Finnish School System - FACTS AND FICTION

[@heller285]

I wish I could study in Finland, but i'm just a foreigner. The education system in here (Asia) is really cruel

[@o.o7299]

How do you handle it? This might sound dumb, but is everyone smart since you all are taught a “harder” way? Like do you adapt to the hard conditions? If that makes sense, like do you think you’re better at problem solving bc you’ve been taught a harder way?

[@o.o7299]

ari WOW😮, that sounds really hard and is really stressful. I don’t know how you do it. Good job, don’t give up! Your hard work will pay off! Thank you for taking the time and explaining to me. Do you know what you want to be when you grow up? Is it harder to become a doctor or teacher for example in Singapore vs the USA? Is what you want to do harder in Singapore or the USA?

[@ahamedjunaid01]

@@ari3861 I'm Indian and it's the same for us. Just the names of the tests change - Tution Centres, Memorization over Learning, The Stress... everything.

[@sethjbp33]

Yup. I can even explain that to you, as the education system of Asia (I'm talking about India) is quite cruel though. You are supposed to be quite perfect & only if you have very highly educated, then only do people respect you. Otherwise, a person without any high education do not have any respect in the society OR in a more specific way, people will not care about you. They will consider you to be an useless piece of dirt!😔

[@j.nybergh7003]

@@ari3861 Thanks for the insight.

[@shinebaka5696]

The misunderstood concept of Education is it is not the learning of the facts, but the training of the mind to think.

[@AlvincoAetherlico]

THIS!

[@Acid31337]

Also wrong. Education is about human capital that should lead to better labor productivity and GDP per captia with minimum collateral damage during education process. Do less, gain more. Otherwise its path to nowhere.

[@CorgeekWx]

@@Acid31337 Yes I agree. You learn some things, sure, and math is very important to learn for about 10 years so you can figure out how- who am I kidding all math after 6th grade is more useless than the fact that i now know that the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell and I will probably use it never

[@hcn6708]

It's a bit of both

[@JK-rd9dj]

But how do you assess the trained mind? How can you know Finnish are better thinkers than the rest of the world? Finland has a DHI similar to Belgium, the average IQ is not through the roof, nor is the poverty rate lower than most western countries... what exactly do we mean by better schools and better thinkers ?

[@brightiris]

Homework: 30 mins top....? Sis, my maths homework alone takes a few hours everyday 😂

[@khalidghazal4938]

Cries in math problems

[@endofoverjoy]

@Eduarda Leal My thoughts exactly, usa people complaining should go to any european/asian country and try themselves how hard school can be

[@seanmatthewking]

@@endofoverjoy Except Finland...apparently?

[@zacksgamecorner1397]

Eduarda Leal maybe we struggle because or teachers and school system is so garbage that half the kids don’t understand a lot of the subjects clearly

[@semilorelanreyusuf6949]

Mine takes days

[@inaayakhan1270]

Who’s fleeing to Finland with me?

[@azimasun1168]

𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘴

[@rookie06]

Me

[@lyimoej7198]

Inaaya Khan lets flee there

[@michaelgray3197]

Me

[@anast9301]

Me but sadly i don't know if my medical degree will be able to get me a proper job there

[@marial1094]

The most important thing when talking about Finnish system is the teachers. We have a very good teacher education and its also highly respected profession. For example primary school teachers have five year university Masters degree and its hard to get in to that. We have two-step applying system: exam (about research articles) and interviews.

[@marial1094]

And also that autonomia of teachers is true. There is guidelines but teachers can decide how to arrange their teaching.

[@beastmaster6839]

A Finn here. Nowadays being a teacher is not highly respected at all here.

[@marial1094]

@@beastmaster6839 It's true that its not so highly respected that it used to be but in my opinion It's still very true when you compare it to The other countries. And it also really depends who are you asking the question. Is this your opinion?

[@j.nybergh7003]

Is it really that respected..? I mean, it doesn't show in their salary, does it? Also, general opinion seems to be that their job is easy with short days and long summer vacation, which is, obviously, not true. But where is the "high respect" that you mentioned?

[@marial1094]

@@j.nybergh7003 Yes, It's not in the salary but its still not low-salary job like it is in many countries. Salary is very average. I would compare this with The police profession in Finland. It's also (in My opinion) respected but not well paid. This isnt right. I know that there might be people who think that It's easy job but the most of The people don't. I think that at The moment many people (because of The media) think that being a teacher is just totally terrible 😂

[@leahbee9072]

Yet here in America you can literally flunk Kindergarten

[@Kaiukes]

Fr wtf did I fail first grade for? Like Mtf I’m literally a kid I’m not learning algebra or any other nonsense yet

[@cookieavocado5757]

My brothers pre-k teacher wanted to hold him back In pre-k

[@boyjediii885]

GåkëSën dude have you been to Singapore?

[@TheeRatMousey]

I know I did! They held me back.

[@oliversakanyi7238]

😂😂

[@RaisingSaintsAcademy]

From what I understand, Finland and Sweden actually let teachers teach, rather than being mindless zombies forced to teach exactly what the district dictates (which seems to be what much of America now does); Another issue is the numbers game, which harms those who want to learn, especially in inner city schools. Rather than punish/ expel/ send to a school for delinquents/ or even fail kids who haven’t done any work, the school administration bends over backwards to prevent those kids from being expelled and to make sure they are handed a diploma. This gives a few troubled students full control over the school, creating fear and stress for the other students, as well as fear in the teachers, who are threatened and even attacked..

[@성우진-d8h]

Raising Saints this!! Theres literally one kid in my American school who makes everything so much harder for everyone else- even the staff don’t know how he hasn’t been expelled

[@andrewvincent7299]

It started with George W Bush and Obama continued to make schools worse. It makes no sense unless it was done on purpose to ruin schooling here and make kids dumber.

[@katydid5088]

I wish they could do something about the scary kids. One of my teachers got stabbed (no, I am not joking) by another kid and our whole class ended up having to give depositions that pretty much went no where. No charges were filed and nothing was done about the kid. Prior to this a bunch of kids, boys and girls, complained about getting beaten up or threatened by this kid. Some of the parents were smart and took pictures when they reported being bullied specifically because the administration did nothing. The students that had the verification eventually got the students kicked out but it took court proceedings to get something done.

[@armitahosseini8683]

Ugh I’m so so so sick of my school I wish I was born in Finland so I could receive my education there because I’m so passionate about learning and school has ruined that for me :/

[@KatChats.]

:(

[@Nothin2seehere-e4z]

School crush learning

[@fluffy_catproductions2110]

Uh huh

[@alexmga9303]

Oh poor thing! Where are u from?

[@starter_4008]

@@Ghostx003 Man people now days easily identify some people by there profile name it's awesome 😂but I do agree Indian education is so cruel I know it because I am an Indian. But one day I will change the whole education system not only in India but also the whole world.

[@flyingpotatoe1299]

Your cheekbones are higher than my grades

[@KatChats.]

Hahaha OMG !! xD

[@shrek3397]

@@KatChats. literally... School in America is hell

[@Mjacquizzi]

and?

[@sassy3923]

I read your comment to my daughter and she can't stop laughing.....

[@shrek3397]

NoNoNoNii they’re right but I don’t think anyone learns anything

[@Demi-qk8nw]

I had ptsd everytime she said “exam” or “standardized”

[@KatChats.]

Oh nooo

[@Demi-qk8nw]

KatChats it’s ok lol ❤️

[@bigdikdude4207]

Tell me about I’m into my masters and still shiver when hear words “exams” and “standardised test”

[@michaelheery6303]

I hate word RESPONSIBILITY..

[@hydrolito]

@@michaelheery6303 Why would you hate that?

[@hectordeleon4124]

Imagine that...a school system based on common sense, and NOT giving the kids a major sense of anxiety, so they can actually learn. It's revolutionary! Can we please, please, leave our wrong-headed stubbornness and get on board with this?!?

