THE SECRET OF THE FINNS

THE SECRET OF THE FINNS

Here’s how well and beautifully it is learned in Finland.
The value of a country lies in the quality of its people – in fact in their spiritual level. And this does not mean whether or not they pray to God, but, first of all, whether they seek the authentic and whether they learn and practice human virtues and qualities.
There was a drama in Romania.
If you want to destroy a people, it is enough to destroy education.
Then all you have to do is wait. Time will replace the “old” generation with a “new” generation that does not know how to work, does not know how to distinguish right from wrong, who believes that profit and social “success” are everything.
THE REAL SOLUTION IS AN INNER TRANSFORMATION.
…………….
Unfortunately, there is not much time left…
ACT!

“It is no wonder that the Finnish education system is the most evolved and the best in the world. Finland is, at the same time, one of the countries with the highest standard of living in the world. Following the period of severe economic downturn in the ’90s, the government decided to dedicate significant funds to education, research and technology. The result: in less than 10 years, Finland has passed on the first places in the world in terms of social welfare and wealth. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Finland)

Why is it so common that in Finland, a normal teenager finishes the first 8 classes with excellent averages, speaking perfect English and reading one book a week?

07:45 – Saili (15 years old) is waiting for the urban bus that will leave it at the school gate (there are no school buses). The bus passes every 5 minutes. The Finns try to make their sons independent of the little ones. Very few of them, their parents take them by car to school. The ticket is subsidized by the municipality. According to the law, no student can live more than 5 km from the school. Outside, the school’s installations give a Spartan impression. No cigarette butt, no paper on the floor, no graffiti on the walls.
09:15 – 45-minute hours. The Finns rely on the studies of their mother tongue, mathematics and English. 75% of the subjects are common throughout the country. The rest is chosen by the school, agreeing with teachers, parents and students. The hours are short, intense and, above all, very participatory. Inside the school, cleanliness is even more obvious. Everything seems recently put into use. There are no signs on the benches and desks, and nothing is scratched. The school is public and, of course, free, but with facilities worthy of an “expensive” college in Spain. The course rooms have giant plasma screens with closed-circuit TV, 200-liter aquarium with tropical fish, full kitchen, audiovisual devices, air conditioning, many plants. Each two students read a computer. A dozen sewing machines in the tailoring room, welding machines, time tools, skis… A covered gym, an auditorium for theater classes and a self-service dining room.

Books are free, school material is free, food is free. In Finland.

12:00 – Hot, nutritious and free food. Saili has half an hour for catching at the school restaurant. Finnish law requires that the menu be free, nutritious, and with many kinds of salads and fruits. Drink water or milk. The municipality of each city pays the costs. If classes are extended until the afternoon, the school has the obligation to offer a snack to the students.
16:05 – Back home, Saili plays hockey with his younger brother. There is no delinquency, the streets are safe. When the evening falls, Saili and his brother, who have learned to cook at school, prepare dinner for their parents, if they are late for work.
18:30 – Dinner and sauna (this, 3 times a week) are the moments when the family is together. There is a lot of conversation, especially about children’s projects, their desires, progress and needs. But to the same extent, vacation plans are also made for the whole family, in common.
20:15 – Homework and bedtime. Finnish children have a lot of homework, although Saili finishes them quickly, in an hour or two, because they can’t wait to get into bed and read Harry Potter in English. For Saili, school is like a service.

– “If a child wants to study, he can become a doctor or a judge or an engineer, even if his family is a poor one”

– The education of each child costs the Finnish state 200,000 euros, from kindergarten to graduation from a university. “It’s the best-used money from our taxes.” – Nelson Mandela
– Students pay only books and food (2.50 euros at the faculty restaurant). Then, the state helped them to emancipate themselves by giving them subsidies for renting a home and the first salary.
– The students have a total respect for the teachers, and one can see at all times the politeness in the relations between them. They do not wear uniforms, but they are always simple and correctly dressed and combed.
– In a school in the center of helsinki, or beyond the Arctic Circle, the level is the same. The educational system is not elitist and does not aim at producing geniuses, but at reaching a higher average general level.
– The themes are holy. And it’s very bad for one student to copy, even by the other students. It is inconceivable for a student to take out a daughter in an exam. The one who would do it would be isolated by the rest of the students. “Why risk, when you can study?” On the same line, as adults, they will not imagine what tax evasion is. No wonder Finland is at the forefront of the countries with the highest transparency statistics and the lowest public corruption.
– The President of Finland, Tarja Halonen, a law graduate and a teacher: “When I scold my students, I tell them that I am wasting taxpayers’ money”. (http://www.adevarul.ro/actualitate/Tarja-Halonen-Finlanda-exemplu-Romania_0_31197908.html)
– There are no repeaters, although there is only one opportunity to take an exam, “for the simple reason that life itself is lived only once”. It is studied until the exam is taken, but the promotion in the next year is automatic.
– Saili’s “working day” is intense, from 8 to 3. But the hours are short, of 45 minutes. One of the recreations is mandatory outside, in the open air. Critical reasoning is stimulated before mechanical memorization. Classes are relaxed, such as salon dance classes, theater, digital art, hairdressing, martial arts, hockey, touring skiing, gastronomy, first aid, carpentry, mechanics or music. Students learn the violin, electric guitar or what they prefer. And, once again, critical thinking is encouraged and discussed.
– “Saili has not yet decided what he wants to do later. Chemistry, veterinary medicine or video game creation. I ask him if he is happy. Without blinking, he replies that yes.”