If no one else is willing to say it, I will: why do we need to educate foreign students for free when we Finns cannot study anywhere outside of Finland for free? The problem we are facing now is that we are giving education for free for future experts, who as foreign students rarely stay here in Finland after their graduation. Therefore they are not to our society's benefit in the long run by paying taxes etc. - they only exploit it.
Many studies have shown that the quality of our educational system is high. So why do we insist on handing out our expertise for free when we should be benefiting from it financially. With tuition fees collected from all foreign students including those from the EU, the higher education institutions could improve the quality of teaching even further. Instead of doing this, we simply refuse to even consider having tuition fees for foreign students out of fear that someday they might also apply to us, the Finnish students. The tuition fees could be smaller than for example in Great Britain, this way foreign students would still favour our universities.
Have we so little faith in our most valuable asset and in our equality based society that we are willing to let others exploit our system and us for nothing?
Dear Mari & Perttu,
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting issue to discuss about. As an exchange student I would really like to know some more opinions. First of all I did some research on key figures on Finland’s expenditures for education:
The right to free education was written into the constitution in 1919 and has been since then the legal basis for further developments. Free education is not only limited to learning material, it further extends to school meals, journeys to school as well as trips. One could assume that the Finnish Government spends an enormous amount for education. However, compared to the United States, Finnish schools are highly cost effective: Finland spent 7,000 USD per child in 2006 whereas the US spent 10,000 USD per child. Finland’s expenditure on education per child is at the average level for OECD countries.
Country comparison on education expenditure (CIA Factbook):
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2206rank.html?countryName=Germany&countryCode=gm®ionCode=eur&rank=82#gm
This made me considering the situation in my home country, Germany. I intended to describe the circumstances and to add my own personal thoughts about it. Maybe there are some other bloggers who would like to share their opinions and give some more examples on it.
Tuition fees in Germany
In Germany, education policy is the responsibility of the 16 federal states with not much influence of the German government. The Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht) decided on the 26th of January 2005 that the German government will not have the power to strictly prevent the federal states from establishing their own individual fees. Furthermore they are allowed to resolve tuition fees starting with the first term (average tuition fee: 500 Euros per semester).
Three federal states, Hesse, Saarland and North Rhine-Westphalia, already stopped tuition fees. Baden-Württemberg and Hamburg might follow later on.
To me as a German student it is very confusing and frustrating that every single federal state decides independently on tuition fees. The decision where to study shouldn’t be made on a financial basis but the quality, the progress and the reputation of the respective university. However, there doesn’t seem to be a relation between the amount of the tuition fee and the quality or standards of teaching and lecturing within universities in Germany. Mostly one is advised to focus on the reputation of the university. Consequently, the so-called elite universities are facing a run of applicants and only the students with the best grades and references will be accepted. Due to this development Germany is recently experiencing a tendency towards private schools and universities.
At this stage I am wondering how Germany will prevent a further decline in equal opportunities for the very base of its nation: children and young adults?
"foreign students rarely stay here in Finland after their graduation"
ReplyDeleteAny figures/links supporting this statement?
Because I've been always told the opposite.
And that's one of the reason for free education for foreigners: because after that most of them stay in Finland, producing taxes/research/etc or in case they go back to their home country, they still have links with Finland (research networks, import/export, etc)
So it's actually more beneficial for Finland to "invest" (the right word to use here, not "spending") in education for foreigners because of future benefits.
I think you're asking the wrong question - rather than asking why Finland should educate foreigners for free, you should be wondering how to keep the ones that are educated here. Finland has an aging, and still very homogenous population, and educated immigrants can bring a lot in terms of ideas, skills, and taxes. And there’s room for a few more; Finland has, in percentage terms, only a quarter of the number of foreign born citizens that Germany has, for instance. How to keep foreign students is a huge and difficult question of course, and doing that more effectively will require major changes to the current system, especially in terms of language teaching and integration into professional networks.
ReplyDeleteOf course this answers half of the question you ask as well – you should educate them because they can be a useful part of the workforce and society of Finland. As for the other half, whether or not it should be free; in my opinion education should be free everywhere, as it’s the heart of a society. It’s shameful that it’s not always free. You should be proud of Finland’s commitment to equality, and provision of a basic human need, rather than seeking to sign up to the cynical, capitalist approach to education that’s blighting so many other countries, and will inevitably lead to exclusion and elitism based purely on money.
http://www.hs.fi/english/article/OECD+warns+Ageing+population+threatens+Finnish+standard+of+living/1076154152197
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_foreign-born_population_in_2005
http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2011/oct/10/education-human-right-not-commodity
Totally agree to Risto. Thats exactly what I wanted to point out. Instead of putting taxes on us, foreigners, and trying to get us out of the country, you should keep us here and to understand how to attract us to stay here and pay the taxes. I am a foreigner, my main reason to come here was not for studying, so I paid taxes before getting into school, but thats not the point. The point is that I want to live here after my graduation and I seek answer how to get employment. Actually, I am going to research more on it for my studies, so maybe I will be able to tell you more. For some more understanding, look at what www.valoa-hanke.fi is about, and why they are doing it.
ReplyDelete