80 years old | Former Minister of Education Riitta Uosukainen is concerned about the decline in literacy and the proliferation of foolish words

In anniversary interviews it is customary to ask what the interviewee belongs to, so let’s start with it now. Prime Minister and long-term Speaker of Parliament Riitta Uosukainen answers a call from his home in Imatra.

What’s up, Riitta Uosukainen?

“Listen please, I have a full life,” he replies.

“A different but full life.”

It’s a dramatic year behind us. Uosukainen had a heart attack in May 2021 and underwent balloon dilatation. Half a year later, her husband died. Uosukainen says that there is a huge gap left in his life.

Death did not come as a complete surprise.

Toivo Uosukainen had been suffering from Alzheimer’s disease for several years. The last months were spent in a nursing home in Imatra. Uosukainen recalls that they were still singing a hymn together at Christmas The country is so beautiful.

Four days later, Topi slept away.

“Without any horrors,” says Uosukainen.

“It was a very beautiful death.”

TOGETHER had lived a strong and diverse life. Many of the memories relate to Uosukainen’s thirty-year career as a politician, during which time he served as city councilor, member of parliament, minister of education and eventually as Speaker of Parliament.

He was also a presidential candidate in the 2000 elections.

What power has fascinated him?

Uosukainen seems a little outraged by the question. He says he has not been involved in politics because of power. He left as a parliamentary candidate when citizens asked, and the Coalition’s opposition position infuriated him.

Uosukainen again sees the position of minister primarily as a ministry, to which the Minister also refers in Latin, and in his opinion, the task of the Speaker is to act as the conductor of Parliament, who leads – not so much leads.

What about those presidential dreams?

Uosukainen laughs. He says he was in that accident by accident and dictated by the Coalition Party’s No. 1 cannon. Sauli Niinistö after a long struggle, announced his refusal to run.

“It had that kind of booze, to put it bluntly.”

No Uosukainen still denies that he did not want to influence things. As a mother tongue teacher, issues related to education and national defense in particular were close to Uosukainen’s heart.

Until a decade ago, Finland was a star student in the PISA comparison.

Since then, investment in literacy, mathematics and science has plummeted. According to surveys conducted by the National Board of Education last year, the literacy of children and young people has clearly deteriorated.

What does the former Minister of Education think of all this?

Uosukainen says he followed the development with concern. He says that he is unfamiliar with the details of Finland’s current education system, but believes that the cause of the problems lies in the constant frenzy of change: the transition from one reform to another is clear before it is even clear how previous actions have affected.

Not enough value has been given to reading and literacy.

“It’s not fashion now. All possible devices and games, on the other hand, are. The Finnish language and literature should still bring children to life from an early age. This is definitely not the case now, ”Uosukainen regrets.

OMA he describes his relationship with the Finnish language as passionate. Uosukainen learned to read independently at the age of five. He thinks he has read thousands of books in his lifetime, and has come to write a few of his own on that page.

The best known of them is probably the first work Flowing stem (1996), whose erotic catalog was also terrified on Helsingin Sanomat’s website.

“So those times will change,” Uosukainen says and laughs.

The love for one’s own mother tongue is also reflected in the growing prevalence of silly buzzwords. They are often ill-suited for their intended use, and shatter badly in the ear of a former native-speaking county educator and Speaker of the Year.

Uosukainen is just accelerating.

“Say, why talk about a time window? So what’s the window of the miracle? I’d like to see where those boxes are. And then there are those states of will and resilience, and the narratives push to the next level here and there, ”he gasps.

Fortunately, there is a specific cure for annoyance.

“Reading,” Uosukainen announces.

“It always does.”