1. EDUCATION IN SPAIN VS
EDUCATION IN FINLAND

2. • Finnish educational system is recognized as a
model of reference in the developed world.
• Results in “PISA” report support the equality
and free model of education in Finland.
Now we are going to see some differences between the Finnish
educational system and the Spanish one:

3. 1. SCHOOL FAILURE
• School failure is one of the main problems of
Spanish education.
• The difference with Finland is clear. 30% of
dropouts in Spain whereas in Finland is 8%,
according to “UNESCO”.

4. 2. EDUCATIONAL REFORMS
• In Spain, the SEVENTH educational reform is been elaborated,
without teachers’ support. With this reform, the number of pupils
per classroom will be 30 in primary school and 36 in secondary
school. We can say that in Spain there is a clear political
interference in the plans of studies.
• In Finland the reforms are drawn with the teachers and the
education is a matter of the state which all political parties agree
on. The education isn’t a short term matter. There, the maximum
number of pupils per classroom is 20.

5. 3. CUTBACKS IN EDUCATION
• Spain has done cutbacks in education for the value of 3.000
million of euros in scholarships for dining-room, books and
course materials. For this reason, every time families find it
harder their children’s school attendance. These cutbacks affect
public schools more because public schools don’t have other way
of financing.
• In Finland the education is totally free: books, dining-room and
course materials. The state pay for all, and the families don't have
to ask for scholarships until the end of the compulsory school. It is
a free education from pre-school until university.

6. 4. PRIVATE SCHOOLS
• We are the second country in Europe with the biggest
percentage of private schools. 31% of schools are
either private or (“concertados”) direct-grant schools.
• In Finland the percentage of private schools is 3%.
There, elite schools don’t exist, which only can be paid
by some. And the pupils/students have the same rights
independently of their social class. 97% of schools
are public and free, and they include food, books and
material.

7. 5.IMPORTANCE OF TEACHERS
• In Spain, teachers haven't got social prestige. And it is easier to
access to an education degree.
• In Finland, the student with the best results dedicate to education.
They need a lot of vocation, good marks and a master’s degree to
be a teacher. In addition, the head teacher makes his own team
of teachers, the teachers have freedom to choose what they are
going to teach. There isn't educational inspection. And people
trust teachers.

8. 6. THE ROLE OF PARENTS
• In Spain, parents are more distant of the education
every time due to long working hours.
• In Finland, parents are more involved in the education
of their children and when problems between teacher
and pupil arise, the teacher has the support of the
parents.

9. WHAT IS THE SECRET?
• It’s not a matter of copying models, but we can adapt our
system to another model that works.
• But the main matter is to start to give
importance to education; the children should
get the best education possible.
• The secret isn’t in the classroom, it
is in society.

10. “An educated country
allows neither corrupt
people
Nor incompetent
ones”