Legal system - Finland

Parliament enacts laws on education and decides on the general principles of education policy. The Government and the Ministry of Education implement these principles at the central government level. The Ministry of Education is in charge of the administration of education, research, culture, youth issues and sports; its remit includes all universities. In matters related to comprehensive and upper secondary schools, vocational institutions and adult education, the Ministry is assisted by an expert agency, the National Board of Education. A central development document in the educational sector is the Development Plan for Education and Research, which the Government approves every four years for the year of its approval and for the following five calendar years. The currently effective development plan for 2003–2008 was approved at the end of 2003.

Historical Overview

Development of special education at Finnish folk schools within the parallel school system prior to the introduction of the uniform comprehensive school system can be divided into four periods. The first period covers the establishment of special education from the 1840s until the Compulsory Education Act came into force in 1921. Initially, special education focused on arranging instruction for pupils with sensory disabilities. The first schools for people with hearing impairments, visual impairments and motor impairments were established in the 1840s, the 1860s and the 1890s respectively. When it was stipulated that folk education was the obligation of local authorities in 1866 and when it subsequently became compulsory, many disabled children were excluded from school during these reforms. Education for disabled people was provided in the form of philanthropic activities of individuals and charitable organisations.

The second period ranges from the time when the Compulsory Education Act came into force in 1921 until the end of the Second World War. The Compulsory Education Act stated that the children of Finnish citizens were considered to be subject to compulsory education, except for those children with intellectual disabilities, who were exempt from compulsory education.

The third period starts at the end of the Second World War and runs through to the unification of education and the launch of comprehensive schools in 1972. The post-war period witnessed the development of care for the disabled. In addition to medical care and rehabilitation, the field of vocational rehabilitation was also being developed. The quantitative increase in special education and specialisation in its different sectors occurred between the 1940s and the 1960s. New forms of education emerged alongside adjusted instruction, such as instruction for maladjusted pupils and part-time special education not tied to year classes.

However, the medical approach prevailed in the provision of education for children with special needs. Deviation was, above all, considered from the perspective of physical and functional disability. Pupils with special needs were seen as being different from other pupils to such an extent that their education could not be organised in conjunction with mainstream education. In addition, the special needs of different groups were so varied that, in order to answer their needs, these children were segregated into groups that were as homogeneous as possible in terms of instruction. As this way of thinking was prevalent at that time, special education remained highly differentiated and segregated.

From the early 1970s, the principle of normalisation and the philosophy of integration came strongly to the fore in the education of pupils in need of special support. The aim of the principle of normalisation is that the lives of disabled people would be as normal as possible. Integration is considered to be the means of implementing this normalisation. The objective was perceived to be social integration, in other words, the opportunity for pupils with special needs to participate in regular instruction in the school they would attend without their disability.

Integration has been promoted in basic education since the 1970s. An important legislative reform was the new Comprehensive Schools Act passed in 1983, which enabled a better starting point for the development of the integration process. According to the Act, no child was allowed to be exempt from completing compulsory education any longer. Another important factor for the promotion of integration was the new comprehensive school national core curriculum issued in 1985; it raised the issues of differentiation and individualisation of education and, where necessary, the provision of special education and the individualisation of education and the syllabus. In terms of promoting integration, it was important that education and the syllabus were to be individualised according to individual children’s age and learning abilities so as to enable special education curricula to also be used in conjunction with mainstream education. Education for children with minor intellectual disabilities was initiated within folk schools in the form of special school instruction. In 1985, integrated instruction for children with medium and severe intellectual disabilities was transferred from social administration to educational administration. The instruction of children with the most severe intellectual disabilities, which had long been organised as part of special care for intellectually disabled people within the social administration, was transferred to be provided by comprehensive schools as from 1 August 1997, as was the instruction provided by reform schools from 1 August 1998.

The fourth period of special education started in the 1990s. In 1995, the status of special education was evaluated nationally. The conclusions of the evaluation formed the basis for national development measures implemented in subsequent years. The aim was to reform the operating culture, organisation of education and joint steering by supporting regional and municipal integration of service systems.

The comprehensive reform of school legislation in 1998 and the new Basic Education Act (628/1998) aim to guarantee educational equality and equal educational services for all those subject to compulsory education. The old disintegrated legislation based on institution forms has been replaced by more concise and centralised legislation based on the objectives and contents of education, levels and forms of education and the rights and responsibilities of students.

Legal System in Mainstream Education

According to the Constitution of Finland, everyone is equal before the law. No one may, without a valid reason, be treated differently from other people on grounds of sex, age, origin, health, disability or any other reason that concerns her/his person. Children are to be treated equally and as individuals and they are to be allowed to have an influence on issues affecting themselves to a degree corresponding to their level of development. Everyone also has the right to basic education free of charge. Everyone is to be guaranteed an equal opportunity to receive education in accordance with their abilities and special needs and to develop themselves without being prevented by economic hardship.

