LINTON BESSER, EUROPE CORRESPONDENT: It's 8:00am on a cold morning in the suburbs of
Helsinki and these primary school children are getting ready for class.
This morning's lesson - ancient history.
KAIJA-LEENA ALATALO, TEACHER: Well, they are reading with pairs some texts about Egypt
and ancient life.
They are reading and then I'm going to ask something what did they find out from the
book?
I think we all are ready now.
LINTON BESSER: This is a school system that for years has been among the world's best.
KAIJA-LEENA ALATALO: And then what about this gold one?
(Student answering question)
LINTON BESSER: And yet these kids will spend half as much time in a classroom as Australian
children.
AIJA RINKINEN, MINISTERIAL ADVISER, EDUCATIONAL AFFAIRS: When you go to the first grade, when
you are seven years old, the amount of hours is 20 hours a week. It's the minimum and then
it gets more hours the older you get.
But it's still less than in many countries in Europe or in the world.
LINTON BESSER: In Finland, it's individual teachers who decide how the curriculum is
taught, including how much technology should feature in their classrooms.
MINTU LATIMARKI, STUDENT (translated): We're working on a pyramid project for example.
We're now writing our names on paper with hieroglyphics and then we'll be doing some
tasks from classroom.
LINTON BESSER: Eleven-year-old, Mintu Latimarki, asks to leave class to work at the school's
own student-run cafe.
KAIJA-LEENA ALATALO: You can go. Yeah, that's OKAY.
LINTON BESSER: Hello. One cake for the cameraman, one cake for me and two coffees.
How much is it?
MINTU LATIMARKI: Two euro and 60 cents.
LINTON BESSER: How much change?
MINTU LATIMARKI: Two euro and 40 cents.
LINTON BESSER: Is there a tip jar? Do you have tips?
MINTU LATIMARKI: No.
LINTON BESSER: No tips? Okay.
In Finland, school lunches, like books and excursions, are free.
The kids select what they want, sit down with their friends and teachers to eat, before
they clean up after themselves.
The children rug up again to play outside. Some play a raucous version of soccer, some
play basketball while others wait for the hockey rink to open.
There are plenty of options for bad weather days too.
The facilities in this school are just amazing. Outside we saw an ice skating rink and in
here where the kids can play at lunchtime, there's a ping-pong table, a pool table and
in here, for the cold winter days, they've got a room full of bean bags and couches and
there's even a Play Station in the corner.
It seems like it's such a rich school, you must get more money than other schools?
VESA AYRAS, PRINCIPAL: No, we don't. It's the same money for everyone actually.
LINTON BESSER: In Finland, schools are not allowed to raise private funds or to charge
fees from parents.
All schools are equitably funded from taxation.
VESA AYRAS: And in our system everything is free for the students actually. We've don't
collect any money from the parents.
AIJA RINKINEN: We want our schools to be equal and have equal opportunities to arrange the
education.
So therefore also the finance system needs to be equal and treat equally all the schools.
LINTON BESSER: Mintu Latimarki's older brother, Levi, is in Year 7 and this afternoon he's
got maths.
OONA ARNEZ, TEACHER: We have, like the last term, chapter before we have the next exam.
LINTON BESSER: There are regular exams in Finland but the results of these tests are
not published and shared.
VESA AYRAS: We have additional tests but the big difference is we don't compare schools
that this is not a good school, this is a bad school.
We just use the information that we evaluate ourselves.
LINTON BESSER: But perhaps the single biggest difference in Finnish education is the standard
of teaching.
Levi's maths teacher, Oona Arnez, speaks five languages and has post graduate qualifications.
OONA ARNEZ: So every one of us, we have to have a Master's degree to be teachers.
So like, for example, me, I'm maths and chemistry and physics teacher.
LINTON BESSER: In Finland, a career as a teacher is highly sought after.
OONA ARNEZ: To enter the studies in university actually it's really hard. They take something
like 10 per cent to study teaching.
If you really want to be a teacher, it can't be your second or third or I don't know what
kind of option. It has to be your first.
PAIVI LATOMAKI, MOTHER: I believe that they know what is the best for our children.
I'm not a teacher, I don't have that education. So we don't interfere with their work.
LINTON BESSER: In Finland, there's little anxiety about finding the right school for
your child.
PAIVI LATOMAKI: We trust that they have very good schools so we don't need to do any research
work.
FATHER: I think that is not a question in Finland.
PAIVI LATOMAKI: No.
LINTON BESSER: Finland is a vastly different country with a tiny homogenous society.
But its education success must surely offer some lessons for Australia.
VESA AYRAS: I would like to say to try to build the system that you trust the people.
LINTON BESSER: And its investment in teachers seems an obvious place to begin.
OONA ARNEZ: The society respects the teachers and it means also the parents respect the
teachers and they've don't question the teachers and in Finland that's
a really huge thing.
Hi, I'm Leigh Sales. Thanks for watching this story.
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