About the Finnish Educational System. Information Bulletin

This Information Bulletin discusses the general reform of the Finnish education system, necessitated by events of the sixties, which included a larger number of students leaving the Primary Schools after grade four to enter the secondary level, the failure of Primary Schools to meet demands of basic education, and the closing of rural Primary Schools concommitant with the need for new urban Primary Schools in response to changes in population patterns. The old system consisted of eight years of compulsory schooling, beginning at the age of seven, divided into six years of Primary School and two to three years of Civic School, which specialized according to local needs and on the basis of general, vocational, and pre-orientational education. Secondary schools consisted of a five grade lower section, the Middle School, and a three grade upper section, the Gymnasium. The new system will include preschool education and a Comprehensive School covering the elementary years, replacing Primary, Civic, and Middle Schools. Teacher training also will be reformed, taking place at the University within education departments rather than in training schools. (JH)