 | |
Education and Reserch 1999-2004 - Ministry of Education Development Plan - Finland
Source: Ministry of Education
Under the Decree on a Development Plan for Education and University Research in the Administrative Sector of the Ministry of Education (987/1998) issued on the 14th of December 1998, the Government shall adopt a plan for the development of education and research which come under the competence of the Ministry of Education for the year in which it is adopted and for the next five calendar years.
The Government has today, on the 29th of December 1999, adopted the following development plan for the years 1999-2004.
The implementation of the development objectives for education and research determined in the previous development plan for 1995-2000 has been monitored and evaluated. The objectives are largely still topical and their implementation continues.
The objectives and measures have been specified in the Development Plan for 1999-2004 according to the policy lines determined in the government programme and with due consideration to the demands imposed by the implementation of the new educational legislation.
The fundamental policy line in the government programme highlights know-how and knowledge which equitably benefit the regions of the country. Finland's future depends on know-how and a capacity for utilising the know-how and creating new innovations. Raising the level of know-how among the population as a whole supports Finland's development as a civilisation and Finland's competitiveness. Equal opportunity for education and training is the right of every person permanently resident in Finland in accordance with the principles of lifelong learning, regardless of their gender, place of residence, age, language, economic standing, state of health, disability or origin. The aim is to secure, by a joint public and private sector effort, an input into R&D which enables the present level of overall R&D input to be maintained. The share of public funding will be gradually increased. Finland will be developed into a society which sees knowledge and know-how as part of civilisation and as a central production factor and which at the same time caters comprehensively for the education and training needs of society and the labour market.
The aim during the planning period is to ensure equal and high-standard basic education. The prerequisites and resources of schools and other educational institutions will be secured and resources will be especially allocated to teaching and guidance. Special attention will be paid to supporting at-risk children and young people as well as preventing their exclusion.
The objectives set in the Development Plan will be implemented within decisions on resource frameworks and the decisions on quantification and allocation taken in connection with the annual budget. Structural fund programmes will be especially targeted at the implementation of measures listed under items 2.3, 2.5, 2.8, 3.6 and 3.10. In addition, the implementation will be influenced by the economic standing of education and training providers, especially local authorities.
The implementation of the objectives set in the Development Plan will be monitored and evaluated annually.
1. Civilisation belongs to everyone
1.1 Principles of national educational and cultural action
In the Finnish information society, knowledge and know-how form part of civilisation and constitute the most important production factor. Civilisation means both the individual's aspiration to self-improvement and the community's intellectual capital. A person is civilised when he or she has assimilated a reasonable part of the cultural heritage of their community and is able to manage their own life. The individual's intellectual activity enhances and renews the community's cultural heritage. Thus aspiration to civilisation and civilisation as a heritage are two different sides of the same coin. An all-around education comprises cognitive abilities, ethical and aesthetic appreciation, a highly developed emotional life, observation and communication skills, the basic qualifications needed in work, and an ability to operate as a member of society.
Civilisation is characterised by comprehensiveness and diversity and an ability to look at things from different perspectives. Civilisation entails wide-ranging acquisition of information and its critical analysis. One prerequisite is to develop thinking, intellectual, social and communicative skills and self-expression. Civilised persons are capable of constructive cooperation, are aware of the consequences of their action and can take responsibility for them. They are considerate towards other people, have good manners and can take care of themselves and their living environment.
Civilisation belongs to everyone. The task of national education policy is to constantly raise the level of education, culture and know-how. Every person has the right to continuous self-improvement, to learning and to growth into an ethically and morally responsible member of society and humankind. Basic educational security belongs to all citizens. It includes the right to free formal education, sufficient freedom of choice, and a safe learning environment. The principles of sustainable development will be taken into account in the educational provision and other activities of different school forms.
It is the task of the public sector to pursue a social policy which guarantees equal opportunities for people to acquire information and skills and grow into knowledgeable and tolerant people who respect democratic procedures. To this end, equal opportunities for education will be guaranteed to every citizen, regardless of their gender, place of residence, age, language and economic standing. The activities will be based on the principles of lifelong learning and undertaken in cooperation with the social partners.
1.2 A humane knowledge-based society
The first years of the new millennium will mark a period of transition. The process of European integration will bring Finland ever closer into the international economic and political community. Globalisation has a significant impact on education and research. This means growing challenges for people's general education, cooperative and interaction skills, language proficiency and cultural knowledge.
