Schools in Finland will be more mathematics, physics, and geography

“Learning by subject or by topic? This is the dilemma in Finland, which decided on the second option.

Finland will thus become the first country in the world to remove some courses from school curriculum. The Finnish education system is considered one of the best in the world by international estimates, yet educational authorities have decided to revolutionise schools.

The Finnishs no longer want physics, mathematics, chemistry, literature, history, or geography.

Helsinki Education Department head Marjo Kyllonen has explained the changes. There are many schools that follow in teaching by the old method, which brought a lot of efficiency in the 1990s, but now needs have changed, we need something reasonable for the 21” century, it is expressed.

Instead of individual subjects, students will learn the most important events and phenomena in an interdisciplinary format. For example, World War II will be considered by the perspective of history, geography, and mathematics. Following a course will enable students to learn in several areas.

This system will apply to students who are 16 years old and older. The general idea is for students to choose for themselves those knowledge or phenomena that they want to study based on their ambitions and abilities. Already around 70% of teachers in Helsinki have conducted training for the new system that has also brought about pay increases, while full changes are expected to be completed by 2020.