STEM Education Landscape: Finland

EUROPEAN COMMISSION Directorate-General forEducation, Youth, Culture andSportDirectorateB—Youth, Education and Erasmus+ Contact:Maria Podlasek-Ziegler E-mail:EAC-UNITE-B2@ec.europa.eu European CommissionB-1049 Brussels STEM education landscape in Author:Prof. Tomi Jaakkola, in collaboration with the study team Manuscriptcompleted in January 2025 This document has been prepared for the European Commission however it reflects the views only of theauthors, and the European Commission is not liable for any consequence stemming from the reuse of this Luxembourg:Publications Office of the European Union,2026 © European Union,2026 The reuse policy of European Commission documents is implemented by Commission Decision2011/833/EU of 12December 2011 on the reuse of Commission documents (OJ L330, 14.12.2011, p.39).Unless otherwise noted, the reuse of this document is authorised under a Creative Commons Attribution4.0 International (CCBY4.0) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). This means that For any use or reproduction of elements that are not owned by the European Union, permission may need PrintISBN978-92-68-38360-5doi:10.2766/9060238NC-01-26-081-EN-CPDFISBN978-92-68-38359-9doi:10.2766/9708322NC-01-26-081-EN-N Contents 1.1.Structure of the national school education system.................................81.2.Governance of STEM education in Finland.........................................101.3.Introduction of the country’s performance in STEM education in 2014-2024.....................................................................................................12 2.Overview of the main policy and structural challenges and factorsrelated to STEM education in schools.................................................16 2.1.Policy framework for STEM education in Finland................................16 2.2.Overview of the main structural challenges and factors related to STEMeducation in school..............................................................................202.2.1.Digitalisation as a key contextual factor affecting student performance andeducational landscape............................................................................202.2.2.STEM education curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment.......................202.2.3.(Dis)continuity of the approach to STEM education across different levelsof education............................................................................................222.2.4.STEM education governance and infrastructure in schools.....................232.2.5.STEM teacher recruitment, development and support............................232.2.6.STEM learning support and equity..........................................................252.2.7.Covid 19 effects......................................................................................26 3.Overview of the identified instruments promoting STEM education28 3.1.Examples of best practices to support STEM education......................29 4.Recommendations for potential EU interventions..............................39 5.Methodological annex...........................................................................40 5.1.Bibliography.........................................................................................405.2.Listof interviewees..............................................................................43 Thisdocument presents results of country-specific research on science,technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education and its support inFinland. It was prepared in the context of a wider studyon‘Promoting STEM 1.Background to the country’s education system 1.1.Structure of the national school education system Educational equality and equity havebeen core values and aims at all levels ofFinnish education for many decades. This has led to the provision of free TheFinnish education system operates within a decentralised framework,combining national coherence with local autonomy. The National Agency forEducation sets the overall objectives and core content of instruction through thenational core curriculum, which is developed in consultation with a broad range Responsibilityfor the organisation and delivery of education lies withmunicipalities. Within this structure, both municipalities and individual schoolshave considerable flexibility to adapt and implement the national curriculum in Early childhood education and care (ECEC) in Finland corresponds to ISCEDlevel 0 and serves children from birth to six years of age. Although ECEC is notcompulsory,it is widely attended and strongly supported by the Finnishgovernment.For six-year-olds,Finland provides compulsory pre-primaryeducation, which serves as a bridge to basic education. In pre-primary settings, Basic educationin Finland combines primary and lower secondary education ina single structure, covering ISCED levels 1 and 2. It is compulsory for all childrenaged seven to16and spans nine years, from grades