Knowledge and know-how form the basis of economic competitiveness and the welfare of society as a whole. Finland's success is based on high-standard education and research, innovative know-how and the utilisation of modern information and communications technology (ICT).
One criterion for the performance of the Finnish education system is the implementation of equal opportunities and the competitiveness of Finnish education and training. The education system must be developed as a whole so as to enable students at different educational levels to find jobs and to continue their studies.
The aim of the Government is to ensure that the number of new jobs will increase rapidly and the employment rate will approach the target 70 per cent which was set in the Finnish employment guidelines.
ICT is changing production and work methods. In business and industry there is an ongoing structural change towards knowledge-based and ecologically sustainable branches. The change in the industrial structure decreases traditional work tasks in primary production, while jobs in services and high-tech fields are growing. Natural wastage owing to the ageing of the population influences educational needs and must be taken into account in the reallocation of educational provision. Attention must similarly be paid to the matching of education and labour needs at the regional level.
ICT opens up new opportunities for developing teaching and studies. The adoption of new technologies poses great challenges to teaching and the education sector as a whole; responding to these challenges requires wide-scale European cooperation.
A genuine information society is within the reach of every citizen. Development must not lead to differentiation and exclusion. This requires discussion on lifelong learning, the use of new learning methods and tools and information society services as requisite services. Finland's progress as an information society requires that people are supported in acquiring the knowledge and skills needed and that they have equal access to information networks, for instance through the public library network.
Changing vocational and professional requirements and the pressures of coping with work highlight links between working life and education. Citizens are expected to have more extensive vocational and professional education while the demand for more specific competence is growing. One central aim at the national level is to promote business and entrepreneurship. Education and training for entrepreneurship must have a growing role in educational development.
With a view to regional development, innovation will be promoted in universities, polytechnics, vocational institutions and upper secondary schools, as well as in regional centres.
The economic recession and the ensuing high unemployment rates have resulted in exclusion from working life and society. The exclusion of whole families causes great problems for children and young people. Too many young people end up missing out on secondary education and training, or discontinuing their education.
The resources available to schools and other educational institutions have been scarce while their educational mission has become more difficult. Special attention will be paid during the planning period to identifying learning difficulties, renewing teaching and working methods, and guidance in response to growing social problems and drug abuse.
2. Development lines in education and research
2.1 Basic educational security
Basic educational security underlines the need to take citizens' rights and opportunities into account in all education and training, from early education to lifelong learning. Special attention will be paid to tolerance and human rights education with a view to preventing prejudices and violent behaviour.
Achieving the objectives set for the performance of the education system, for regional access to education and training, for equal opportunity and for educational content requires public input into education and research, good educational administration, and efficient study guidance and student financial aid. In addition, it requires monitoring and evaluating the achievement of the set objectives.
Students have the right to sufficient teaching and guidance geared to their own level of development on every working day of their institution. A sufficient level of educational provision will be secured with a view to meeting the adult population's needs for knowledge and education, to raising the employment rate and to promoting social welfare and cohesion. Adult education and training will be targeted to provide sufficient opportunities for people who have an inadequate basic education or come from a disadvantaged social-economic background, in order to enhance their education and know-how.
The learning environment plays an important part in children's and young people's learning. Special attention will be paid to students' well-being, especially as regards physical working conditions (school buildings), work atmosphere and safety at school.
2.2 The financing base of educational institutions
Owing to earlier stringency measures, the unit prices on which statutory state aid is based have been some 10 per cent under the real cost level. According to legislation now in force, these unit prices will be returned to the normal level in 2001.
2.3 Information technology in teaching and research
In the age of information systems, communication through information networks is commonplace, increasingly rapid and easy. Electronic communications are modifying work procedures and environments. A significant part of new jobs are created in fields relating to the construction and maintenance of information and communication technology (ICT) systems and in content production.
Apart from cognitive qualifications, the required education and know-how include social, ethical and aesthetic knowledge and skills. The response to the growing know-how demands will be to provide better opportunities for libraries, open university, open polytechnic, liberal education and other education providers to arrange education geared to improving the skills needed in the information society. New solutions will be developed based on the possibilities inherent in digital radio and television channels and wireless networks.