[@Viltzu-hk5wh]

That's the propaganda we throw at you.

[@_constantly__cold_5138]

I am 15 going into my final year (year 11, I am from England) not knowing my hobbies, interests and what I want to do. My school cares more about how tight my trousers are then how my mental health is doing. We need more systems like this.

[@elfodelputoinfierno]

Wait. How young you were when you started going to school? There is no fucking way I am going 3 extra years for nothing

[@simaroychatterjee3745]

Wait...are you 15 years old and already in grade 11??

[@malakkxx8155]

SIMA ROY CHATTERJEE 10th grade for you guys i think

[@yidilau]

there is also sixth form for 2 years after yr11 which is for if you want/need to do a-levels, for those of you who are confused.

[@kunalmahajan9489]

If students from England saying like this just imagine how South Asian countries are doing

[@j.reubenmorgan9028]

I've been going to school since I was 2....I feel so robbed

[@madisonstephens5945]

Wait what? In the US you start at like 4

[@madisonstephens5945]

And that’s if you go to pre-K which isn’t required

[@muchwow3744]

This is like really NORMAL in Asian countries.

[@hm7369]

You're still a fetus at that point!

[@tatharelprincessoferegion8162]

WHAT? I didn't even go to k4. I started at 5.

[@cyppy7473]

I literally have a 10 page essay we are only allowed to work on at home. We need thesis statement, ten annotated bibliographies. A rough draft. Four peer edits. And then the ten pages. Soooo a lot more than ten pages. OH and an outline. Soo yeah your work at home isn’t bad

[@clairem6368]

Cyppy747 what’s a peer edit

[@ReyaadGafur]

@@clairem6368 when you get your classmates to edit your paper and read it. In my class the teacher isnt allowed to correct you, just to teach you what you are supposed to do. He cant read anything you write.

[@hm7369]

What grade are you in???

[@amihomophobicifihatemyself8966]

Oh my god I fucking hate peer edits

[@ncowboy677]

Ha Ha probably 8th - 10th grade? I’m guessing honors

[@robotfighter3124]

Jeeeziss, you look real young, probably by getting the proper sleep, here in U.S. we don't get that, mostly cause of school, I'm 15 and you look the same age as me.

[@codyyh9421]

we finnish people get sleep unless you're like me and like to stay up late

[@ReyaadGafur]

Yeah most of my friends get 3 hrs of sleep.

[@Sepelrastas]

@@ReyaadGafur That sounds brutal. Back when I was in school I would read at night and sleep 6-7 hours and considered to be sleeping too little (recommended sleep hours for a teen are 8+ afaik). I didn't like my (very Finnish) school, but many foreign schools (US and elsewhere) sound so exhausting.

[@mariagoespro]

yeah, probably also the lack of natural (and damaging) sunlight we have over here :'D

[@cristianb9557]

Try sleeping 8 hours when you have hours of homework

[@ladypeace8912]

I think the best thing that you mentioned (other than free college), is the fact that all schools are state funded, meaning there are no private schools. It sets the precedent that everyone is equal and respected/treated the same. This is severely important because it helps with the gap between different people in adulthood, at least mentally. I've noticed that economic status isn't stressed upon in society here in Finland as it is in other places in the world. That alone helps exponentially in society by not having the rich and poor in different worlds through their whole lives where there is no common ground or understanding between the two. That gap (mentally and socially) roots many problems in society later on. BTW I went through my whole education up to high school in the US but live in Finland now where my children have started in the Finnish system (learning Swedish). So I have a pretty basic understanding of both worlds.

[@jamesgreenwald5685]

Yes, this practice makes all the sense in the world. I love it. This would be a wonderful remedy in the U.S. Let's share and learn in the same education environments and collectively make all schools equally great for ALL children.

[@ladypeace8912]

James Greenwald that is hopeful thinking but would never happen in America EVER. The class rift between people is what drives and defines many there. Even basic healthcare for all is deemed a "radical socialist idea" so imagine the idea of no private schools. Impossible. Much props and respect to Finnish government and society

[@jaggyg8914]

@@ladypeace8912 Does the thinking as being hopeful make it any more or less true? But I agree you, it's severely unlikely it would ever happen. The citizens of the US need to accept that a for-profit healthcare system will inevitably short-change them compared to a system (and society) which collectively "cares" for its people.

[@seneca983]

@@ladypeace8912: "all schools are state funded, meaning there are no private schools" I think this is a bit of an exaggeration or at least misleading. The majority of the schools are run by municipalities. However, there are some schools that are run by private not-for-profit organizations. I think all of these require to apply for a permit to operate and tend to be somehow "different" from regular shcools (being e.g. foreign language schools, Steiner schools, or christian schools). They still follow the national curriculum (except for some foreign language schools) and generally get most of their funding from the government in the form of per student grants and cannot collect tuition fees (except that some foreign language schools can additionally collect small tuition fees).

[@eedit7783]

what about Steiner schools?😌

[@edisongachomongunjiri9918]

in kenya,its all about passing exams and finishing schools.Thats the goal of every student.They dont even know why they are in school.

[@Walai]

I like it 😅 coz we kick ass

[@dibyendusekharghosh2840]

Same for India

[@nssg94]

KatChats: Ok. Let's separate facts from fiction. ...reads list... KatChats: Yeah. Everything is true.

[@davidhutchinson5233]

From Business Insider....not exactly a left wing publication right?

[@avaphillips373]

😂😂

[@HickoryDickory86]

@@davidhutchinson5233 What does that matter? Whether it's left-wing, right-wing, centrist, libertarian, etc., one would hope they would primarily relay facts without editorializing too much, no?

[@aguirronunbound]

@@davidhutchinson5233 What is important is that a finnish person/student confirmed that almost everything is true and I don't think the girl is a left wing person.

[@Ozblu3y]

@@HickoryDickory86 you'd hope...

[@sherryhappy1510]

16?! Per class?!!! Well I'm here with almost 50 a class

[@KatChats.]

Wow!

[@leaschmitt2496]

Do you live in India or something?

[@dankie8617]

Purinee Donchai We have 22 in my class, I am 8th grader in Finland (people born in 2004 are now in 8th grade here)

[@chicken4967]

Dankprincess I’m a “senior” and I was born in 2002 rip

[@dankie8617]

@@chicken4967 meaning what exactly?

[@Mjacquizzi]

30 minutes is not homework! At least an hour a day and I came out of school with so little life skills (I feel)

[@nerdragexx1069]

Naledi Nobaza well u aint white

[@Mjacquizzi]

You are very observant aren't you! Congratulations, soo glad someone has been teaching you colours.

[@ahishi]

Out of curiosity, What do you do as a homework if it takes so long?

[@hmzzrg5045]

@@som_fun5479 man you'd get bodied irl it's sad how secure you feel behind a screen

[@som_fun5479]

Hmz Zrg I can say that legally in the US u fuck. We have free speech.

[@jay01342]

Wow! Even if some of these facts aren't true, Finland's school system still sound so much better than America's.

[@Dostrain]

And they are approximately true ;)

[@michaelheery6303]

GOOD AT CUTTING TREES.

[@DuckPondCaptain]

Facts aren't true? I am a Finnish teacher and have had three children in Finnish schools. I couldn't spot one single fact that would be really false. Of course there can be slight differences between schools.

[@vimalcurio]

Just sounds or it is!?

[@jay01342]

@@vimalcurio true true

[@joyemeh1612]

Finland is truly a dream place to raise children with great n balanced education/knowledge to conquer their world.

[@antonlehtonen438]

When you are referring to Finland's version of highchool, it's actually called upper secondary school and the standardized tests you have at the end of it are called matriculation examinations.

[@sk70091]

True. Also our "high school", lukio, isn't mandatory, it's completely optional and you go there after you've completed your nine years of mandatory education. It really shouldn't be translated into "high school" because it is not the same thing at all.

