Finland has no private schools – and its pupils perform better than British children

I think private schools should be banned. Too easy for the rich or even upper income class to gut public schools when you don't use them. Everyone getting the same education chance is what I call equal opportunity.

There absolutely are private schools here what the fuck

Edit theres literally a set of laws surrounding public and private schools https://www.finlex.fi/fi/laki/ajantasa/1998/19980634

Do journos even do research anymore?

But how do they separate the rich from the peasantry?

Private schools are a privilege for the upper class and a symptom of the unjust social inequality in capitalism. In an egalitarian society with good public schools, private schools are obsolete and every child has the same chance to get good education independently of their heritage.

My father went to one of the oldest English "public" (i.e. private) schools. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latymer_Upper_School He didn't talk about the academics, which is surprising for an academic- he talked about the antisemitism he faced every single day from kids, teachers and staff. I'm sure it didn't help that his parents were poor and he was there on scholarship.

I went to a private school in the U.S. for elementary school. I was bullied every day, not just by the kids, but by the only teacher I had from first through sixth grade, and he terrified me so much that my parents didn't know until I was an adult and my mother ran into another kid I went to school with who talked about how sorry she felt for me.

My daughter goes to an American public school. She is bullied a lot too (we're an eccentric family), but at least the teachers are mostly on her side, and if one isn't, I have someone to complain to about it. I wouldn't even think of risking her in a private school.

Not a huge bar to clear. UK education has been slashed to the bone.

Two out of three teachers I know personally have gone abroad to teach instead. If the teachers hate it what chance do the kids have?

The problem with private schools is that they have to sell themselves to the parents enrolling their children in it. You don't sell yourself by putting down those important to your customers. Private schools are pressured to give an impression, not an education.

Finland's schools are really good for a number of reasons, I'm not sure that private vs public is the only reason worth attributing it to, although i understand the context of the article makes it especially relevant.

For example, Finland provides three years of maternity leave and subsidized day care to parents, and preschool for all 5-year-olds, where the emphasis is on play and socializing. The state subsidizes parents, paying per month for every child until age 17. 97%* of 6-year-olds attend public preschool, where children begin some academics. Schools provide food, medical care, counseling and taxi service if needed. Stu­dent health care is free.

(* a decade ago, not sure if numbers and strategies are still accurate, I lifted it from a Smithsonian article from 2011 because I couldn't remember specifics. Please correct me Suomi friends)

Government sure is trying to fix what ain't broke with their funding cuts, tho. For now, schools seem to still be doing their thing, but I'm not all too certain on how long that will continue.

this is just the age old addage "if everyone has to use it then there is an incentive for the gov to make it not garbage"

Finland has great schools.

They've also solved homelessness. (Minus 1000 or so people who are willfully homeless, but that'll happen anywhere.)

I wish that PM Sunak was right about the result of this, because a class war is exactly what the UK needs. Unfortunately, his track record tells me that he'll be wrong about that as well.

Also, I always lol at the rich trying to appropriate class warfare language to mean that the poors will make fun of, or bear greater resentment to, the ruling class.

It's like saying that global warming is actually environmental terrorism, and that the rain must be held accountable.

Might as well cite Singapore, but we also have our negatives. I wouldn't be so quick to jump to private/public as the main source of education problems.

Duh?

Finland has great schools. Sweden also had it until 1990s then something happen and suddenly swedes IQ dropped by 20 -30 clicks. Hmm wonder why.🤔😉

Finland is also small and ethnically homogenous. A lot easier to make social programs work in that context.