The inequality in Helsinki’s residential areas worries researchers and politicians. However, the averages of the final certificates of primary schools in Helsinki are still generally at an acceptable level.
In the capital region the learning results of all schools are “quite good”, especially if you take into account the accumulated inequality, states the docent of urban geography who has studied educational differences Venla Bernelius from the University of Helsinki.
The data from the Board of Education shows that the average of the final certificates of all elementary schools in Helsinki last spring was around 8.1, while the corresponding average for the whole of Finland is 7.9.
Since differentiation has not yet progressed irreversibly far in Helsinki – or anywhere else in Finland, schools are able to do quite a good job in many areas, according to Bernelius.
During the last few weeks, there has been a heated discussion about the separation of schools in Helsinki, which started After being told by HSthat the city has planned to abandon weighted classes to prevent so-called school shopping.
Many parents have vehemently opposed the plan and told that they consider importantthat your child gets to a “good school”.
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From the big ones among the cities, Helsinki beats schools in Turku (7.8), Vantaa (7.9), Tampere (8.0) and Jyväskylä (8.0) in school averages.
Of the big cities, only Espoo (8.2) rises above and Oulu (8.1) can come close.
Most of the smaller municipalities and cities are also behind Helsinki in the average ranking. Such are, for example, Salo (7.5), Hyvinkää (7.6), Mikkeli (7.6), Kouvola (7.7) and Pori (7.8).
The average values have been calculated from the certificates of students who finished elementary school last spring or after. The figures have not been weighted by the number of pupils and some schools may also be missing data.
The criteria for the final evaluation of basic education have been published On the website of the Board of Education. They were used for the first time last spring.
According to docent of urban geography Venla Bernelius, there are no bad schools in Helsinki.
Bernelius reminds that the average of the final grades is not a perfect or standardized measure and does not indicate the quality of the school’s teaching. Although the school is of great importance to the students, the starting points for learning are different as the educational level of the neighborhoods differs.
The grades, however, tell something about the school’s average competence and what kind of benefits the school provides in terms of further studies.
The median of the averages of the school leaving certificates of more than a hundred students in Helsinki, i.e. the number found in the middle of the extremes, is 8.22.
“Helsinki’s results are quite good from this point of view as well, although of course there are very large differences between individuals,” says Bernelius.
The differences between schools are also large in some places in Helsinki.
This is exactly what is particularly worrying from the point of view of regional differentiation.
When the smallest schools and special and hospital schools are removed from the comparison, Helsinki’s highest average falls to 9.3 and Matalin’s to 7.36.
There are also big regional differences in how schools end up in upper secondary schools. HS told in 2018, that 86 percent of those who finished elementary school in Lauttasaari ended up in upper secondary school, while the corresponding number in Jakomäki was 39 percent.
According to Bernelius, the differences are explained by the fact that big cities usually have both the most educated population and schools that achieve top results, as well as schools where several background factors of disadvantage accumulate.
From an international point of view, according to Bernelius, it is typical that schools in the most fragile regions lag behind in learning even more than what would be expected from them. It is noteworthy that such a phenomenon is hardly seen in Helsinki.
“The most important thing would be to realize that we don’t have bad schools and figure out how to improve the attractiveness of the schools,” says Bernelius.
“I would hope that this current discussion would not lead to families or teachers starting to avoid certain schools even more.”
Perfect according to Bernelius, there is no answer to why schools from weaker backgrounds do well in Finland.
According to him, there is no differentiation in Finland at all haven’t progressed yet to the point that disadvantage would accumulate heavily.
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Another clear reason is the uniformity of school funding. It is common around the world that additional funds are collected for schools, for example, by parents. In this case, well-off schools are better resourced, even if more money is needed in less well-off schools.
Well-to-do parents are also able to run their school’s affairs, and their activity is central to organizing the school’s affairs.
“All such things repeat the good and the bad,” says Bernelius.
In the world successful schools often compete for the best students and do not necessarily do anything special pedagogically. Weaker schools, on the other hand, suffer from greater segregation even more.
Although the growth of segregation is a genuine concern in Helsinki, according to Bernelius, it has not yet been observed that some schools produce worse results compared to what can be expected from them.
“We have no evidence that studying at any school is a risk for the student, that is, that the school weakens the students,” says Bernelius.
“Similarly, studying at a school known for top grades does not necessarily benefit the individual at all.”
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