[@sikrijo]

And as to what comes to the matriculation exam they are not compulsory, how ever most student complete them. You can graduate high school with out completing your standardized test in which case you get a high schoom diploma without matriculation examination (ylioppilastutkinto) by completing the nesessary amount of high school courses (75 course when I was a student). How ever most complete both as matriculation exams usually add up to much more than just a high school diploma. For example when applying to universities or polytechs (=university of applied sciences) your grades from matriculation exams add up to your point to get in where as your high school diploma grades do not.

[@livbielke]

Thanks

[@helene4397]

@@livbielke I got in University of Applied Sciences without Matriculation Examination. I studied in Kauppaopisto, which was translated as Business College in my times, and it was a vocational school.

[@icu64x]

and in order to graduate, you have to take ball busting exams, and give oral exams in from of your teachers. Not the lazy ass seniors here who are entitled to everything and know nothing

[@LuFinne798]

Thank you for the explanation, it feels like it's a dream... I would love to go do one year there just to see how great it is

[@lohis9050]

Valili Brush you could try the exchange student system if you're interested

[@shrekbethiccerthanasniccer1432]

@@lohis9050 what is it?

[@freyastears]

I'm in the ninth grade in a Finnish school, and we always split our class into two groups with about 12 people for physics and chemistry lessons

[@WildMustang51]

Do you find those classes hard or boring? (Im American)

[@emmapaaa]

Hi Kat! I'm studying special education at the moment in university of Jyväskylä. In future i will be a special needs teacher and a class teacher (and a special class teacher and a preschool teacher.. :D) I wanted to correct some things that you said; Education in Finland is mandatory from the year you turn 7 until you finish your 9th grade OR when it’s been 10 years since you started school (perusopetuslaki 25 §). However preschool is also mandatory (even though you go to preschool in the year when you turn 6... The new segment in the law is weird). After you finish 9th grade school is no longer mandatory. Some children get a "decision" for extended mandatory school for example if a child has an illness or a disability which affects their learning. In these cases the mandatory time is 11 years. Some political parties and Trade Union of Education (OAJ) are planning on expanding the time of mandatory education. It would mean that everyone would have access to study after 9th grade! :) ALLU is one of the tests to detect children with learning difficulties (in writing and reading). It's not mandatory, and usually been done only if teachers notice difficulties in their class. I never did ALLU nor Makeko (sometimes used also for detecting difficulties) in my school. As you said, the only "mandatory" standardized test is the matriculation examination in high school. However if you don't pass your exams you will graduate from high school but you don't get the "ylioppilastutkinto". (Saat lukion päättötodistuksen, mutta et ylioppilastutkintoa :D Damn these translations are hard) I'm not sure how it affects applying to uni. There are special-ed classes and special-ed schools in Finland. Usually children are getting special support only for part-time, as you said people did in your class. However for example children with major learning difficulties, intellectual disabilities (e.g. Down-syndrome), severe autism etc are usually placed in special needs classes or special needs schools. There are also special needs vocational schools! In 2016 16,4% of pupils received educational support from a special-ed teacher part- or full-time. Some children receive extra support only once or twice - they are not included to this 16,4%. So the 30% might be right - i think it's just a good guess :D

[@KatChats.]

Wow thank you so much for all this info, very informative! I hope people in the comments can read this too and get a more wholesome understanding, so thanks for taking the time to write it all down! And good luck with your studies! :)

[@dankie8617]

emmapaaa I am 14 and I skipped a grade at the age of 6 meaning that I was in the same class as people year older than me (1st grade) I however have been diagnosed with Asperger’s which is a developmental disorder so there is that. The subjects I excel at are English (My writing might be horrible but I am talking about my grades here), math, physics & chemistry. My IQ is about average I’d say, I was in special ed class from ages 6 to 11. I would say that it wasn’t the best decision because there was kids with learning difficulties and intellectual disability etc. The school wasn’t special ed school though. It was school with around 150 people

[@dankie8617]

Now you may ask how is this related? Just wanted to say that even people who skipped a grade can be in special ed

[@MCAAlexKumar]

In india we start school from 4 years

[@danieloliveira9815]

Did someone read the whole text?

[@aalliebrady]

We have mandatory standardized tests every year starting in 3rd grade. 🤦🏽‍♀️

[@brennabarney9026]

allie ! I had standardized tests every single year after kindergarten!

[@brennabarney9026]

And multiple tests most years

[@shrek3397]

Do you look in America? Cause same here!!!

[@ermmmmmidk]

Do you live in Australia?

[@kaidouhottopicgiftcard]

But sometimes I'm allowed to chew gum so... yay?

[@MottiMage]

8:25 - About the flexibility, there is also a possibility to combine both high school and vocational school studies into a "double degree" (= kaksoistutkinto). 9:10 - Ammattikorkeakoulu = University of Applied Sciences ... right? :D

[@KatChats.]

That's true! Thanks for both of the additions :)

[@thequality6384]

Ammattisurkea ei ole yliopisto millään määritelmällä.

[@saeshimizu3444]

You can make it to Kolmoistutkinto too, which I got. Combined Vocational school and highschool. Have papers from both schools + A levels. Though I recall I heard that Kolmoistutkinto is kinda useless. Just completed both curriculums in four years

[@IiiERT]

@@thequality6384 Ei olekaan, mutta Ammattikorkeakouluja löytyy esim. Hollannista ja Saksasta (Fachhochschule) ja niiden laitosten englanninkielinen nimi on University of Applied Sciences. Suomessa käytetään täten samaa nimitystä. Samalla rohkenen väittää että termiä "Ammattisurkeakoulu" eivät käytä yliopisto- tai AMK-opiskelijat, vaan lähinnä alle 20-vuotiaat kaikkitietävät jonnet, jotka kirjoittavat ajankulukseen paskaa ylilaudassa.

[@shotter1142]

@@thequality6384 your finnish is really bad next time dont use google translate

[@surprisedpikachu3782]

Dang .....your jawline is so good.

[@KatChats.]

Haha thanks ^-^

[@russcoleman2338]

Bloody Pokemons .....

[@unnamias]

You forgot the most important thing, free school lunches from kindergarten to "high school" 🙌🏼

[@moah2518]

Not all student like those food.😆

[@BlackHoleSpain]

In Spain we don't have lunch in the schools. We're sent back home to eat, because standard time to have lunch is 14:00, 14:30, sometimes 15:00. Kids in primary classes have split time: 9:00 to 12:30 and then again from 14:30 to 16:00. Secondary teens go from 8:30 to 14:30 with six 50 min classes and a 30 minute recess in the middle. That odd schedule is because of our wrong time zone: we have the same time as Sweden or Poland, while we had to have the time of Britain. If we add one hour in summer time, that makes 2 hours of difference with the real sun time. It's crazy when sun rises at 8:30 and sets at 21:45 in the solstice.

[@hillybilly48]

really tasty food man, i got an upset stomach from how good it was.

[@thatoneuser8600]

@@moah2518 US school cafeteria food is garbage so I'm pretty sure it's way better than ours. Pretty much every student at my school agrees that they don't like the school food.

[@tweetdijon4035]

Yes, It is amazing in my opinion. Every kid gets to have food to be able to concentrate at school and better the performances. I wish this would be applied to France too. :( I even had breakfast in a school 👍 !

[@janinaflyktman5688]

we have mandatory standardized tests in 9th grade! (english, math, swedish)

[@Izzy-ec4qq]

Or finnish if ones native languade is swedish (which for the people that dont know, is the case in quite a few small towns in South and West Finland as well as a minority in Waasa, Turku and Helsinki)

[@Elina-pn3mv]

Yeah no. We don't. In some schools it is optional, and in some they are simply not taken at all. For example I never had to do one. It depends on the school you are going to.

[@sk70091]

It has been like 20 years since I was in the 9th grade, but I remember any standardized tests at all. Don't think there were any.

