The cornerstone of unity

40 FINNISH COMPREHENSIVE SCHOOLS
Education planners dreamed of a comprehensive basic school system for more than a century before the 
preconditions required by such a venture began to be fulfilled in the 1960s, when agrarian Finland began a 
course of rapid industrialisation. Companies had to be able to compete on an international level and the 
manufacturing of quality products required a well-educated labour force, while the concurrent goal of the 
construction of a Nordic welfare society demanded a highly educated labour force to work in the public sector. 
The service sector expanded so quickly that people started talking about a service society as well as an 
industrial one. This dynamic development required that all possible reserves of talent be put to good use.
Apart from the economic factors, social equality rose to become a central political goal. In the mid-1960s the 
Centre Party supported the left wing, forming the necessary political power base (innovation no. 7) to create a 
comprehensive school system for basic education, and in 1968 the Finnish Parliament (innovation no. 1) 
accepted a law which guaranteed every child and youth a high-standard basic nine-year education irrespective 
of where they lived or the wealth of their parents. The essential thing was that, when the law was prepared, a 
good basic education was seen as an essential human right, which meant that intellectually and developmentally 
disabled children also had the right to grow and develop. The comprehensive school really became a school for 
all. 
The reform of the education system required a corresponding reform of teacher education, so they were 
carried out at the same time. The education of teachers was transferred to the universities (innovation no. 75), 
where they would study to masters degree level. In order to guarantee the availability of highly educated 
teachers in the peripheral areas, courses began in seven universities around the country including Northern and 
Eastern Finland. 
Responsibility for the implementation and ongoing development of basic education lies squarely with the 
municipalities. This structure underlines the essential role of education as a basic service, with all decisions 
being made at ground level. The relationship between municipal autonomy (innovation no. 4) and national 
education goes back more than a century. In Finland there are over 300 municipalities, which means that the 
loca
l school administration involves thousands of pupils’ parents. The comprehensive school is thus part of 
Finnish democracy, part of the implementation of the subsidiary principle. 
The development of comprehensive schools has been a long process, and shows that education is always 
closely related to the society’s political, cultural and economic development. The success of Finnish pupils in 
international comparisons is the sum of various factors (innovation no. 40).
The integrated comprehensive school is an excellent Finnish innovation. In a society with a tendency towards 
polarisation it is even more important as a factor that unites the nation. It strengthens national identity but also 
encourages international and intercultural interaction. 
At the moment, the comprehensive school is the flagship of our first-class educational system. It offers a good 
basis for providing quality education in vocational and secondary schools, and is always being developed to 

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keep it relevant in an ever-changing political, cultural and economic environment. As professor Kari Uusikylä 
said, a good school must be constructed every day from scratch. 
Erkki Aho 
– General director,
Finnish national board of education, 1973
–1991