Measures must be taken to prevent inequality and exclusion. The threat inherent in the information society is that it will exclude population groups who are not as capable as others of acquiring and assimilating new technologies and of responding to the growing know-how requirements in the information society.
The aim is that Finland will be among the world top as a knowledge-based interaction society. Success in this will depend on equal opportunities for citizens to study and develop their own knowledge and know-how and make full use of educational services.
The measures for achieving these aims will be based on the action programme ''Education, training and research in the information society, a national strategy 2000-2004'', in which the central areas are
A joint national action programme has been implemented with a view to enhancing mathematical and scientific knowledge, in partnership with educational and business organisations, a number of companies, the media, as well as the public sector. The aim of the programme is to support information society development, sustainable development, business, and citizens' mathematical and scientific knowledge and know-how.
2.4 International cooperation
The primary aim of international cooperation is to promote high-standard education and research and to assure their quality. International cooperation in education and research supports the internationalisation of Finnish business and industry and makes Finnish know-how and culture known abroad. Young Finns will be with provided good opportunities for personal development and studies abroad, and corresponding opportunities will be provided for foreign young people in Finland.
The internationalisation of Finnish society and business and the trend towards multiculturalism make demands on language and communication skills, tolerance, knowledge of cultures and general education. With a view to achieving these skills, measures must be taken to promote the internationalisation of curricula, joint projects in education and research, as well as international exchanges. Attention will be paid to the quality of programmes provided in foreign languages and to assuring their high standard.
Finland takes an active part in educational and research cooperation within the European Union. Special attention will be paid to the implementation of EU education and research programmes and to the elimination of obstacles to mobility. In the education and research sector, Finland will seek to promote the prerequisites of the applicant countries to join the European Union.
One priority in Finland's Europe policy is to develop the northern dimension in the Union. Apart from Nordic cooperation, Finland will seek to create a basis for solving northern issues and problems - especially in Lapland, Russian Karelia and the Barents Region - and to promote economic and social development in these regions. Of particular interest in this context are experiences gained in international cooperation in promoting the development of technology and education, and cultural relations.
2.5 Lifelong learning
The rapid growth and content renewal of know-how and professional requirements, the ageing of the work force, differences in education and training between generations, and the growing number of the retirement-age population require that education policy is weighted towards lifelong learning. Overall, the implementation of lifelong learning is also influenced by other administrative sectors, the social partners and other interest groups. An essential element in education policy weighted towards lifelong learning is to create a solid basis for constant learning. Efforts will also be made to revise the grounds for educational financing to promote the aims of the education policy geared to lifelong learning.
For an efficient and flexible education system it is important that prior study attainments are appropriately recognised. In addition to this, there is a need to develop systems for assessing and recognising knowledge and know-how acquired outside the formal education system.
2.6 Development lines in research
Scientific research, researcher training and international research cooperation will be important development objects in university activities during the planning period.
In the development of university research, priority will be given to the high quality and impact of research and the utilisation of research findings in the fields of culture, social services and business. The status and role of the Academy of Finland will be enhanced as a channel for competition-based research funding, as an important source of financing for basic research and as a developer of professional research careers.
Cooperation and division of work between universities and polytechnics will be developed. In polytechnic R&D the priority will be to support the development of small and medium-sized enterprises and to strengthen regional innovation. The resources for this R&D will primarily come from business enterprises, public service providers and regional authorities which finance applied R&D. Relations with business and industry and a high quality are important objectives in polytechnic R&D. The basic resources in polytechnic R&D, such as the personnel in R&D units, equipment, and the preparation of R&D strategies, need to be strengthened.
2.7 Quantification of educational provision
The point of departure in the quantification of educational provision will be to cater for the knowledge and know-how needs of the population as a whole, to ensure a balanced regional development and to respond to the need for change in society and working life. A rapid response will be given to the educational needs arising from the ageing of the population and the work force.
The development of vocational education and training is a topical and important task. Education and training supply will especially be increased in fields of particular relevance to the national economy and in fields suffering from labour shortages. The ongoing measures to enhance the appreciation of vocational education and training will be continued.
The provision of polytechnic education will be expanded. The intakes will be redeployed especially to fields relating to the cultural industries. In addition, the provision of adult education will be increased in fields suffering from labour shortages.
The educational provision in universities will be quantified so that the present level of intake will not essentially be increased. Growth is anticipated in knowledge-intensive fields, such as the electric and electronic industries, biotechnology, the cultural industry, business, and teacher education. The expansion in business education and training will be primarily directed at international business, financing and marketing. The overall student number in universities will fall owing to improved turnover.