[@Izzy-ec4qq]

I was in 9th grade in 2016 and I had did it in English and Math, but I think the finnish one either was in place for a normal test or we could do it volentarily so that it could only help our grade upwards... But I'm sure I wrote at least English and math because I got quite good results and was really proud of myself

[@Larjus]

I was in 9th grade... 9-10 years ago, and I for sure had no mandatory standardized tests back then. And this is like the first time I've even heard about them.

[@jheeljhala9866]

Here in India, after 12 grade, we have to give like 5 standardize tests to get into a decent college. LOL

[@sukanyachakraborty9890]

Yeah and our whole life depends on some exams(like neet, jee, boards, higher secondary etc.)

[@hyperion7]

ifkr, messed up system.. thank goodness you can take the SATs in India

[@RunaSunset]

The standardized test they always talk about is either the big national math and english tests (valtakunnalliset) or the matriculation examination at the end of high school. The mat. exams are taken seriously while the national tests are easy if youve listened in classes

[@ldonnell4437]

The more I learn about Finnish schools, the more similarities I'm finding between it and my being home schooled in the US. I started school when I was 5, but my mom didn't worry about grades, tests, getting in a billion hours of work in each day, until I was in 8th grade. Even then, she didn't make me do 8 hours of work every day, and she was only concerned about my grades because I was taking some high school classes that would be put on my transcript that colleges could see (but she still wasn't stressing herself or me over getting straight A's or anything). For pretty much all of elementary school, I would do one or two hours of school each day. The rest of that time was spent playing outside or with dolls, reading, going to the library, going on hikes with my family. Even now, in high school, I try not to spend my entire day working on school. I can usually get it done within 4.5 hours (depending on if I get distracted, lol). Leaving the rest of the day to workout, help clean the house or make dinner, go for a walk, journal, read.

[@kacie1074]

This truly makes me sad growing up my whole life in the US school system. And in Oregon too. Which is literally one of the worst. But it does vary across the country a bit, but mostly the same all around. I've literally wasted so much of my health and literal life for bs that will do nothing for me beacuse its somehow the law. And the worstt part is that I know it will never change. My sophmore year aka 2nd year of high school starts next week. The only thing that's somewhat exciting is friends but its not worth it. Damn. I'm atleast glad to see some ppl who got a childhood. Enjoy😔

[@manonl4004]

I'm in the French system. I have school from 8:30 to 6 everyday and usually about three hours of homework(je fais option latin pr ceux qui se demandent)

[@dollayounes6379]

I'm in the french system aswell but in Lebanon and I go to school from 7:45 to 2:30 and I have approximately 3h of homework

[@alaskanbullworm010]

Manon L holy shit we dont even go to school that much in the usa and our school system is absolute shit

[@monkyhire5842]

Don't u get to go home in the middle of the day in France. Sorry if I'm wrong

[@manonl4004]

I mean we have 55 min to eat lunch, most people live too far away for going home to be actually worth it so we eat at the cafeteria or right outside of school@@monkyhire5842

[@btal3630]

same and i also take latin as optian

[@ibrahimexplains1141]

Makes me feel soooo proud to be born in Finland. Suomalainen! 🇫🇮 🇫🇮

[@1aande1]

*suomalainen

[@shrek3397]

@@1aande1 hey nine yr old

[@shrek3397]

Just makes me hate being born in America

[@1aande1]

@@shrek3397 i'm finn and 14 years old

[@shrek3397]

@@1aande1 do you watch PewDiePie

[@zegtmilkman4333]

Me in 5th grade: *cant read & bad stutter* America’s eduction system: Okay Me: *fails every class* Me:can I go to middle school? Education system:Y E S

[@alexmga9303]

You Americans like to complain about your educational system and have the right to do so, but most of the countries around the world have less ressources and kids don't even get the chance to go to school. You're entitled to have a better education and ask for a better country, but at the same u gotta be greatful for what u have. Just a thought, not trying to be rude

[@andrewvincent7299]

@@alexmga9303 You're right. Sometimes it is hard to be grateful while in the moment. But at the same time the quality of education has been in decline for the last 20 years and everyone knows it except for our useless politicians who are responsible for destroying the education system. So there is a lot of unhappiness there.

[@liltoto371]

Nah I'm from austria american school system is dog shit he has every right to complain

[@markkanen3906]

"there is only one mandatory standardized test in Finland taken when children are 16 " I think the age is wrong. They mean the tests that are made at end of 9th grade. "valtakunnalliset kokeet". Its true, every school at Finland does these. All schools make them during the same day and the tests come in a closed envelope and they are opened at the same time. Its a nationwide thing. They are usually made at like couple subjects: English, Swedish and math.

[@KatChats.]

Ohhh okay! Thanks for the info! :)

[@ainokoski4303]

It’s not mandatory. In most schools that I know of only some teachers held them. Languages and math are usually the ones that teachers want us to do.

[@kenrotheram]

Aino Koski ...The comment above indicates a national mandatory test yet your school was not involved. Was this because it was a private school? Is there a mandatory test at 18 in different subjects to get into university?

[@ainokoski4303]

@@kenrotheram No it wasn't. The private and public schools are basically the same in Finland (I've been to both). In public schools it's also the school that decides if they want to have the students do the exams. "valtakunnalliset kokeet" are taken in 9th grade. Students are then 15 or 16 year olds. The tests that you are talking about, the ones taken when 18 (which is not the case) are the ones you need to take to graduate from high school (Lukio). Half of the students in Finland don't do the exams because they don't go to high school. And yes. Most of the university students are taken in by looking at their standardized test results. But if you are not able to get in with the results, you can take a test to get in to the University.

[@kenrotheram]

Aino Koski ... Your system is quite complicated but I suppose that continual assessment by schools allows the headteacher to suggest to students at 16 either the vocational school or the academic high school. The headteacher seems to also be given the decision as to whether the children take a national test in Finnish literature, English, Maths and Swedish? Is this for students that have a borderline score and are undecided as to whether they should follow an academic route or a vocational route?

[@xyz-hv3iq]

I really like your videos on Finland and hearing the language. I would have loved to grow up there. I hope Finland and its culture never change. haha

[@KatChats.]

Thank you so much, and kiitos for watching :)

[@aninjaslewallmages]

