Finland

Description of the VET System in Finland

The Finnish education system comprises pre-primary education, basic education, general upper secondary education and vocational education and training, as well as higher education at polytechnics and universities. Adult education or training is available at all levels . The legislation governing primary and secondary level education, as well as part of the legislation governing adult education was reformed on 1st January 1999. Vocational upper secondary education and training is governed by the Vocational Education Act (630/1998) and Decree on Vocational Education (811/1998).

The Act concerns initial vocational education for both young and adult students and the available qualifications . In addition to those legislations, there are four mechanisms in Finland which ensure the quality of VET system :

Operational systems of VET providers as the foundation for quality management: Relevant legislation confers extensive decision-making powers on VET providers. VET providers need to evaluate their VET provision and effectiveness regularly;
National steering of vocational education and training as part of quality management: National steering of VET sets objectives for VET provision and its quality;
External evaluation: VET providers are obliged to participate in external evaluation for quality management organized by the Ministry of Education ;
European co-operation: The Common Quality Assurance Framework (CQAF) has influence on the Finnish VET system.

IVET

The administration responsibility for Initial Vocational Education and Training (IVET) in Finland is separated into two levels: national and local levels. At the national level, the Ministry of Education is the highest authority and is responsible for all publicly funded education. The Ministry is responsible for preparing educational legislation, all necessary decisions and its share of the state budget for the Government. The Finnish National Board of Education (FNBE) is a governmental body and functioning under the Ministry of Education. The FNBE is a planning and expert body responsible for primary and secondary education as well as for adult education and training. At the local level, the local authorities are responsible for organizing basic education, and are partly responsible for financing it as well . IVET and CVET are organised by municipalities, federations of municipalities, private organisations, foundations and the Ministry of Education grrants them the licence to organise VET.

CVET

In Continuous Vocational Education and Training (CVET), the responsibilities can be divided into central, regional, and local levels. At the central level, the overall responsibility for the development of adult education and training rests with the Ministry of Education. The Ministry is assisted by the Life Long Learning Council consisting of representatives of different interest groups. The FNBE, which is an expert body subordinate to the Ministry of Education, assists the Ministry in preparing decisions on education policy and prepares the curricula for IVET and CVET. At the regional level, provincial State Offices, which represent the intermediate level of administration, decide on the allocation of certain government subsidies for the Education Providers. At the local level, adult education organisations are owned by the State, local authorities, joint municipal boards, as well as private organisations, such as associations, foundations and companies. Local authorities maintain the majority of general upper secondary schools for adult students, adult education centres, vocational adult education centres and other vocational institutions .

Quality Assurance

The Ministry of Education is responsible for the strategic and normative steering of VET and leads national development. The national objectives of VET, the structure of the qualifications and the core subjects included in them are determined by the government. The details of the qualification and the extent of training are determined by the Ministry of Education. The license to provide VET is granted by the Ministry . <

The Finnish National Board of Education (FNBE) is the national agency in charge of education development in Finland. FNBE has four main areas of operation: development of education (curricula development), evaluation of learning outcomes, information services, and educational services .

In recent years, attention has also focused on the effectiveness and quality of vocational education and training. A performance-based funding system became effective in 2002. The system includes four clusters :

Effectiveness: how well do students transit from training to working;
Processes: rates for students drop out and completion of studies;
Teachers: how well are teachers trained and what further trainings they may receive;
Finance: how each organisation’s financial situation is .

EQARF Indicators

The following PDF attachment summarises evidence identified that relates any indicators used at national level to the ten indicators proposed in the EQARF recommendation: EQARF Indicators Finland