According to the Basic Education Act (628/1998), all education must comply with national core curriculum. Instruction is to be organised so as to meet the age level and abilities of pupils and so as to promote pupils’ healthy growth and development. Instruction is to be conducted in co-operation with pupils’ homes.

The National Core Curriculum for Basic Education is the national framework covering both mainstream and special education and it is used as the basis for drawing up local curricula. Education providers are responsible for preparation and development of local curricula. As per the provisions of the national core curriculum, the curriculum must also include a description of the provision of special education.

Renovation of national and municipal curricula 2000 - 2006

In Finland the national core curriculum is the national framework on the basis of which the local curriculum is formulated. The new national core curriculum for basic education was approved by The National Board of Education in January 2004

The new national core curriculum is more precise and more detailed compared with the previous curriculum from 1994. It emphasizes the curricular unity of basic education for the whole nine-year period. It also emphasizes learning environment and school’s operational culture, the conception of learning, cross-curricular themes in teaching, individual support and guidance and pupil welfare.

The implementation of the new curriculum is to take place gradually between autumn 2003 and autumn 2006. The National Board of Education has supported municipalities and schools in this implementation process by training and providing guidance and counselling. The municipal coordinators of the implementation process have received training in training programmes organized by the National Board of Education. National Board of Education has also produced and continues to produce material supporting the implementation, published both in print and on the home page of National Board of Education.

Legal System in Special Needs Education

Constitution provides that the support services needed in special education are to be available to everyone, who cannot obtain the security, indispensable subsistence and care required for a life lived with dignity. The public authorities must guarantee everyone adequate social, health and medical services and promote the health of the population. In addition, the public authorities are to support families and others responsible for providing for children so that they can ensure the well-being and personal development of children.

The objective of special education is to help and support pupils in such a way as to give them equal opportunities to complete compulsory schooling in accordance with their abilities and alongside their peers. The starting point is to assess each pupil’s strengths and her/his individual learning and development needs. Education is required to promote pupils’ initiative and self-confidence. Special education calls for decisions to be made concerning the study place, time and facilities and different functions as well as the allocation of resources to implement these decisions.

The first alternative for providing special needs education is to include pupils with SEN in mainstream classes and, when necessary, provide special needs education in small teaching groups. Only when this is not feasible is the second alternative considered: the provision of special needs education in a special group, class or school.

Special instruction within vocational education and training should primarily be provided in connection with regular instruction or in separate groups or both. Vocational special institutions, in turn, are responsible for providing education and training for students with the most severe disabilities. Vocational education and training are provided in the form of special education and training for students who need special educational and student welfare services due to disability, illness, delayed development, emotional disorder or some other similar reason. It is the task of each education provider to determine how to define which students are in need of special education and training and how to draw up individual education plans for them. Special education and training may deviate from the general provisions governing vocational education and training as determined in the relevant national core curriculum. The duration of studies and study arrangements may be adjusted where a student’s state of health or previous studies dictate accordingly.

The 1998 legislative amendments introduced on-the-job learning and the appreciation and priority of learning by doing to the sphere of vocational education and training. These changes have promoted the provision of special education and training, as special education has traditionally intensified learning by emphasising practical skills and activities.

The National Core Curriculum for Upper Secondary Schools emphasises the fact that the purpose of special support is to help and support students so as to guarantee them equal opportunities to complete their upper secondary school studies. Once a student’s learning difficulties have been identified, planning and implementation of support measures are started immediately, taking into account the information acquired on the student’s study performance and their needs for support during basic education. The local upper secondary school curriculum will determine how instruction and support measures for special needs students are to be organised.

Special education is provided in all stages of education from pre-primary education to upper secondary education and training. The provisions governing special education are included in the Basic Education Act (628/1998) and Decree (852/1998) and in the Upper Secondary Schools Act (629/1998). In addition, provisions for issues related to the organisation of special education have been laid down in the Act on Children’s Day Care (1290/1999), the Act on Children’s Home Care and the Private Care Allowance (1291/1999), the Act on Client Fees in Social Welfare and Health Care (1292/1999), the Vocational Education and Training Act (630/1998) and Decrees (811/1998 and its amendment 1139/1999), the Act on the Financing of Educational and Cultural Provision (328/2000), the Act on the Openness of Government Activities (621/1999) and in the Government Decree on the Evaluation of Education (150/2003). The provisions for support services to be arranged for disabled people have been laid down in the Act (380/1987) and Decree (759/1987) on Services and Assistance for the Disabled. The provisions governing the elaboration of personal study and rehabilitation plans and their content have been set out in the Decree on the Amendment of the Rehabilitation Allowances Decree (726/1999).

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