Education development projects

Projects initiated to improve education have a better chance of being successful in a country like Finland than in countries that have a larger population or have wider demographic variation. In Finland about 600 000 pupils participate in basic education in almost 4 000 schools. There are about 40 000 teachers, of whom it is estimated that about 25 000 participate in the instruction of mathematics in basic education. Although geographically speaking Finland is a relatively large European country, good prerequisites for implementing projects to support education exist. The teachers are usually enthusiastic participants in the projects even if no additional funding is offered in their implementation. One of the reasons for this is their willingness to raise the status of their subjects, and their interest in improving the quality of their own work. Schools and their teachers can also easily be reached thanks to the good ICT infrastructure.

The LUMA Programme

The national project to improve skills in mathematics and natural sciences (LUMA) was launched in 1996 by the Finnish Ministry of Education. LUMA, a joint project of general education and vocational education and training, was launched a year before that at the Finnish National Board of Education.

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Reading Finland

Reading Finland was a priority project of the Finnish National Board of Education implemented in 2001-2004. The objectives of the project were to improve the reading and writing skills of pupils in basic and general upper secondary education and to increase their knowledge of literature. The responsibility for reaching these objectives is considered to fall on the entire school, all subjects and every teacher.

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