The Finnish National Board of Education (FNBE) is the national agency subordinate to the Ministry of Education and Culture. The FNBE has a wide range of tasks related to the development of education all through pre-primary and basic education, general upper secondary education, vocational education and training, formal adult education and training, liberal adult education (incl. folk high schools, study centres, summer universities) and basic education in the arts.

FNBE is responsible for drawing up the national core curricula for basic and general upper secondary education and the framework for vocational qualifications and competence-based qualifications.

A new study published by the European Commission shows that one in five 15-year-olds and many adults in Europe cannot read properly. EU Education Ministers have set a target to reduce the share of poor readers from 20 percent to less than 15 percent by 2020. Only five countries, Finland among them, have already achieved this target.

The study titled “Teaching Reading in Europe”, produced for the Commission by the Eurydice network, examines reading skills and instruction among 3 to 15-year-olds in EU Member States, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Turkey. The study focuses on four key topics: teaching approaches, tackling reading difficulties, teacher education and the promotion of reading outside school.

The study shows that the reading skills of Finnish pupils are good in comparison to the other 31 countries studied. In 2009, the share of weak readers among 15-year-olds was less than 10 percent, making Finland once of the top performers with regard to reading skills.

A fair amount of support is available for learners in Finland. Finland is one of the few countries where reading specialists, who support teachers in the classroom, are on hand. In addition, reading instruction is a compulsory part of special needs teacher training. In Finland, reading skills are also promoted among adult immigrants.

More information

European Commission Press Release: European countries need to step up efforts to boost reading skills, study says
Teaching Reading in Europe: Contexts, Policies and Practices

A new study published by the European Commission shows that one in five 15-year-olds and many adults in Europe cannot read properly. EU Education Ministers have set a target to reduce the share of poor readers from 20 percent to less than 15 percent by 2020. Only five countries, Finland among them, have already achieved this target.