The Quality of Education and How to Apply It: The Miracle of the Finnish Experience in Education

If we look at developed countries, we see that one of the reasons for their renaissance is high-quality education that produces active, qualified individuals with high skills and knowledge who are capable of invention and creativity.

On the other hand, if we look at developing nations, we will notice that the poor quality of their education is the cause of their problems and their backwardness. It is not enough to have education; rather, quality standards must be achieved in this education, and this requires a rethinking of the educational system in these countries and work to reach quality in education.

So what is meant by “quality” education? What are the standards, and how do you achieve them? This is what we will discover in the next few lines.

Education problems in developing countries

Developing countries suffer from many problems in the education sector, the most important of which are:

1. The school dropout rates are very high.
2. Courses are based on stuffing and memorization.
3. Excessive and overwhelming homework, which deprives the student of comfort and pleasure at home and makes him see school as a means of torture and psychological punishment.
4. Lack of interest in activities, sports, and means of developing talents, especially for children.
5. A conventional approach to education that relies on indoctrination and recitation.
6. Neglecting the psychological aspect of the student and dealing with them harshly, imposing orders from the teacher and the administration, and directing verbal and physical insults at times.
7. Too many exams and tests determine the fate of the student, and this makes them resort to cheating without caring about the content of the subjects.
8. Discrimination between students according to their academic level or for other considerations causes psychological complexes among them and makes them hate school and study.
9. Lack of professional and personal criteria for selecting teachers and lack of interest in providing the teacher's material and psychological needs make them fall short in their work.
10. Schools and universities lack infrastructure and modern means of education.

The concept of quality in education

Quality, according to the dictionary, is the attainment of something of a high degree of efficiency, quality, and value.

Quality in education: It is the creation of a better educational environment so that the basic goal of education is achieved, which is to produce students with high levels of knowledge who possess the skills of logical and critical thinking, research, a sound personality, and the ability to express opinions.

Education quality standards

1. The quality of scientific curricula and courses.
2. The quality of the administrative and educational processes within the educational institution.
3. The quality of the infrastructure and public facilities in the educational institution.
4. The quality of academic achievement results.
5. Continuous improvement.

Mechanisms for achieving quality education

Quality in education is achieved through the following mechanisms:

1. Curriculum development: One of the most important steps toward quality education is to change and develop the curricula so that they are commensurate with the development taking place. Additionally, emphasis should be placed on scientific research, the adoption of contemporary technological methods, connecting education to reality and the labor market, and eschewing indoctrination, memorizing, and cramming practices that are unrelated to the development of the mind. Prioritize quality over quantity.
2. Taking care of the infrastructure of educational institutions and providing all their requirements for modern equipment, computers, and laboratories.
3. Paying attention to schools in cities and villages alike and unifying the educational system so that there is no difference in the quality of education between cities and villages.
4. Increasing education budgets allocated to schools and universities.
5. Taking good care of the human resources (teachers), who form the core of education and determine whether it is of high or low quality. This is done by selecting the most qualified among them, providing their material and moral needs, motivating them, developing their skills and tools, and subjecting them to ongoing training programs.
6. Compulsory and free education, at least at the primary level.
7. Focusing on discovering and developing the student's talents and skills, building their personality and psychological health, instilling a love of study within them by discovering their inclinations, and relieving pressure by relieving exams, tests, and homework.
8. Non-discrimination and fairness: One of the most important requirements for quality education is achieving equality among students and not discriminating against them on the basis of gender, religion, color, race, or family background.
9. Compatibility: That education systems are compatible with the real needs of society.
10. Child-friendly education: In other words, the child should be the first and last goal in the educational process, be keen to discover all his latent potentials and talents, and be given the opportunity to actively participate and express his opinion with confidence and frankness.
11. Sustainability: The education process needs permanent development, and this requires continued planning and development.
12. Studying the experiences of successful countries in education and drawing lessons from them.

The importance of quality in education

The importance of quality in education is represented in the following:

