Download - Government Priorities
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Higher Education in Finland
Orientation Program for American Fulbright Grantees
Senior Advisor Eeva KaunismaaDepartment for Higher Education and Science PolicyAugust, 2014
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Government Priorities
In education• Finland the most competent nation in 2020• Reduction of gender differences in learning outcomes,
participation and completion of education• Equal opportunities and rights to free quality education• To ensure the availability of the workforce, especially in key
educational, health and welfare services• Guidance and counselling at all levels of education• All primary school leavers will be guaranteed a study place• To adapt the network of educational institutions to
demographic trends
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Government Programme on Higher Education and Science
• Quality, efficiency and internationalisation of HE
• Polytechnic Reform (legal status, funding, administration)
• Each province in Finland will have at least one higher education institution.
• The establishment of a university for the arts will be promoted.
• Access to higher education studies will be made smoother for example by reforming student selection.
• Policy on the national research infrastructure will be promoted.
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Towards a more dynamic HE and research system
Higher Education
Reform
University reform
Polytechnic reform
Structural development
Reform of the Science
and Research NetworkComprehensive reform of state
research institutes and research
funding
Renewal of the approach of the Finnish Academy
Reinforcement of research
infrastructures
Other Developmen
t
Towards more stimulating funding
models
Vocational reform
Structural policy programme
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Selected Higher Education Factsabout Finland
• Population of 5,4 million• Higher education institution
network covers the populated parts of the country– 14 universities – 24 polytechnics
• Student enrollment altogether ca. 316 000– ca. 20 000 doctoral students – about 1600 doctoral
degrees/year (> 50 % female)
• EU member state since 1995
University (blue)Polytechnic (green)Research institute (red)
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Key Features of the Finnish Higher Education System
• "Open and equal access" for all
• Extensive network of HE institutions covering the whole country– Regional equality
• Tuition free system with minor exceptions
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The Finnish Higher Education System• The Finnish higher education system comprises two parallel
sectors:– University sector
• 14 research universities• Student enrollment 114 000, annual intake ~ 20 000• Independent legal persons with majority of funding through State
budget
– Polytechnic sector (established in the mid-1990s)• 24 institutions• Student enrollment 113 500, annual intake ~ 26 500 • Institutions partly funded by the state, partly by municipalities• Regional development tasks• Bachelor degrees (vocational and professional degrees)• (Professional) Master’s degrees in selected fields
• The whole HE system provides study places for 65-70% of an age group
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The University Reform 2010 The New University ActAims and means of the university reform• To give the universities a stronger financial and
administrative autonomy, they were made independent legal persons (instead of State accounting offices) and supplied with sufficient capital.
• As legal persons, the universities are better able to operate with the surrounding society.
• Universities took the place of the State as employers: civil-service employment relationships contractual employment relationships
• Measures are taken to ensure continued international competitiveness of the university system.
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The Polytechnic Reform
• To give the polytechnics a stronger position to meet the changing needs of the working life, society and regions
• As independent legal persons polytechnics will have more independent status and more flexibility to better respond to the needs of the surrounding society
• Stronger strategic competence, profiling, focus area choises, stronger leadership and ability to decision making
• To enhance the quality and effectiveness of teaching and RDI
• To strengthen their role within the innovation system
• To ensure international competitiveness of the polytechnic system
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First Phase• The operating licences and the educational
responsibilities revised• The grounds and criteria for funding will take into
consideration the polytechnics´ statutory operations in their entirety, with emphasis on quality, impact and efficiency.
• The first phase of the reform took effect on 1 January 2014 (amendments to legislation) concerning:– new funding model – new operating licences – updated educational responsibilities
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Second Phase• The polytechnics and the organisations running
them to merge into one legal person, and juridically all the polytechnics become limited companies – the governance model to be streamlined so that the
polytechnics only have one, joint governing board
• The responsibility for core funding to be entirely transferred to the state
• Government capitalization of the polytechnics• The second phase of the reform is expected to take
effect on 1 January 2015
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Photo: Sara Djupsund