Evaluation of the Equal Opportunities in the Finnish Comprehensive Schools 1998–2001

The comprehensive school model was designed to increase the country’s pool of skills. Until then, for instance the basics of foreign languages were available only to a part of students. It was possible to produce a shift from a social structure based on primary production, which required low levels of professional skills, to a production structure that was more productive in terms of the country’s economy, only by increasing the general level of education and by making specialist knowledge available to a broader section of society. Our concept of equality has changed during the history of basic education. Towards the initial stages of the reform, the implementation of equality was measured on the basis of the distribution of education places and the extent to which the availability of education was looked after. These criteria were clearly quantitative. Basic education has now fulfilled these criteria. As the reform progressed, the demands for educational equality became stricter. It was not enough that we ensured the equality of students’ access to education; equality began to be evaluated in terms of results.

Authors:
Ritva Jakku-Sihvonen, Jorma Kuusela

Year:
2002

ISBN:
952-13-1610-1

Publication is available in these languages:
English

Publication:
Evaluation of the Equal Opportunities in the Finnish Comprehensive Schools 1998–2001 (pdf)