My own schooling experience: I started schooling at a day care when I was two/three with my five year old sister even though they considered it informal. I studied kindergarten when I was five which I can only remember three things; that we always have Jollibees when someone has a birthday, that we watched Finding Nemo, and I'm answering exams on my teacher's table (teacher's pet lol). I studied elementary (grades one to six) in the same school as well. Classes were from seven am to three pm. Another one hour for cleaning the classroom if your group was assigned as cleaners of the day which I found really fun, I loved cleaning the bathroom! Then, I would stay for at most another two hours reviewing for math competitions with my teacher. My parents always said it seemed that I'm the security guard of our school because I'm the only one that's left to close the gates. It's almost ten hours at school excluding the one hour travel time to and from my home. Basically, I'm not at home from six am to six pm most of the year. I really don't know how did I do it. It's the same routine until tenth grade (junior high). I could say that the teachers I had are really good maybe because I'm always at the top section. I had a really good research adviser during my eighth grade doing investigatory projects. After finishing junior high school, the struggle began. Before, there were only ten years of mandatory schooling in my country and they would implement the new curriculum which would have an additional two years of senior high school. The school needed to hire more teachers even though they were inexperienced and relatively young that time. My batch was practically the lab rats of the education department's experiment, many of the students suffered because most of my classmates didn't pass in their preferred universities though I won't blame the teachers because it's doubly harder for them than the students. When I first got qualified to my dream university, I felt very blessed. It is because hundreds of thousands of high school students took that entrance exam for the hope of having their tuitions free on their bachelor's degree because many people here in my country stops studying after finishing high school. People tend to work already after high school rather than pursue their degrees. When you don't get qualified in most of the state universities which is now for free, it's like you'd need to shed blood, sweat, and tears just to study in college because tuition fees here is directly proportional to the quality of education given (based on my friends' experiences studying in different schools). There's an option to be a scholar of the government but you'll need to be really smart (studying science-related courses is one of their pre-requisites) because that exam is really tough (six hours non-stop) and average students are the ones that will carry the burden and find their own ways how to get into college. Most of the students that qualifies there are from science high schools which is on the top of the heirarchy, next are the private ones, and then the national public high schools which I'm proud to be one. Now, I felt very guilty of myself because I'm now leaving that university because I have made a lot of mistakes about my decisions in life (the worst case scenario of the butterfly effect if there's one). It started when I chose my bachelor's degree - Applied Physics, which they say as one of the toughest courses in my university which I don't know when I first came because of the high "mortality" rate if I may say so. It is suicide to get into that program if you're not really into it. It always seems to me that seven days in a week isn't enough. I usually review weeks before exams and having a lot of sleepless nights due to that. It's like I literally became a zombie during those times. I felt guilty because there must be someone that's more deserving than me studying there and not struggling just to have a better quality of education. As of now, I'm "quarantined" for almost six months now at home, longer since the lockdowns on different countries happened! I didn't enrol this semester because of all the shenanigans happening in my life. I'm glad I could do some things to help people in my community and divert my time doing productive things during these trying times. I'm still picking up the pieces of my broken self after the aftermath of what happened in the first two years of my "dream" college life and hopefully I could bring my confidence back again. I developed an inferiority complex when I'm around with anyone in that university because there's a stereotype when you're there at the top, you should know everything and even though you think you already did your best, it will still not be enough. To anyone who's reading this if you're a student or not, be decisive on what you must pursue in life. Don't take things half-heartedly because it won't bring you happiness. Bring always your A-game and be ready to face anything because we don't know what lies ahead of us. Be appreciative on what you have in life because there are always some people that struggles more than you do. Love, from the Philippines! P.S. Very informative video, great job KatChats! Your videos help keeping me to be sane.

[@KatChats.]

Wow thank you so much for sharing your experience! I hope things will work out for you in the end and that your life will shape itself to be more suited to what brings you happiness. I really do wish you all the best. Thank you again so much for your comment :)

[@aninjaslewallmages]

You're welcome and I'm also wishing you all the best in your master's degree and in your future as well. Wow! You really bothered reading and replying to my essay lol. Kiitos paljon!

[@KatChats.]

@@aninjaslewallmages Of course, thank you so much ^-^ Kiitos

[@sousouwyattgibson7767]

I wanna move to Finland I order to get my lessons...

[@smocloud]

There’s too much money being made in the us school systems for those who are making the money to want it to change. And since the more money you have equals a louder voice when it comes to policies, they basically get to decide what everyone else is doing, which will be whatever makes them the most money.

[@andrewvincent7299]

You can thank George W Bush and Obama for that who ruined the schooling system. It's freaking public school, no one is supposed to make a profit yet someone is. Go figure. It's so corrupt

[@nirmalmathew8844]

I'm from India.When I was in high school my class had around 30 students.For physics practicals we were divided into groups of 4 and each group was given a single apparatus to perform the experiments.

[@autumxxleaves4186]

Wow God bless

[@aijahokkanen6567]

Ammattikorkeakoulu = university of applied sciences ✌

[@mikkokeskinen8891]

I was gonna write the same comment. :P

[@sp3ctum]

In my school they called it a polytechnic. Not sure if it's the same, haven't had much of a use for that word for a long time now.

[@sikrijo]

They changed the word Polytechnic to Unicersity of Applied Sciences somewhere around 2009 to better describe the level of education compared to other European schools on the same level. At least in Jyväskylä. I went to polytech (much easier Word) for three years and completed my degree in english and During that time the name of the school changed at least, three times 😅.

[@haseenabadshah5381]

69 likes lmao

[@adhamhmacconchobhair7565]

In ireland (secondary school)/high school in a mix of bad a good we get to pick oir subjects and then we get what ever ones we are able the core subjects we have to learn is: english, irish(unless exemptwhich means excused), maths, sphe, cspe, pe, religion u have a tutor class(more on that later), then the other subjects, u pick 6 and get 4 and a language they are: technical graphics, metalwork/engineering, woodwork, art, home economics(cooking mainly and other things that help your future), art, business studies, geography, history,technology, science and then the three launages u pick are french, german and spanish and in second year you get to go on a trip to that country for france its a bit dear tho since its €900 but its optional anyway and then u can join clubs for our 1hour lunch time (btw break time in 20mins or something tho) which are: guitar lessons, basket ball, hurling, football, computor club which u go on computors, movie club which u watch movies and can go on your phone, debating club, gaelic, tag rugby e.c.t and they are free, then we have a masive canteen to eat your food and then we have €2 dinners and free lunch and sweets and stuff but we dont get homework much apart from the core subjects and the language but lots of teachers are bullies and have too much power iver children and can make there life hell and we have punishments like lunch time detention and a penalty sheat to write like a thousand words and u can get these from just talking sometimes (depending on the teacher) or forgeting your book in your locker That took long pls like lol

[@tyynymyy7770]

We had a special class for kids with learning disabilities, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and so on. The class size was smaller, so it was better environment for them to study. It's known as "pikkuluokka" in Finnish.

[@bror8228]

And what is "tarkkis" or "tarkkailuluokka" then...

[@TealJosh]

@@bror8228 Tarkkis on vanhentunut nimi. Nykyään ihmiset menee erikoisluokalle, jotka on tarkoitettu niille joilla on erikoisia tarpeita, mitä tahansa käyttäytymisongelman, ADHD:n, lukihäiriön välillä ja autismin väliltä.

[@vimalcurio]

@@TealJosh omg is it Finnish language 😰😱

[@fabihasaddat2719]

I do the IB program and I am in grade 12... I have school from 8-3:20 and I have 5-8 hours of homework.... and it's summer but I still study 2-5 hours a day depending on if I am at home or if I go out. I am definitely raising my children in Finland!

[@dominicr4930]

I have 17 subjects and have tests every month and get about 2-3 hours of homework a day

[@grassfield5177]

Indonesia??

[@KatChats.]

17 subjects! :o Wow!

[@jule_music5923]

I have 13 and next year I probably will have only 10 subjects.

[@perrytheplatypus9352]

I feel you :( i have 12 subjects but I also have more than 60 exams (which will affect my school report and university entrance exams) per one school year.

[@shimsbro19]

In Finland a child aged 15 is allowed to make their own choices in most cases. This includes leaving school, leaving the family home to live on their own etc. Mandatory exams is extremely hard to specify.

[@munkayttaja6913]

15 vuotiaan (9lk jälkeen) ei voi muuttaa pois ellei sun opiskelu paikassas oo ilmasta asuntolaa tai ellei sun vanhempas vuokraa sulle kämppää ja muutenki auta sua

[@wafatikhurrosyad7089]

I'm Indonesian, i go to school at 6.30 and back home at 16.30. We learn up to 20 different lessons in a week. I think no other country can do as much as Indonesian do. Wkwkwk land

[@Midnightbookishteen]

Singapore is a lot worse if you add all the after school tuition and classes.

[@sillowillo]

@@Midnightbookishteen doesn’t make his any less shitty just because you have a worse one

[@leofisher5391]

' We definitely have homework, we have like 30 min of homework' I'm here in front of my computer doing a project that I have been on for three ours and that's not counting homework and study, next week I have an exam every day and it's not one unit it's like 40 pages that I need to learn for all five exams. Now that is homework.

[@dianadjenev6236]

Hours* :)

[@simones9365]

ANONYMUS VENDDETA - do you live in Finland?

