Comparative Critical Analysis of Educational Policies of Finland and Estonia

Abstract

The present paper aimed at conducting a critical and comparative policy analysis of Finland and Estonia. The analysis based on the Education Policy Outlook profiles published by the OECD (2021). The latter is specialized in evaluating nations with the aim of inspiring national policies for better lives. Specifically, the analyzed profiles are of the year 2020 and OECD’s six policy levers (equity and quality, preparation to the future, school improvement, governance, funding, and evaluation and assessment) provided a framework for analysis. Finland has been selected for comparison and contrast as it is considered to be a high performing European Union member as well as a developed economy whereas Estonia, has been selected due its uniqueness as a small country (45,227 km²) with a small number of the population (1.325 million), and multi-languages usage as mediums of instruction (Estonian and Russian). The types of secondary data and evidences in this critical analysis were mainly fetched from OECD reports as well as journal articles. Specific policies which have been very useful for such analysis are education policies of Estonia and those of Finland. Compared to OECD countries, the equity and quality of educational policies in Estonia are stronger at 79% but compared to Finland, the latter is ranked among the highest in the OECD as far as students’ learning outcomes in Science (81%), Mathematics (86%), and Reading (91%) are concerned. Conversely, in Finland, however, drop-out rates from secondary education are relatively high among boys (0.7%). Additionally, a highly-selective tertiary admission system has contributed to both delay to universities entry (generally at 24 years compared to the average of OECD which is 22 years) and the delay in labor market entry as the average duration of tertiary education is 6.5 years compared to 5 years among OECD countries. Some of the key strengths in Finland, as far as evaluation and assessment are concerned, include institutional and student’s self-evaluation and an improved-focused on evaluation and assessment at a percentage of 76%. However, some challenges also exist: Teachers need more support in designing students’ assessment practices and a central guidance is deemed useful for teachers and school-leaders appraisal. As members of European Union and OECD, Estonia and Finland have in common some education features and policies at different levels which seem to be not too different. The investment made in education especially regarding the expenditure per student per annuum are proportionally related to the total number of population (which is generally not too much); the geographical size as well as the national GDP.

Keywords: Education, policies, comparison, analysis

DOI: 10.7176/JEP/12-15-10

Publication date:May 31^st 2021