Studies on the present age structure and competence of the teaching profession indicate that teacher education will have to be increased to ensure the availability of competent teachers for different posts. In this context, attention will also be paid to the teacher needs arising from the implementation of pre-primary education. Similarly, education and training in the health field must be quantified in relation to the growing number of elderly people and the foreseeable rapid rate of retirement among care personnel within 5-10 years.
Some 80,000 student years will be allocated to adult vocational education and training provided by secondary institutions, polytechnics and universities. The provision of education geared to meet the need for self-enhancement, learning skills and basic information society skills will be around 25,000 student places annually. This calculated volume corresponds to the 1999 level. The use of student places will be monitored more closely.
2.8 Structural fund programmes
The European Union structural fund programmes support and complement the measures proposed in this plan for promoting employability, enhancing know-how, disseminating research findings and technology, and developing learning environments.
The national preparation and implementation of structural fund programmes reconciles the demands of the national education and research policy and the aims set for the Community structural fund action.
The horizontal Objective 3 and the regional Objectives 1 and 2 co-financed by the European Social Fund emphasise the following areas:
The regional Objectives 1 and 2 co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund emphasise the following areas:
2.9 Teachers' initial and further education
Teachers are the most important group contributing to the educational outcome. The modifications provided for in the new educational legislation and their implementation entail large increases in teachers' further education. They must also be taken into account in initial training.
Programmes will be devised for teachers' initial and further education which define both the qualitative objectives and the quantitative targets for teacher education. The provision of government-funded, credit-awarding education for the teaching profession relating to ongoing education policy projects will be increased.
2.10 Evaluation of education and research
Educational regulation has given way to steering by target outcome, and norm regulation has been systematically dismantled. The financing systems have been developed towards the use of unit costs. This has increased the need to monitor and evaluate outcome. Target outcomes and the criteria for evaluating them have been recorded in the annual state budget and in the action and economic plan. The Ministry of Education has agreed with the National Board of Education and provincial state offices on the evaluations to be undertaken. Evaluations relating to higher education are undertaken by the Higher Education Evaluation Council, while the Academy of Finland is responsible for research evaluation.
With a view to quality assurance in education, the new educational legislation includes provisions on educational evaluations, which will be undertaken in the form of self-evaluations and independent evaluations; the methodology of both forms of evaluation will be developed.
In the planning period, the main aim of independent evaluations is to assess the quality of education at all levels and in all forms of education. The findings will be used in the development of activities.
The present steering policy and decentralisation of decision powers in education entail a smoothly functioning system for anticipating educational and labour needs, as well as good educational statistics.
Taking quality and competition into account in research financing requires the further development of quality assessment methods. The quality criteria must be unified, and care must be taken to ensure objective quality assessment. The financing systems also need to be developed, and measures must be taken to find the best and most just methods for targeting research input.
3. Development of the education and research systems
3.1 Pre-primary education
Although the Finish education system is open and geared to equal opportunity, education is still too much dependent on the family's socio-economic background. Early education will be developed to level out social differences and differences in the capacity for learning. This will create a solid foundation for lifelong learning. Measures will be taken to intensify early detection and prevention of learning difficulties and relevant rehabilitation.
The Ministry of Education, together with the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, will draw up a plan for the gradual implementation of early education from 2000 to 2001. The curricula of early and pre-primary education will be revised by spring 2001. In this connection account will be taken of the need for pre-primary education among the Sami, Romany, sign language and other linguistic minorities. The comprehensive school curriculum will be revised after the implementation of pre-primary education.
3.2 The comprehensive school
The development of the comprehensive school stems from the tradition of Finnish folk education and Finnish civilisation. These are the humanist and Christian ethical tradition, appreciation of the family, respect for work, a balanced relationship between man and nature, tolerance, and internationalisation.
The task of the comprehensive school is to pass on our cultural heritage to young people and provide the knowledge, skills and tools needed in modern society. The key factor in terms of both the content of learning and young people's self-reliance and life management is the learner's active role in analysing and constructing their own knowledge structure and in developing their own creativity.
The comprehensive school is intended for the whole age group. Within the limits of its resources, the school supports and encourages pupils' individual learning according to their own needs. The aim has been and is that the whole age group obtain a school-leaving certificate. Additional teaching is given to young people who are assessed to be, and based on data concerning application to further training are known to be, at risk of exclusion.
