School education is a phenomenon that in each country is presented in its own way, with a huge number of features and differences. This difference arises as a result of different cultures, histories, traditions, social trends and rules. A huge impact on school education is exerted by the location of the country, its basic principles and the urgent tasks of society.
There are countries in which the approach to education, the opportunity to study and receive education, are radically different. There is a contrast between them, which is striking how much the school days of children from different countries can be different. The biggest difference is between one of the best school systems in Finland and the way lessons are taught in schools in Africa.
Finland
The Finnish school system is one of the most up-to-date and discussed. Talk about the effectiveness of local school education began at the beginning of this century, when Finnish students began to show the best performance in international testing, overtaking recognized leaders.
Reforms of school education in the Scandinavian state began in the 1980s: the government began to build schools according to new projects, professors created new modern textbooks, and there were strict requirements for teachers. The new school system was formed over the years and by the end of the 90s of the last century began to work effectively.
On the territory of Finland, a teacher is one of the most popular and highly paid professions, and it is not easy to get it. The best graduates of Finnish universities are allowed to work as teachers, the competition in which is more than 20 people for one place. A student needs to complete a bachelor's and master's degree to be able to teach children. A teacher with a diploma of a specialist will receive about 3,000 euros per month at his work. Also, teachers are not obliged to perform work with papers, and also go to advanced courses for free, where they improve their professional skills.
In 2020, the Ministry of Education introduced a free academic space, replacing the usual disciplines. Now students touch on a certain topic and study subjects related to it. For example, students go through the period of the XVIII-XIX centuries in Finland, and within the framework of this topic, lessons in social studies, literature, culture and history will be held for them, so that the period is revealed to them from different angles and becomes more understandable. For each class, the teacher collects a unique combination, according to which children learn several school days. There is no strict program in local schools now, one lesson takes several hours - during this time children receive several small changes.
Schools "without borders" are being built in the country - there are no doors, division into classes and corridors. The idea of such structures is that children themselves must decide what is more interesting and pleasant for them to study. Local teachers do not believe that there are more or less important subjects – all lessons are important, but the final choice is up to the student. The goal of an educator is not to get children to memorize their material, but to help them gain quality knowledge of a wide profile.
The school education system has developed in such a way that all students have one qualitative, but average level of knowledge. Those who do not cope with the program are trying to bring to a satisfactory level, and excellent students who want to gain more knowledge have to attend additional classes paid for by their parents. If a future graduate plans to enter a higher educational institution for a prestigious profession, he will have to use the services of a tutor, because the school curriculum is unlikely to give him the necessary knowledge.
Much attention in the local school curriculum is paid to the elimination of any inequality: both social and sexual. If the parent of the student is not able to pay for a trip on an excursion or a New Year's gift, the state will offer him to sell souvenirs and sweets so that their baby receives the same as his classmates from wealthy families.
In technology lessons, children are not divided by gender, the whole class does the same thing: in one lesson children learn to embroider, in another - to cut wood, in the third - to collect robots, in the fourth - to cook food. Teachers do not address them using the words "boys" or "girls" – children are called there by common words: "friends", "class", "guys".
The Ministry of Education of Finland is confident that high academic performance should not be imposed. Each student decides for himself how to study, and which subjects to pay more attention to. If the kid wants high grades, he will try and diligently learn; if his interests are focused on something else, they will not scold him.
African Schools
The countries of North Africa are constantly experiencing an unstable military situation: armed conflicts regularly occur in the region, which prevents millions of children from safely going to school and gaining knowledge. About 5,000 schools in Libya and Sudan are used as military hideouts or ammunition depots. In the territories of Somalia, Congo, Mali, Nigeria, the Central African Republic and other countries of the African region, military conflicts, revolutions, civil wars and terrorist acts do not stop. In countries where the situation is not so critical, children almost do not go to school, because they are either closed or they are not.
In South Africa, there are hundreds of schools that still do not have electricity, fences from strangers and criminals, water supply and security. Since African countries are mostly poor, their governments cannot provide children even with free schooling – in South Africa, for example, a month of education costs parents $ 8. For us, this amount is a penny, but in the Republic of South Africa, 8 dollars is 20% of the monthly income of local residents.
It is especially difficult for African girls. Often they are forbidden to go to school, because they are prepared to perform their everyday tasks - taking care of the house, the birth of children and their upbringing. Young African women are either unable to go to school because of the need to help in the household, are often afraid to attend educational institutions: it is not uncommon for them to be abused right in the classrooms or on the way to schools – especially often in areas where hostilities are ongoing. Also, girls marry early - at the age of 12-14, and at the same time they give birth to their first children. In such conditions, it is almost impossible to get an education even at the school level. 75 per cent of girls born in Southern Sudan did not even go to primary school, and only 35 per cent of girls in Mali have primary education. Similar statistics are observed almost throughout the continent, despite financial support from the UN.
