High School | Student writing became a strange game: Religious students should write about religion, English applicant benefits from math

For a long time the popularity of mathematics in student writing is growing. Almost this year half of the new students passed the long math matriculation exam.

HS calculated from the statistics of the Student Examination Board (YTL) what kind of exam choices have been made by the approximately 178,000 students who graduated in 2016–2021.

While the popularity of long mathematics has grown, so has the popularity of languages. The proportion of writers of a second native language has been reduced to less than half, and only about one in seven writes a short optional language. Only one in ten students fail to take the long or short maths matriculation exam.

Where are the changes coming from?

In By 2020, secondary education certificates were made the main route to higher education.

In the past, the road to a university or polytechnic was usually opened by an entrance examination or by the combined points of the entrance examination and secondary school grades. The change increased the weight of the student certificate, although entrance examinations can still gain a place to study.

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The way scores are scored in selections has not please everyone. For example the legal applicant benefits in the choice of evidence more about the board of religion or physics than of the social sciences. Applying to study English gets more points for eximia in long math than in long English.

“The subject choices of high school students are certainly influenced by how you can maximize your score if you want to go to a certain field in the future,” says the chairman of the Finnish High School Students’ Association. Emilia Uljas.

“Long mathematics and physics are subjects that get a lot of points, was really looking for any field.”

Three the university scoring models published years ago are already reflected in subtle changes in what new students incorporate into their high school diplomas.

The popularity of matriculation exams in biology and physics has increased in recent years, while the popularity of health information with low scores in university search has clearly declined.

The language seems to have become the losers of the reform. Fewer and fewer new students write in languages ​​other than English. It annoys the French teacher at Kulosaari co-educational school Outi Vilkuna, which chairs the Finnish Association of Language Teachers.

According to Vilkuna, the emphasis in the choice of evidence is on mathematics very one-sidedly.

“Of the language subjects, one long language, often English, is often sufficient for the selection of evidence.”

Vilkunan According to him, the reasons for the decline of languages ​​in the matriculation examinations are in both primary and higher education. People enter the upper secondary school with less language skills than before, because the municipalities have saved on the language offer in primary schools.

According to Vilkuna, the choice of certificates in higher education and the narrowing language offer in basic education have “extremely negative” effects on young people’s language skills and the language skills of Finns. He should be rewarded for writing testimony in languages ​​other than English.

In contacts with the Finnish Language Teachers’ Association and in a survey conducted by the association together with the Finnish Trade Union Confederation, it is becoming increasingly common for upper secondary school students to drop out of their studies in optional languages. Many do not have time to study their subjects from other subjects.

According to Vilkuna, the choice of evidence already threatens the general education of high school. As a result of optimization, high school studies are in danger of becoming one-sided.

“High school has become a two-, three- or four-year entrance exam to college.”

Aalto University Vice-Rector and Chairman of the Vice-Chairs of the University of Finland Rector’s Council (Unifi) Petri Suomala recognizes concerns about maintaining high school education.

He notes that the effects of the reform on high school students ’subject choices are not yet known. Universities will soon begin to investigate the consequences of the choice of evidence. Information is also collected from high schools and high school students.

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High school students school exhaustion and load have become more common in recent years, according to research. According to the courage, the choice of evidence can increase the workload of high school students.

“If you end up writing physics after the points, even if you shouldn’t, studying can feel cumbersome and require more intellectual resources than studying subjects you like.”

Young According to Suomala, there are misconceptions about what grades are required to succeed in the selection of evidence.

Uljaskin also states that news about what kind of line of boarders is required to enter the medical school of the University of Helsinki may give a wrong picture of what is required on average to enter the university. Most of the university fields can also be accessed without long maths and physics boardwalks.

“I often stress that it’s worth writing the subjects you like, because they also usually have the best writing success,” Uljas says.

A chemistry teacher at Lappeenranta High School agrees Petra Luukko, who is the chairman of the high school teaching committee of the Association of Teachers of Mathematical Subjects.

“I don’t think anyone would go to study such demanding subjects just because they would get more points. The choice must be such that one’s own interest and success meet. ”

Luukko points out that when applying to higher education, a good grade in short mathematics usually brings more points than a mediocre grade in long-term mathematics.

Universities the current scoring model is valid until 2025. Possible changes to the model will be announced in 2023. The changes would take effect in 2026.

Read more: University entrance examinations are being renewed: electronic examinations are planned and their number will be significantly reduced

Luuko thinks the development of scores is welcome.

“If the original idea of ​​the reform was to reduce the stress on high school students, then it didn’t seem to succeed. Stress is now present for three years. ”

Uljas, a high school graduate, hopes that the scores will be changed by reducing the weight of science subjects in some areas.

Vilkuna would like the special features of different sectors to be better taken into account in the scoring.

“It’s a fast-paced model. There has not been time to look at the content of each training and what the emphasis in each area should be. ”

Suomala would not condemn the model as made in a hurry. He says he found that in many areas the model was prepared and the scenarios calculated very carefully.

“Strong opinions and weighty comments have been made about the model, based on people’s personal experiences, but no comprehensive analysis has been done. It would be important to have that information before saying how the model was prepared or failed. ”

From the current the great importance of long mathematics and physics in the scoring model is explained by the fact that there are many high school courses to study in these subjects. This is also emphasized by chemistry teacher Petra Luukko.

“If you study long maths in high school for thirteen courses, it would seem wrong to get only a few points in proportion to the workload.”

Boldly, the current model measures the applicant’s diligence but not necessarily the suitability for the field applied for.

“Yes, you also have to study a lot for the medical entrance exam to get in. That does not mean that the same entrance examination for medicine should allow you to study in other fields. ”

Luukko, on the other hand, highlights the shortage of experts in the fields of technology and mathematics and natural sciences. Applying to study in these fields is beneficial for high school studies in mathematics and science.

Blinking brings another perspective to the situation.

“I just talked to a representative from the Technology Industry who said that companies are starting to have recruitment problems when there are no proficiency in non-English languages. In working life, you can stand out from others applying for the same degree papers language skills. “