1. Raising the efficiency of the educational process and eliminating errors and defects.
2. Producing outputs (students) of high quality in all scientific, psychological, and physical aspects.
3. Increasing students' affiliation with the school or university and their desire to complete their educational attainment.
4. The spread of an atmosphere of cooperation, respect, and healthy human relations between students, teachers, and administration reduces problems and complaints that usually occur in schools.
5. Increasing the percentage of graduates and holders of higher degrees among the country's population will reflect positively on the country's progress and development.
6. The educational system has a high rating among the global education systems, and this makes the country's schools and universities a destination for students from all over the world.
7. Finland, a Scandinavian nation in northern Europe that joined the EU in 1995, was an agricultural nation with an economy that depended on what farmers produced. Today, it has a knowledge-based economy as a result of its distinctive educational experience, which led to the growth of Finland and transformed it into a welfare state. Even national statistics show that Finns are among the world's happiest people.
8. The experience of Finland in education is remarkable and is referred to with admiration; its students obtain prestigious centers in the world; it ranks first in the world in achieving quality in the educational process based on evaluations from international organizations; it is said that the committee that studied the Finnish experience stood amazed at the results of this experiment, which were proposed as a global model for adopting quality in education.
9. Finland surpassed the USA by 17% in the number of graduates from universities or technical institutes. The graduates percentage in Finland reached 93%, while in America it was 75%.
10. The first step Finland took was to eliminate some of the problems that Basi Salberg, a doctor at Harvard University and the spiritual father of the Finnish experience in education, called "education germs," which are:
    • The First germ: The large amount of material that focuses on quantity, not quality, and memorization, not understanding.
    • The second germ: The many exams and tests that exhaust the student and put them in constant tension.
    • The third germ: Homework that prevents the student from resting, enjoying their time, playing, and practicing hobbies.
    • The fourth germ: private lessons that turn the teacher into a greedy person who seeks profit and diverts them from their teaching and educational mission.
    • The Fifth Germ: Complex materials that do not benefit the student and are not related to their reality and inclinations. This includes the detailed information that is of interest only to those who specialize in it carefully.

Finland's miracle in education

Secrets of the Finnish experience that dazzled the world:

• Finland worked on the principle that “the student goes to school for fun and not for education.” The average time devoted to science is only about one hour, and the rest of the time is spent practicing sports, playing, and other activities. Children are not required to wear a uniform; rather, they wear what makes them comfortable, and this makes the school a pleasant place for the child to spend the most beautiful times.
• Finland rebuilt all schools and unified their system so that there would be no difference between city schools and their counterparts in villages, or between popular neighborhoods and affluent neighborhoods, and made all schools governmental, subsidized by the state, and completely independent of the state and the political system.
• Schools in Finland are without walls, so the student does not feel imprisoned, as they care about their feelings of reassurance and psychological comfort.
• Determining the number of students in the primary stage to be 12 students, who are cared for by three nannies, two teachers, and their assistants. The class in the middle and high school levels does not exceed 25 students, and they are divided into groups of 7 students, and each group has a private teacher and an assistant.
• Requiring all schools to allocate specific places for the library, sports fields, theater, activity hall, and wardrobes.
• Avoiding stuffing and diction and following the interactive education system, leaving the student with independence in choosing the study units that they have a tendency to study and satisfying their educational curiosity, helping them to choose the appropriate specialization when they grow up, and helping them solve problems on their own.
• No discrimination against students based on their educational background is permitted. This is done to motivate students with low performance to rise to the level of their peers, and they graduate with minor distinctions rather than honor certificates of excellence or failure-related letters of caution.

• The education system in Finland is not based on passing or failing at the end of the year. It is based on granting outstanding students numerical points to distinguish them from others.
• It is forbidden to give any child a “zero” score even if they don’t make any effort, so as not to get them frustrated.
• Education is free in Finland, and all student supplies are provided, including books and tools. At the beginning of each academic year, each student is given the latest electronic devices, including a smartphone, laptop, and tablet. Free meals are also provided.
• Paying attention to spreading a culture of respect and cooperation among all administrators, teachers, and students.
• After adolescence, the exam becomes available. The law stipulates that a child should not be tested until they are 11 years old. Education experts in Finland believe that exams lead to competition among young students (pre-adolescence), contrary to what Finland believes in, which is to create cooperation and partnership between them.
• Homework also does not exist in education in Finland, and if it does, it can be done in 10–20 minutes.
• Reducing the duration of school hours between 3 and 4 hours, including rest periods.
• Teachers are selected carefully and according to strict conditions, as only 11% of applicants are accepted for the teaching job, and the teacher is required to complete rigorous training before entering the teaching profession after earning a highly competitive master's degree. Since they only work 4 hours per day, they also emphasize not overtaxing the teacher, which makes them more at ease and gives them time to prepare lectures. They want to show them a lot of respect and importance.
• The same teacher stays with their students for a long period of up to 5 years, and this makes them aware of their strengths and weaknesses, in addition to establishing a strong and special relationship between them, so that they often call them by their first name.

In conclusion: Quality in education is a lifesaver

Achieving quality in education is extremely important, especially for developing countries that still suffer from a traditional and outdated education system.

Therefore, if these countries want to catch up with civilization and reach the ranks of developed countries, they must put quality education as a goal on their list of priorities, recruit all their experts and capabilities to achieve this goal, and create an environment conducive to it.