The comprehensive school provides the basis for further education and training. The aim is that the whole age group will go on to secondary education and training. The comprehensive school also provides the knowledge and motivation base for the practice of science and arts at the very highest level.
3.2.1 The school network
With a view to promoting educational equality, local decision-makers' responsibility will be accentuated and the resources of basic education will be secured to enable local authorities to develop all their schools on an equal basis. The rural network of schools will be supported to prevent inordinately long and tiring travel to school, which would undermine learning capacity.
3.2.2 Pedagogical and content development in the comprehensive school
The new school legislation guarantees children's and young people's right to high-quality teaching and offers a flexible framework for developing and diversifying education. The experiments relating to teachers' overall workload geared to improving conditions for school activities should be expanded with the aim of achieving a permanent solution based on employment contracts. The opportunities offered in the school legislation should especially be used to improve education on grades 7-9. Particular attention will be paid to special issues relating to transition from the second to the third grade and from the sixth to the seventh grade and to the final year. Studies will be undertaken toexplore ways of arranging guided and sufficiently varied after-school club activities for comprehensive school pupils.
Basic education forms the foundation for equal opportunity in education and for further studies. The most important factor in the implementation of basic educational security is that there are no great differences in teaching, learning and educational outcome between different education providers and schools. Evaluation methods and criteria and learning standards will be developed to identify such differences. Local authorities and schools will be supported with a view to narrowing down differences.
The comprehensive school curriculum was revised in 1994, when the present school-driven curriculum model was adopted. In the revision of the curricular guidelines in spring 1999, pupil assessment was reformed and criteria were determined for end-of-programme assessment in different subjects.
The comprehensive school and the implementation of its curriculum, teaching and learning will be evaluated on a continual basis. In addition, the experiences gained in the extensive spearhead projects generated by the previous Development Plan will be used in the following curricular reform. The next development stage will particularly highlight learning skills and the development of pupils' self-confidence and life management.
The timing of the next reform of the allocation of classroom hours and curricular guidelines will be determined by the implementation of pre-primary education. When pre-primary education is provided for nearly the whole age group in the school year 2001/2002, it will be necessary to reform the curriculum of the two first grades from 2002/2003 onwards and that of grades 3-6 from 2004/2005 onwards. This reform will also address the question of teaching given in foreign languages, including language immersion.
The transition from the comprehensive school to secondary education and training is problematic in terms of exclusion. Some 7-8 per cent of pupils do not continue immediately in upper secondary education or training after leaving the comprehensive school. Dropout rates at the early stages of secondary education and training are rising. The matter is particularly problematic in the case of immigrants. In order to prevent exclusion, comprehensive schools must be allocated sufficient resources.
3.3 Basic education in the arts
Basic education in the arts is a system of extracurricular art education for children and young people. Under the new school legislation, it includes basic music education provided by music institutes and other basic art education. The National Board of Education has devised national curricular guidelines for nine forms of art. At the moment, discrete statutory state aid based on unit cost is only allocated to music institutes. Under the new Act, it can also be allocated to other art institutes. In addition to statutory state aid, local authorities receive a per-capita state aid for basic education in the arts.
3.4 Secondary education and training
Secondary education consists of general upper secondary education and initial and further vocational education and training. The development of secondary education and training will be approached from the point of view of the whole age group, their placement in further education and training labour market needs and regional development.
Upper secondary school education will be developed as a form of general education leading to the matriculation examination and preparing for further education. Vocational education and training will be developed as a form which aims at providing the vocational competence required by the labour market, promoting vocational mobility and preparing for further education. Vocational qualifications will be developed in cooperation with business and industry and the social partners.
Secondary education and training, like university and polytechnic education, will be examined as an entity transcending one municipality, in which the knowledge and know-how provided by the different forms of education in an area are seen to have importance for both the individual and the region.
At present some 94 per cent of the age group start the upper secondary school and some 82 per cent complete it. Secondary education can be considered a minimum requirement for lifelong learning and coping with working life.
Under the new school legislation, education and training providers have more organisational latitude and a duty to cooperate with one another. At the same time, it increased students' freedom to choose study blocks from other educational institutions within the scope of their programme and to count prior studies towards the diploma or certificate. The freedom of choice also makes it possible to intensify educational cooperation towards allowing students to start studies geared to tertiary education already at the secondary level. These aims require intensified study counselling.
