Why Finland's schools outperform most others across the developed world | 7.30

It's 8 a.m. on a cold morning in the suburbs of Helsinki and these primary school children are getting ready for this morning's ancient history class, well, they're prayerfully reading some texts about ancient Egyptian life that they're reading and Then I'm going to ask something. What did you discover in the book? I think we're all ready now. This is a school system that for years has been among the best in the

world

. And then what about this golden system? Yes, but these children will spend half the time in a classroom. As Australian children, when you go to first grade when you are seven years old, the number of hours is 20 hours a week, it is the minimum and then it increases as you get older. , but it is still less than in many countries in Europe or In the

world

of Finland, it is individual teachers who decide how the curriculum is taught, including how much technology should be included in their classrooms.

Eleven-year-old Mintu Latomaki asks to leave class to work in the cafe run by school students, you can go, yes. okay, hello, a cake for the cameraman, a cake for me and two coffees, how much is two euros and sixty cents? How much change? Two euros and forty sets of ketos, perfect. Is there a tip jar? Do you have tips? Not at school lunches in Finland as books and excursions are free the children choose what they want to sit with their friends and teachers to eat before cleaning up after themselves the children settle back down to play outside some play a raucous version of football some play basketball while

others

wait for the hockey rink to open there are also many options for bad weather days the facilities of this school are simply amazing outside we saw an ice skating rink and here where the children can play at ice time Lunch, there is a ping pong table, a pool table and here on cold winter days they have a room full of beanbags and sofas and there is even a playstation in the corner.

It seems like it's such a rich school that you should get more money than other

schools

. No no? He saved money for everyone. in fact they take and borrow books in

finland

schools

they are not allowed to raise private funds or charge fees to parents all schools are funded equally by taxes and in our system everything is free for students we don't actually raise any money Parents, we want our schools to be equal and have the same opportunities to organize education, so the financial system must also be equal and treat all schools equally. Yes, he's the older brother.

Levi is in seventh grade and has math this afternoon. I have like the last chapter before the next exam. There are regular exams in Finland, but the results of these exams are not published or shared. We have national tests, but the big difference is that we don't compare schools. This is not a good school. This is a bad school and we only use the information we evaluate ourselves, but perhaps the biggest difference in Finnish education is the level of teaching. Levi's math teacher, an Anes, speaks five languages ​​and has graduate degrees, so each of us has to have a master's degree to be teachers, so, for example, I am a math, chemistry, and physics teacher.

In

finland

. A career as a teacher is highly sought after to enter university studies. In fact, it is very difficult. It takes something like 10 to study. teaching if you really want to be a teacher you can't be the second or the third or I don't know what kind of option it is to be the first I think they know what is best for our children I am not a teacher I do not have that education so we do not interfere with their I work in Finland there is little anxiety about finding the right school for your child we are confident that they have a very good school so we don't need to do any research work or I think that is not an issue.

Finland is a very different country with a tiny, homogeneous society, but its educational success must surely offer some lessons for Australia. I would like to say try to build a system that people trust and their investment in teachers. It seems like an obvious place to start: society respects teachers, which means that parents also respect teachers and don't question them, and that in Finland is a really important thing. Hi, I'm Lee Sales, thanks for watching this story. If you want to see more stories from 730, they're on the left of your screen and tap the button below to subscribe and receive the latest news from ABC News.