Together, the education union Opetusalan Ammattijärjestö, the Ministry of Education and Culture and the Finnish National Agency for Education have launched an educational institution aiming to safeguard high education standards in the country.
Celebrating Finland’s centenary, the three key organisations in the Finnish education sector have established the Academy, known as Sivistysakatemia, to safeguard the standards of learning, education and culture in Finland for the next 100 years.
The first session of this high-profile Academy is slated for October 2017. A carefully selected group of social opinion leaders and decision-makers will be invited to participate. They will learn, in entirely new ways, about the Finnish education system, considered to be the cornerstone of Finnish society, from early childhood education all the way to university. As well as discussing ways of maintaining and reinforcing Finland’s high standards of education and culture for the next 100 years, their objective will be to raise the status of education, training and research. The Academy will convene annually, and, every year, some 30 opinion leaders from different segments of society will be invited to participate.
Sivistysakatemia’s logo, a fingerprint, serves as a reminder that education and culture belong to everyone and are made up of different parts. The fingerprint also symbolises the imprint left on Finland’s future by those participating in the Academy.
OAJ: teachers and education play a key role in building a civilised society
Opetusalan Ammattijärjestö(OAJ) President Olli Luukkainen hopes to see Sivistysakatemia’s participants take a clear stand on behalf of education and culture, as “we need bold heralds who understand the value of education and civilisation to bring more dialogue and concrete actions highlighting the significance of education, training and research”.
He also underlined that education has an intrinsic value that creates a good life: “Education must not be separated from its mission of civilising people. Education must also not be seen merely as a tool for producing human resources to serve the work market.”
He went on to stress that the continuous development of teacher competences will play an important role in future solutions. “Teachers play a key role in building a civilised society,” Luukkainen said, noting that “Sivistysakatemia should work to ensure that we retain our status as a civilised and educated welfare society for the future”.