The student's right to individual studies will be further developed. Study guidance will be intensified and adequate resources will be allocated to enable students to devise individual study programmes across institutional boundaries. The financing arrangements will be developed to meet the demands of cooperation. Opportunities for tertiary education will be developed. The upper secondary education and training experiment will be continued.
3.5 The upper secondary school
The polytechnic has become a more viable track for matriculated students. About half of the upper secondary school leavers continue in polytechnics and half in universities. This change will be taken into account in the development of the upper secondary school and the matriculation examination.
The matriculation examination was reformed in 1995. At the same time a new structure was instituted on a trial basis, in which the candidate can take the mother tongue test and at least three of the following tests: the second national language, a foreign language, mathematics and general studies. A decision taken in 1998 extended the trial to 2003. It is not possible to have for a very long time an examination system which is different for a large trial group than for others.
3.6 Vocational education and training
The national vocational qualifications will be gradually reformed so that all programmes in all fields beginning in 2001 will conform to the new diploma structure. Education and training are facing constant pressures for change owing to rapid changes in working life, technology and work organisations and to international mobility. The development of vocational education and training is a task which has great relevance to the nation as a whole.
Decision-making about initial vocational education and training has been devolved on education and training providers through various solutions. Various measures have been taken during the 1990s to harmonise and develop learning outcome assessment in vocational education and training. Possibilities have been explored, for instance, for introducing end-of-programme tests and end-of-programme projects, and the latter is being applied. A national evaluation of learning outcome has shown that there is room for improvement in teaching methods and in learning outcome.
Another solution explored is skills tests, in which students are given assignments designed jointly with employers to show how well they have achieved the curricular objectives and the competence required in working life.
With a view to enhancing the attractiveness of and appreciation for vocational education, legislative measures have been taken to enlarge the eligibility it provides for further education. An increasing number of vocational students also study upper secondary school syllabi to improve their eligibility for further studies.
Work-based learning will be established as an essential part of vocational education and training. High-standard on-the-job learning requires new kinds of cooperation between education and training providers and workplaces, dissemination of information, in-service training for teachers and on-the-job instructors, and the development of implementation models which address sectoral and regional needs. The inclusion of on-the-job learning in curricula will bring institutional and apprenticeship training closer to each other, combining the best aspects of both.
The aim of the vocational qualification reform will be to improve the quality of training and its correspondence with the demands of working life, primarily with a view to placement or further education. However, a growing problem has been that part of the age group run the risk of becoming excluded both from working life and from social participation in general. The prevention of dropout will demand work forms which boost young people's motivation.
3.7 Higher education
Higher education and research are central to an effective national innovation system. The Finnish higher education system will be developed as a whole comprising two pillars (the dual model) in which universities and polytechnics complement each other.
Polytechnics will intensify their contacts with working life and strengthen their expertise concerning the development of working life, especially in response to the needs of SMEs and regional development. Polytechnics will develop their R&D in cooperation with business and industry.
University activities highlight scientific basic research and researcher training, as well as undergraduate education based on research. Universities will respond to the constantly growing research volume in the knowledge-intensive society by ensuring the availability of researchers and a high-standard work force and by producing scientific knowledge on which innovation rests.
The development of the higher education system and the creation of institutional profiles will be carried on with the focus on securing equal educational opportunities in different parts of the country. The regional innovation systems will be intensified with R&D which makes use of and strengthens the special features of each region.
Sufficient resources will be allocated to supportive services for research and teaching in universities and polytechnics. Universities and polytechnics will develop their library and information services and information management in close collaboration. A common basic structure needs to be developed on the basis of which each higher education sector can develop its own special know-how. The information network and library services infrastructure will be primarily built with centralised funding. Projects requiring exceptionally large additional resources during the planning period are the renewal of the FUNET backbone network and the common library system.
The system of higher education degrees will be developed to correspond to the needs of working life and also in view of the international development of degree structures. An important point of departure is to secure the competitiveness of Finnish higher education institutions. This consideration will also be taken into account in the development of postgraduate polytechnic degrees.
As a result of technological progress and the rapid turnover of knowledge, together with rapidly changing qualification requirements, the graduate work force needs opportunities for professional upgrading.