[@leofisher5391]

@@simones9365 nope I live in Spain probably worse school system than in US

[@simones9365]

ANONYMUS VENDDETA - you’re lucky not to be in Brazil

[@anmoldeep6557]

People crying about their education system in comment section JEE, NEET, UPSC aspirants in India be like:::::: HOLD MY BEER EDIT:: Roughly 2 million students write each exam for roughly 12k spots

[@navyam8953]

@anmol deep even I am an Indian too and don't even speak about our education system like some schools in India start school like 7am and the kids come home by 8pm I guess I mean almost and then homework and everyday tests and ranking will be displayed which causes a lot of stress apart from that we go to tutition just to get into nit or itt or some good medical college so that our parents can brag about it!!!!!

[@zab416]

Dangit we need to reform the whole world education wise. Interesting reading these problems. Feel extra bad for the Indian kids though. Sounds really bad for mental, physical and social health!

[@sillowillo]

just because you have it worse, doesn’t mean they don’t have the right to complain. Sure your system is much shittier, but it doesn’t mean that their system isn’t still shit

[@wendyhess1804]

Thank you for taking the time to share your experience. I am in an American Master's program in education and I am obsessed with the system in Finland. They are doing things that I would like to implement in my classes as far as I'm able. I think that Finland is really good at setting high standards and then enabling people to reach those by really understanding what students need and how they learn. You can be in school all day long, but if your teacher doesn't understand what you need and how you learn, it's going to be far less effective. Thanks again. Loved this video.

[@jezz1217]

meanwhile my math hw involves 5 hours of crying in frustration then another 5 actually trying to finish it

[@SilverGamingFI]

Is the crying mandatory or...

[@gilles466]

@@SilverGamingFI no, but it's traditional

[@kimborassecondwife]

To get your ylioppilastodistus (high school graduate certificate??), you have to pass all the mandatory matriculation exams (there are 4 of them and only native language (includes literature and such) is mandatory for everyone and you can choose the rest of them from one "long" subject such as long math or long English, another language and general studies subjects such as psychology, biology, history, chemistry etc. You can also choose like 0-3 optional subjects from general subjects to math, languages etc. In order to be able to attend the exams, you have to have completed 75 courses by the end of your last high school period (which ends like 3-4 weeks before the first exams in spring. That's when you don't have any classes anymore and all you have to do is to study for the exams. At home. Well, some do. I certainly didn't). You CAN graduate from high school without attending the exams (though we have never even discussed about that in my high school) but there's absolutely no point in doing that since you can basically only apply for vocational school without the high school certificate.

[@KatChats.]

Ohh okay!! Thanks for typing this all out and sharing the extra info, much appreciated! =)

[@NannyOggins]

The system you describe is almost identical to my school experience. I am British and 65 years old. The one exception is that we were streamed into 3 grades after 11 years old and the rest of our education was with our peers who were approximately of the same ability.

[@scoutjohnson1803]

Friendly teachers! The greatest bullies in my school were the old teachers, obviously I didn’t go to school in Finland.

[@sosopwsi829Jjw9]

My 6th graded teacher was the worst, she had biases against me, I compared my test scores with a friend and he got an 89 yet I got an 55 even though we had near-same answers

[@sosopwsi829Jjw9]

Went to school in USA

[@sillowillo]

my teacher would literally insult me. Not even vaguely. Literally a insult.

[@sosopwsi829Jjw9]

@@sillowillo same, would humiliate me

[@liltoto371]

True in austria if you are a foreigner and u have an old teacher ur doomed to fail lol they are all racist

[@anindescribableloser1491]

I live in finland, and im done with elementary school now going to middle, and ive been to kindergarten and pre-school here. So about the homework thing i think it really depends on where you live in here, because from what ive seen it depends a lot on the school and teacher. In my case i usually take up 2-4 hours to do my homework and every assignment were doing (though i usually study for 5-8 h for tests) and we usually have multiple exams on one week (maybe 3 usually?) Or we have a test per week (its like that from maybe 4th grade, 1st to 3rd is way easy) and i read somewhere that school starts really late here, sadly not lol, it starts at 8.00 usually (unless it starts earlier there, then im truly sorry) and we have from 4-7 or sometimes more hours of school on the usual (lunch, and 10-15 min time outside included of course) Sorry about this being so long!

[@Themostuselesssofa]

I'm really happy that Finnish school system is very similar to mine (Czech republic).

[@Rosa-ly4eo]

i glad that im from finland

[@auroraanderson777]

Of course you are

[@Moo-mu2wi]

Same

[@SinSnxpes]

I’m so jealous haha im in the shit and overrated country of singapore

[@Midnightbookishteen]

@@SinSnxpes I was too,I'm in India now,it still really bad,I really want to move to finland.

[@haleyeven]

bruh in my school we barely get 20 minutes to eat lunch. and when your through the lunch line and about to pay for your food you have maybe around 15 to 10 minutes to eat your lunch, do any work if you need to, and socialize

[@SK-nw4ig]

Ylioppilaskirjoitukset eivät ole pakollisia. Lukiosta saa normaalisti lukion päättötodistuksen JA ylioppilastutkinnon. Lukion päättötodistus edellyttää vain lukion käymistä, ylioppilastutkinnon taas voi suorittaa ilmankin lukion käymistä, jos tietyt edellytykset täyttyvät.

[@setboundarieskindly]

Dear god what LANGUAGE is this

[@VicMcFly111]

Aya Amirdash make a guess

[@SK-nw4ig]

I came here thinking if someone is giving me grief about my bad english or something, but no... This is finnish :D

[@katjachristina7765]

@@setboundarieskindly Finnish

[@dalriada842]

It looks as if tongue twisters are just everyday speech in Finland!

[@NicoleBe]

RANT ⚠️ I’m Italian so I study in one of the most stressful school systems in the world and I cry almost everyday because of school. We take 12 mandatory subjects, we have at least 3 written tests per week and we have to spend at leat eight ours of our days studying after school. We study literally useless subjects just because people before us studied them, so we must as well. My school is supposed to be a language school, but I actually learn three languages counting English and all the rest is math, physics, literature, etc. I hate it so much, also because we are far more behind in languages than math and it bothers me. All the English I know, I know it from the internet. Who doesn’t spend time on the internet (which would be the best thing to do) still makes mistakes I used to make in middle school. I really envy Finnish people, who were lucky enough to study in the best school system in the world and don’t have their mental health damaged because of it. I also really like that the school system teaches kids social skills in kindergarten, here nobody bothers and I grew up with a huge lack of social skills that was never repaired. It’s obvious that this system made me seek help, but which help can you get if you can’t change anything? It’s definitely cruel and hard. I wish somebody understood that we don’t have to study art history, philosophy and Latin only because the Roman Empire took place in Italy and all of that bs. I honestly can’t wait to leave this country, it’s goddamn awful.

[@btspavedtheway3042]

I went to school when I was 4 😞😞

[@akzebraminer]

Preschools are generally short though, compared to elementary school and higher.

[@LouiseFranksArt]

It sounds very similar to my education in my part of England back in the early 80s...before all the exams crept in and multiplied. Science was definitely practical and theory every lesson. It was more standardised when the National Curriculum came in though.

[@kenrotheram]

I attended a grammar school in England in the 1960s and the style of teaching was a lecture with the teacher talking for most of the lesson. There were an equal number of practical lessons to match the theory lessons. Later I taught science in secondary school and the accepted lesson plan was still ‘talk and chalk’. Finland seems to have innovated in many directions to focus on pupil learning, and monitoring in each lesson. In the UK tests usually happened after 6 weeks and these were often multiple choice. Finland seems to also focus on ‘learning to learn’ techniques in half of the lesson and expects pupils to reflect on their progress and set new goals for the next term. UK educations now seems driven by Government monitoring. They say this has driven up standards but results soon plateau after new SAT tests are introduced indicating that teachers get better prepared for new tests as time goes on and no further improvement can occur. Teachers teach now to pass examinations and this has now had major effects on the curriculum. Less subjects are taught and cramming using past papers can occur for months before a SAT test.

