The new Act on Compulsory Education entered into force on 1 August 2021, raising the minimum school leaving age to 18. The obligation to apply for upper secondary schools took effect as early as in the spring. The aim of the act is to provide all students with an upper secondary qualification, as currently around 15% of each age group leave school without one.
With the new act, an upper secondary education becomes compulsory for all students completing their basic education. Basic education providers and municipalities are responsible for guidance and for tracking of students’ transition to upper secondary education. The students who have difficulties finding a school place can be assigned to preparatory education, which provides them with the necessary knowledge, skills, and abilities to apply for an upper secondary qualification.
Around 99% of this year’s basic education graduates (59 800 students) applied for upper secondary education in the spring of 2021, with 95% of the them receiving a study place as early as mid-June. By the end of August, only 1 206 of recent basic education graduates were without a study place across Finland, and by mid-September the number had gone down to 793. In almost half of the Finnish municipalities (148 of 309), every student who graduated from basic education this year has secured a study place in upper secondary education. In most of the other municipalities there are only fewer than five young people without a study place.
The number of students starting upper secondary vocational education and training in the autumn of 2021 went up compared to 2020 (from 43 500 to 45 000), as did the total number of VET students (6% increase from the spring of 2020). The number of students starting in preparatory education is also expected to increase slightly.
The Ministry of Education and Culture will monitor the implementation of the extension until 2024, when the first students affected by the extension are expected to graduate.
Read more
https://www.oph.fi/fi/uutiset/2021/suurimmassa-osassa-kuntia-vain-yksit…
https://www.oph.fi/fi/uutiset/2021/1206-ysiluokan-kevaalla-paattanytta-…
https://www.oph.fi/fi/uutiset/2021/uudet-opiskelijat-valittu-ammatillis…
https://www.oph.fi/fi/uutiset/2021/oppivelvollisuus-laajenee-ammatillis…
https://www.oph.fi/fi/uutiset/2021/lukuvuosi-alkaa-kevaalla-perusopetuk…
https://minedu.fi/-/oppivelvollisuusuudistuksen-toteutumista-ja-vaikutu…
| Please cite this news item as: ReferNet Finland; Cedefop (2021). Finland: extension of compulsory education comes into effect. National news on VET. |