With a view to ensuring a flexible education system and students' legal rights, it is essential that prior studies are recognised in an adequate and fair way when students transfer from one sector of higher education to another. The recognition of prior studies is a task for the higher education institutions.
3.8 Polytechnics
3.8.1 Secured financing for polytechnics
Polytechnics will be developed as part of the international higher education community, with the emphasis on their status as high-standard experts on working life and its development. The autonomy of polytechnics and higher education democracy will be strengthened simultaneously with relaxed regulation. Polytechnics' project and performance-based financing will be developed.
Students will be supported in completing their studies through increased freedom of choice, study guidance and advice, and other supportive services. The development project for virtual learning will be implemented in cooperation with universities.
3.8.2 An efficient polytechnic network
The polytechnic network will be developed to enable it to serve regional development better and to consist of cost-effective and efficient entities.
3.8.3 Regional development, R&D and adult education
The regional role and impact of polytechnics will be intensified.
The capacity of polytechnics for producing new knowledge about working life, professional expertise and its development will be improved. Tothis end, measures will be taken to develop professional postgraduate degrees and applied R&D jointly undertaken with business and industry.
Adult education provided by polytechnics will be increased in keeping with the principles of lifelong learning, open polytechnic education will be expanded, and the role of polytechnics as developers of working life will be enhanced.
3.9 Universities and scientific research
3.9.1 Secured core funding
In the planning period, undergraduate education, researcher training and applied research, as well as artistic activities, will be developed as a whole with a view to consolidating links between university education and the most recent knowledge. Business know-how will be strengthened.
University core funding will be secured with a view to ensuring long-term work in universities. The correlation between the objectives set for the university system and resources will be improved so that new tasks and the expansion of education and research will correspondingly increase budget funding.
3.9.2 The development of teaching and learning
In university education, the aim will be large-scale pedagogical renewal towards student-centred teaching methods. The development of teaching and learning will especially capitalise on network-based and open learning and distance learning. Teaching, guidance and advisory services will be developed to promote individual learning so that they support progress in studies, on the one hand, and enable studies to be assessed and monitored more efficiently, on the other. The development of teaching will aim not only at more in-depth learning but also at more efficient university activities and shorter graduation times. This will require that sufficient resources are allocated to teaching and supportive services.
One of the main reasons for prolonged studies is overloaded basic degrees. Basic degrees, postgraduate degrees and continuing professional education will be developed as a whole with a view to preventing unjustifiable expansion of degrees.
The use of student places will be intensified with the aim of securing free, degree-oriented study opportunities for as many people as possible, and of promoting appropriate allocation of university resources.
3.9.3 Promotion of researcher training
The postgraduate education system will be expanded with a view to making the graduate schools a central, but not the only, track to a doctorate. Researcher training will take account of economic, cultural and social needs. Measures will be taken to enable those aiming at professional research careers to obtain the required qualifications and to begin their research careers at a younger age than now. Conditions will especially be improved for women researchers to combine work and family life.
3.9.4 Structural development
The aim of the structural development of the university network is to improve its effectiveness and to enable resources to be allocated to strategic growth areas and new rising fields. To this end, universities will develop themselves internally by removing overlapping and strengthening their areas of core knowledge.
External funding will be increased to enable it to be allocated to the development of university infrastructure. The conditions for companies to sponsor university research with donations will be improved. The point of departure in the expansion of the university financing base is that external financing must uphold the objectives set for the university and conform to approved ethical principles. External financing may not endanger the independence of university research and teaching or compromise the principles that degree-oriented studies are free for students and that research findings are public. Measures will be taken to intensify cooperation with the financing organisations and interaction with the users of research findings. The development of research and its high standard must also be secured in disciplines which do not receive external financing to the same extent as, for instance, the technical fields.
3.9.5 University research
3.9.5.1 An efficient and balanced research system
The goal is that universities work efficiently as part for the Finnish research system. The research environments in universities will be internationally competitive and researcher training and researcher career arrangements of a high standard. Young researchers will be supported in qualifying for professional research for instance by means of an improved system of post-doctoral posts.
People with doctoral degree will be encouraged to apply for research posts and other posts requiring high-level expertise.
3.9.5.2 Quality and impact of research
The Academy of Finland is the most important source of external financing for university research. The Academy will allocate the majority of its resources to finance research projects and programmes carried out in universities and centres of excellence and, together with the universities, develop the researcher post structure and promote professional research careers. The activities of research teams and centres of excellence will be promoted, and comprehensive and long-term financing will be secured. Research projects financed by the Academy for Finland may include an overhead extra.