[@makke6312]

There's are several instances on the "all student are taught in the same class" thing that change it up a little. E.g. you can either choose a harder math program (basically have math every "semester" and like 1h of math exercises every day. there are 13 semesters in finnish high school) or an easier math program (have math in 6 semesters, about 20min of math stuff every day). The choice might seem obvious, pick the easier one. Here's the thing if you get an A+ in the final exam of math in the easier program, it's worth less "points" when applying for a college, than if you got a C in the hard math final. other examples of this is swedish with the same easy/hard thing (no one picks the hard swedish except people who's one parent is swedish or swedish speaking) in my school (a french school in helsinki) we have the same easy/hard thing with french (the hard is super duper hard, basically you're treated like your native language is french. everyone still picks the hard one tho)

[@stephanpablobermejoquiroga8673]

Everything is worthy as long as I can go to study in Finland and meet beautiful nice people there and their culture. Furthermore, it's really nice to know that all that one learns in science can experience it in a laboratory. It must be quite exciting for people who are eager to learn more about science of course. Likewise, it sounds good to learn more languages as Swedish and Finnish. It's like a whole new world. And at last but not least, the finnish girls look so beautiful. So I heard that when one feels more motivation and happiness, it's very easier to learn. :)

[@disadadi8958]

Grades 3-6 we had a math group separated from others. Those that were obviously ahead of the pack and didn't benefit from regular math lessons were ask whether they want to participate in a tad bit more advanced math lessons instead, however, it was totally voluntary. Also in 8th grade or so the Swedish classes were based on skill levels.

[@user-ue3pl2gf4o]

why are our profile pics very similar? 😂

[@disadadi8958]

@@user-ue3pl2gf4o coincidence

[@claudiamador290]

I did the IB program in the US. My schedule in the Spring (when I was in Track) 0 Period - English 7:45 (I think) School is In 1P - Secondary Math (mix of diffs math) 2P - Avid (programs that prepares low income students go to college) 3P - Spanish 4P - Theory of Knowledge (Philosophy class about Education from IB) 5P - Lunch 6P - Biology 7P- Theatre 2:15 School is out 2 hours of Track Practice, sometimes longer 5ish Shower 5:45 Dinner 6:00 Homework (usually 2-3 hours, IB is a rigorous program due to the hefty homework) 8:30/9:00: Sleep Repeat the next day, for four years. I really wish I can incorporate some Finnish philosophy in my English classroom. Currently studying English Ed. :)

[@umaru1942]

So avoid homework and limit my time doing was the right way! I KNEW IT

[@nier-mage8669]

So Finland plays on easy mode

[@zab416]

The language thing is boggling me a bit. These kids in an older Michael Moore short vid on the subject spoke really good English. They must start them very young with the mandatory languages and/or they're really bad at some of the languages, like they say they know German, French or Spanish but are just limping along and would be like "duh" with some native speakers of those. I studied Spanish for six years and am not good at all. Sort of blame the system. And it seems it's all useless if you don't study abroad. So I'm curious about that. I mean, I'd much rather have to try to get through the day in part of Mexico where no one speaks English than say part of China or any other country where no one speaks English (any dangers/advantages other than language aside), but still.

[@pamelakilponen3682]

My husband went to business school after 9th grade, he then went to University of Applied Sciences.

[@LARPANET_3087]

This was very informative, thanks! Just watched a clip from one of Michael Moore's documentaries about Finland's school system, but of course he's known for wildly exaggerating everything (i.e., "in Finland it's ILLEGAL to run a private school!", that sort of thing), so this was good for some fact checking. Even though he exaggerated a fair amount, your school system still looks pretty awesome. The idea of not making people absolutely hate learning.... what a concept!

[@oulunjonnei9139]

I live in Finland im in the 8th grade my school starts at 12.45pm and ends 14.30pm everyday and 10-60minutes of homework everyday (this is not for many people) and sorry for bad english i am still learning

[@strdust95594]

hyvä, ku mulla yläkoulussa alko aina 8.15 ja päästiin aikasintaan 14 aikaa :D

[@oulunjonnei9139]

@@strdust95594 että on kyllä aikane herätys ite en jaksais kyl joka päivä ennen 8 herätä et ehtii kouluu 😂

[@strdust95594]

@@oulunjonnei9139 joudun herää 6 aikaa joka päivä, et kerkeen kouluun 8 aikaa. mut sitä se amis on :D

[@beep7634]

OulunJonnei I am in year 9, in Australia. Your english is fine! Keep it up! (If your going to write something proffesional just remember punctuation, it's ok i'm lacking too) I am probably in the same year group as you and our school is usually 9am to 3pm and it can change according to the school you attend. We usually get about 1/2 an hour to 3 hours of homework, and its winter right now so it gets dark quickly. So no outside playing or hanging out ahhaahhh school sucks :(

[@hirveetilannepaalla]

SUOMI

[@etherealkivfx]

"Finnish children don't start school until they are 7." *me, who started kindergarten at 4:* 👁👄👁

[@Laurent69ftm]

I started school at 2. I'm from France. But we weren't taught reading and writing before 1st grade. At 2, teachers just taught us what you can expect from a 2 year old child. I don't remember, so probably playing, speaking, listening, doing physical activities.

[@franciscomacias5487]

Thanks. This was a great comparative analysis. A major issue of many US schools is discipline problems. How is that handled in Finland? I understand that there are values instilled at home which may certainly contribute to a lower incidence of disruptive behavior. But I am curious about how the Finnish system would handle that.

[@saeshimizu3444]

I mean, I went to vocational highschool and I think the A levels had this compensation system: You choose 4 subjects to do A levels of and have 3 mandatory subjects, Long subject, National language Finnish, math or Swedish. You chose either long or short math, and you have to choose one long subject. So for most this long subject would be English because that's what they start teaching at 3rd grade so it counts as long subject. OR if you studied long math you can choose that instead. Or if math doesn't tickle your butt you can do Swedish. The 4th subject is any academic subject like History, Health ED, biology, geometry... So on. To pass highschool you have to pass all of those 4 A level exams. BUT there's a catch: Besides of those 4 subjects you can take exams of more subjects too which can provide you with Compensation points. MEANING, if you failed any of your 4 mandatory A-levels but did good with the extra ones, you can still pass Highschool. And it won't get marked anywhere honestly. The amount of these compensation points depends on the grade one got from the extra exams. I hope this was clear explanation

[@saeshimizu3444]

But yes, if you failed in any of your 4 mandatory A levels AND didn't have enough compensation points from your extra exams, if you chose to take them, then yes, you would have had to try again next year when the exams are held again and you won't graduate.

[@HuimisKiss]

Nice video, easy to watch and even with my limited English skills, easy to understand, thanks :) A li'l bit about the history. I hope you don't mind me writing these things, but they give people some base knowledge to understand how Finland developed the school system to what it is today. In the old days, one had to choose at age of 10-11 if s/he wanted to go to university. They had to choose between "kansalaiskoulu" and "oppikoulu". If you chose "kansalaiskoulu" there was no way to go to a university later in life. No university if you weren't "ylioppilas"(*) Kansalaiskoulu was free. To go to oppikoulu, you actually had to pay tuitions and even buy your own school books and meals!!. "Kansalaiskoulu" was free for the students, including books, meals etc. That was the case with my moms generation. Finland was a rural, very poor country and the schools weren't very good. But the school meals were free already in those days in "kansakoulu", "amis" and "kansalaiskoulu. Lukio and oppikoulu being exceptions (The school meals have been free since 1948 or so) There were many families straving, literally, after the war and the school system free meals helped those families a LOT. The next step was when the "peruskoulusysteemi" came to Finland: You had to choose when you were about 15 yrs old. "Amis/vocational" or "lukio/high school". If you chose "amis"=>no university for you later in life. Again: No university for you, if you weren't "ylioppilas" That was the case with my generation. (See? No boomer here, LOL) And just like you say in the video, nowadays you can choose any path and end up in university, if you want to. As a sidenote: I've noticed also that Finnish universities being free (no tuitions), surprises many foreigners and the fact the students are actually PAID (opintotuki) to go to university, really blows their minds. (I live in Spain, in a quite a multinational neighbourhood and many of my friends there are interested of the Finnish school system) *=I use the Finnish words here, because I know you understand them.

