Keir Starmer’s Labour government is proposing a 20 per cent VAT hike on fees for private schools. Many campaigners claim this will lead to the closure of private schools, and an influx of children into state schools. In 1970, Finland began a reform of its own school system and by 1972, all primary and secondary education became free of charge. Heli Litja, 45, was one of the first students in a reformed Finland. Here, she explains what the UK might look like if private schools were abolished altogether
I don’t remember a time when Finland had private schools, but my parents do. They would tell me stories of their experience at a “nation” school, which was like a state school but before the reforms. They make jokes about how different things were, but that it was good enough for them.
But all that changed in the 70s, when the government reformed education to make all schools free. Schooling became a centralised system that was the same for everyone. I was born in 1978 and only remember an equal education system. The story we were raised with was straightforward: no matter your background or your parents, you can go to a good school and can eventually study whatever you want to study. You are supported and it’s free.
The universities are free too, and so I have now got a qualification in nursing, and a bachelor’s degree and a master’s in social sciences. I have a good education, and have had lots of opportunities. I wasn’t given money from my family or anything, but I was able to get the sort of education that has given me the space to make good decisions for my life.
Now I can live in an area in Helsinki which is really nice and quite expensive. People don’t talk about money much in my area, but of course, that means I am living in a bubble. Finland doesn’t have total equality. I have lived in the UK and travelled to different places in the world though, and I think we are doing pretty well in comparison.
My son is eight, and he goes to the nearest school in our area of Helsinki. Every child goes to the nearest school possible based on their address, which means most of the kids walk or cycle to school every day. Most schools are also the same size. My son has 20 students per class and about 100 in his year group. It seems to work really well. We have nothing to complain about.
Finland doesn’t have any kind of school ranking. When you go to high school, the schools publish the attainment of the students but it isn’t put into a table or a leaderboard. And at primary school, there isn’t anything close to that. A couple of years ago, the biggest newspaper in Finland, Helsinki Sanomat, tried to establish some kind of a ranking system. It caused outrage and many people were angry, saying they shouldn’t have done it. The line was that it isn’t OK to do that in Finland.
Some parents do try and choose their child’s school. We call that “school shopping”. There might be something about a school that they prefer so they would then try and move to that area so their child can attend, but it is not common at all. I haven’t heard of anyone in our area who has done that.
The schools are all good here. They have high-quality lunches, with lots of fresh fruit and vegetables. They are very hearty and balanced meals. I remember eating sandwiches in UK during the my lunch breaks, I was surprised. I didn’t think this was filling enough at all. Every school has a psychologist, a nurse, and good pastoral care. If your child is falling behind in maths, for example, they will get the extra support immediately, and it’s not a big deal for kids either. There is a specalised teacher who will block out time and then the pupil will go there a couple of times a week. It’s all very easy and natural.
Still, it’s not all perfect. Our schools are getting bigger because the smaller, rural schools are closing. There aren’t enough students to fill them in the countryside. They then have to travel further to their nearest school. Private tutoring is also not illegal. Parents use that quite a lot if they want their child to get into higher education.
The latest debate is about stopping specalised classes. You can apply for your child to have advanced music or arts lessons, based on their attainment in that subject. I don’t know many people who have taken up these classes because they are not taught in the schools, so they are quite a distance to travel. Regardless, many parents are angry about these classes as they see it as another way education can become unequal. People are trying to stop them.
The free school system was based on a vision but we haven’t established anything like that for our healthcare. This means, that in terms of equality, we have lots of trouble with other parts of our social welfare system. But, at least, we do have schools for everybody. In Finland, where you went to school is just not as important as it is in the UK. I am happy about that, at least.