Research in fields underpinning knowledge-intensive production, such as the electric and electronic fields and biotechnology will continue to be supported. Measures will be taken to promote the development of culture and cultural industries.
3.9.5.3 Utilisation of research findings
Methods will be developed for the transfer of research findings and technologies for practical applications and for utilisation. The popularisation of research findings for the use of citizens is a central element in the Finnish information system.
3.10 Adult education and training
The provision of self-motivated adult education will be developed to constitute a smoothly functioning entity together with labour market training and staff development training with a view to raising the level of education and cultural knowledge among the middle-aged population in particular. One of the main challenges for adult education and training is to find a response to the knowledge and competence needs arising from changes in working life in order to secure the occupational mobility and flexibility of 2.5 million members of the work force. To this end, conditions will be secured for the activities of adult vocational education and training units and private vocational institutes. These institutions will be supported in providing services which help adults to take competence-based qualifications.
The calculated target volume for further adult education provided at the secondary and tertiary levels and in liberal education is 105,000 student places annually. The competence of the teaching staff will be strengthened. The role of liberal education will be strengthened in the implementation of the lifelong learning strategy.
In accordance with policy lines determined in the 2000 state budget, the aim is to apply unit-cost-based statutory state aid in further vocational training from the beginning of 2001.
3.10.1 The development of vocational competence-based qualifications
A system of competence-based qualifications independent of the way in which knowledge and skills have been acquired must be developed in response to the educational needs of working life. The opportunity to build education and training on prior learning has shortened study times in adult education by more than one third.
3.10.2 Raising the level of education among the middle-aged population
The basic education of middle-aged persons is clearly lower than that of younger generations. In 1997, 34 per cent of employed persons aged between 45 and 54 had no post-compulsory training; the corresponding figure among the unemployed was 47 per cent.
It is important for the implementation of the lifelong learning principles and for a flexible labour market that people with poor or outdated education and training have access to specialised and individual adult education services. Study times in adult education must be kept at a reasonable level to prevent the length of study from becoming an obstacle to studies.
3.10.3 Strengthening the status of liberal education
Education and training have an important role in maintaining social cohesion and democratic values. This mission is underscored by the deep changes in social structure relating to the adjustment to the global economy, the rapid change in society and working life, regional development, progress in information and communications technologies and demographic changes. Exclusion and other unwanted effects can be prevented and alleviated especially by means of diversified liberal education and through closer cooperation with the Finnish Broadcasting Company, libraries and non-governmental organisations.
3.10.4 Third-age education and study services
The number of people at retirement age and the average duration of retirement are growing. Many important changes take place during retirement. These changes require updating of basic skills. Learning is also an important means of maintaining mental agility, which in turn prolongs active life, improves the quality of life, and tends to reduce the need for social help.
3.11 Student financial aid
In autumn 1999 the Ministry of Education started an evaluation to find out how the objectives set for student financial aid have been achieved and to what extent the objectives should be revised in view of recent developments. The report will be published by the end of April 2000.
3.11.1 Maximum time for student financial aid
Student financial aid will be developed to encourage graduation, and the maximum time limits will be relaxed to enable students to complete their studies. Measures are needed to enable slowly progressing students to graduate. The maximum time of eligibility determined in the Ministry of Education decision on student financial aid forMaster's studies of 180 credits will be extended to 60 months. The degrees concerned are Master of Science in Architecture, Master of Science in Technology, Master of Science in Landscape Architecture, Master of Arts in Music and Master of Arts in Psychology. At the same time, the grounds on which the maximum time for financial aid may be prolonged for personal reasons will be made more flexible.
3.11.2 Harmonising the amounts of student financial aid and family allowance
The study grant for students aged under 20 is nearly always lower than the family allowance, and the parents' incomes are taken into account in financial aid granted to students under 20 who study in institutions other than universities and polytechnics.
3.11.3 Development of the student housing benefit system
The system of students' housing supplements will be harmonised from 1 May 2000 onwards. The housing supplement will cover 80 per cent of accepted rent, and students living in rented flats, with the exception of those with families, will be covered by the housing supplement. The spouse's income will be taken into account in the housing supplement.
[Top]