prepare a report on education policy in the run up to 2030. The Ministry of Education and Culture has opened an online survey for everyone to collect feedback to supplement the preparations. The report, which will include the aforementioned comments, is based on, like the Ministry describes: ‘…the policies ensure that: The level of education and competence among the population can rise at all levels of education, differences in educational achievement can diminish, and educational equality can increase; children and young people can feel well; education and training can enhance gender equality and non-discrimination in society; and Finland can be an internationally attractive place in which to study, to conduct research and to invest.’
In addition, the Government programme includes the Futures work in comprehensive schools project (2023-2025), which is centered around three themes:
- Artificial intelligence and technology
- Core skills and learning
- Ecological and social sustainability
Long-term policy developments include also the vocational education and training (VET) Quality strategy 2030 (in Finnish), which was launched in 2018.
Ongoing debates
Financial aid for students
The webpage (News 11.4.2024) of the National Union of University Students in Finland (SYL) have deliberated over the ongoing media discussion on ‘what could be cut from three billion euros in public spending by the Finnish Government’. The opinion of SYL is spelt out clearly: ‘SYL’s message for the Government session on spending limits: things have gone beyond reasonable’. According to SYL: ‘The cuts in housing allowance already in force affect students dramatically, reducing their income by almost a fifth by 2027. Freezing the index increase of student financial aid also means the aid is insufficient, and an increase in the state guarantee for student loans puts students even further into debt. Any further deterioration of student income would inevitably lead to more students having to rely on basic social assistance.’
Environmental and social sustainability
The Finnish Education Evaluation Centre’s (FINEEC) statement (in Finnish), published on 13 February 2025, emphasizes the need to recognize educational inequality and advancing education for eco-social sustainability, as goals within Finland’s action plan for the Global 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
According to the 2024 VET policy brief produced by Cedefop, the socio-economic background continues to impact the education choices of Finnish students. Socio-economic inequalities are also intertwined with school segregation, which has been researched in the Finnish context for example by Sonja Kosunen, Sara Juvonen and Heidi Huilla (Eds.) in “School and Inequality” (Koulu ja eriarvoisuus, in Finnish) (2024).
In addition, structural racism and the need for education on anti-racism have been recognized as current challenges in the news piece Educational racism lives in norms and structures, which teachers ought to recognize (in Finnish), published by The Finnish National Agency for Education on 28 May 2024. The Ministry of Education and Culture reported (in Finnish) that new legislative means will come into force in 2022, in order to prevent school-based bullying, harassment, and violence.