[@tonopchannel6495]

I wish i was born in finland i allways felt like i dont wanted to go to school so i did nothing about it. Now im taking it more serious but im already 19 :) i think the way finland starts school on 7th is way better because then you can enjoy and enjoy learning from the beginning and not be forced to anything 👍🏽 lovely video from a very beautiful lady whos clearing up the articles about finland education. Thank you! ❤️

[@beatrizrosario-aemv-utad4680]

In Portugal, in my school, we have 135 minutes of recess when our classes starts at 8:30am and finishes at 18:15 pm

[@siryeet5124]

In my elementary school there was a class specifically for students who are a little slower at learning than others

[@martine2u]

30 minutes of homework is very little. When I was a kid in France, homework was anywhere from 1 to 3 hours, sometimes more if you had a big paper due (but you would spread that over a few days, so it wasn't 5 hours all at once). What you and others describe is more like a little tweeking at home, not homework as most of us understand it. I think the Finnish system is great. You say you weren't learning anything in kindergarden, but that's not true. You're obviously well-spoken and you say you were learning social skills. That's the problem with other school systems. They educate to make you the human equivalent of a subject book or a dictionary. They don't educate the PERSON to be a well-balanced, happy, sure-of-themselves, respectful human being. I think that is why the Finnish system is superior. The kids are gently moved to a position from which they can learn and do anything because they don't have to contend with serious inner inbalances. I'm sure there are exception, but clearly not too many as the whole system is ranked very highly against its peers. The bottom line is: if you help people feel good about themselves and confident, they can do anything. You don't have to push them. It will happen naturally because every human being is interested in discovering new things (to the degree THEY are comfortable with, not to the degree measured by a test someone else created). Sure, you can get result in a very repressive, regimented system. But you don't educate the being and since so much emphasis is put on succeeding and ranking, you automatically breed the idea of social discrimination into the system. An "educated" person is "better" than a "trades" person. A trades person has many hurdles to overcome, should they want to go back and study. This is discriminatory and discounts all the real-life experience such a person might have. We are poorer for not giving a place to that experience. In the end, it depends what society you want. If you want the few to get big rewards for "succeeding", then we have the right kind of system. If you want a more egalitarian society where rewards are maybe not as big and flashy, but most people get to live a decent life in accordance with who they are, then go the Finnish way.

[@tomgence682]

Je suis vraiment d'accord avec ce que tu dis. J'ai l'impression qu'en France on oublie le côté humain...

[@chewyjuice4656]

Omg i feel so bad, Im here in the 7th grade complaining of 15min homework i get🥲

[@arrow9293]

Kat thank you for posting your video. It is very informative. It is very interesting to understand about other countries educational systems. It sounds like Finland is doing a great job for its students.

[@Diamoondust]

I'm from Greece and I plan to study medicine (I am in the equivalent of 12th grade, so 17 y/o at the moment), and our education system is honestly bad. I attend a private school and it's still really anxiety-producing because of all the homework, the outdated material and the need for extra lessons outside of school, even though our teachers are great and like to help us. I'm guessing that this is not the case at public schools so I'm very lucky in many ways. Thank you for this video, I learned a lot. Cheers! :D (Edit: we write a lot of tests as well, :/ )

[@romeroamsrome]

both my wig and my childhood have been snatched

[@irbbbaaa]

At least in my school, in eastern Finland, students who did Pisa tests were chosen randomly, like every fifth student from class

[@SandeepKumar-qh3zs]

I have more knowledge from the internet than what I learned in my entire school life and some college stuff

[@liltoto371]

Same

[@valtteripennanen4043]

9th grade is the year when the students take their standardized tests. They're about 15 to 16 in an age when they reach 9th Edit: The last year of High-school, Lukio, is the year when the standardized "kirjotukset" takes place. It doesn't translate well to English, but it means something close to Standardised High-school exams. Junior high, ylä-aste, and High-school, lukio, standardized tests are different as Junior high standardized tests decide which High-school or job school would accept based on grades

[@georgevassilev4102]

In Bulgaria, you finish primary school at 7th grade. After that : 3 choices. - General high school - you end 10th grade and cannot graduate. - Language high school - study 2 foreign languages, one intensively and the other secondarily. - "Vocation school" (which we call "Tehnikum", comes from "technique") : same thing basically.

[@dareenalkhateeb6295]

I have 4 exams a day. I never have lunch because we have lessons. I go to school for 9 hours, I'm so done with school. I am grade 9. Our summer is less than 2 month's. Yay

[@jonat.6686]

That sounds really rough, and I hope you manage to pull through. Please don't push yourself too hard.

[@fawziyahi2652]

1/2 hour tops. Huh, we get like 2 hours every day. 😭😭 I'm from the UK.

[@caaaaats9890]

Ikr! With Show my homework and everything :(

[@dr.pkm.drawss]

Here we have like 6-10 hrs of HW

[@nella5133]

I think the standardized test means valtakunnalliset what we take on 9th grade in Finland. Every subject has their own valtakunnallinen exam.

[@nettakraknas6914]

mä mietin kanssa samaa että oisko se yksi pakollinen sitte se englanti? koska mulla oli koulussa se ainaki pakollinen.

[@nettapehkonen7510]

Netta Kråknäs valtakunnalliset kokeet on pakollisia JOS ne osuu sinun koulun kohdalle Ps. Hei ollaan kaimoja!

[@kimborassecondwife]

Jos muistan oikein niin meillä oli koulus vain matikan valtakunnalliset🤔

[@kenrotheram]

Every subject? Is it not English at 12 and Maths at 15? Or is it different in different schools depending on if the school is being selected in a 10% national sample?

[@dankie8617]

kenrotheram we didn’t have an English test at 12 (expect for the usual tests but not official)

[@Kaiserland111]

I went to school in Iowa, in the US, and the public school system where I lived was fantastic. There is great variability in the quality of the educational system in the US, something that might be foreign to those in more homogeneous countries. Just adding my two cents.

[@jonnakoski9643]

When I was in elementary school we always started the day at 8.15, and in junior-high school we started every day at 9.15 or 9.30 (I can't remember)🤔 And I'm quite sure that the marticulation exam at the end of high school is mandatory if you want to get te certificate. The minimum amount of tests you need to pass is 5: Finnish literature and english are mandatory, you can choose between swedish and maths, and the rest of the tests you can choose depending on the courses you have taken.

[@conversecdggt4709]

Finland: _exists_ Singapore: allow me to introduce myself

[@lgfrades]

Hi Kat, thank you for such an awesome, comprehensive explanation of the Finnish school system! I learned so much!

[@KatChats.]

Thank you so much for watching, I'm glad you enjoyed :)

[@Wolf6722.]

Right now I currently have to make a full 6 slide PowerPoint about architecture and build a model house with it. For History I have to do SAQs plus notes for the 40 page chapter add this to the 3 other homework assignments and there is one day in American high school🙃 I feel robbed I wanna go to Finland

[@ashleybrusko]

thank you so much for this video! my best friend is currently a foreign exchange student in finland right now, and there's so much stuff to learn ab their education system

[@KatChats.]

Aww thanks for watching! All the best to your friend on their exchange!

[@stephanpablobermejoquiroga8673]

By the way, you KatChats are so cute. I love the way how you speak English and Finnish. It sounds cute for me. Good luck and congratulations for your channel

[@KatChats.]

Aww thank you so much :)