The Development of Equal Opportunity of Education in Finland (ePub)

"The Finnish education system offers everybody equal opportunities for education, irrespective of domicile, sex, economic situation or linguistic and cultural background. The school network is regionally extensive, and there are no sex-specific school services. Basic education is completely free of charge (...)." (FINNISH NATIONAL BOARD OF EDUCATION, 2009)
Since the 19th century the Finnish society and its socio-economic as well as political conditions have undergone an extensive development until the educational system has reached its current state which is described in the given quote by the Finnish National Board of Education. Within the scope of these developments, the idea of equality in education has been interpreted differently by different agents in different times. There had been two important reform periods with their own definitions of equality in education: the formation of the comprehensive school in the 1960s/70s and the changes in the school system influenced by neo-liberalist economics in the 1980s/90s (AHONEN, 2002: 173). The aim of this essay is to examine especially these two different approaches towards equality in education in the 20th century. However, in order to set the frame for these milestones in the Finnish educational history, a short historical outline about the rise of mass education in Finland is given first.