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More or Less - It Doesn’t Seem to Matter
There have been a number of comments on our blog about Finland, with one frequent commenter claiming that the OECD attributes Finland’s #1 status on the PISA test to the fact that it spends more than any other country on its education system. However, the 2009 edition of the OECD’s Education at a Glance (click on Indicator B4: What is the total public spending on education?) shows no such thing.
When public spending on primary, secondary and post-secondary non-tertiary education is expressed as a percentage of total public expenditure, the OECD and its partner countries rank as follows: Mexico (15.1%); New Zealand (12.7%); Slovak Republic (12.5%); Iceland (12.4%); Brazil (12.3%); Chile (12.2%); Korea (11.3%); Ireland (11%); Estonia (10.6%); Australia (10.3%); United States (10%); Norway (9.8%); Denmark (9.4%); Israel (9.1%); Slovenia (9%); OECD Average (9%); Luxembourg (8.8%); Switzerland (8.7%); United Kingdom (8.7%); Poland (8.6%); Belgium (8.2%); Sweden (8.1%); Portugal (8%); Finland (7.9%); Netherlands (7.8%); Canada (7.7%); Spain (7.2%); Austria (7.2%); France (7.1%); Japan (7%); Italy (6.9%); Russian Federation (6.8%); Hungary (6.5%); Czech Republic (6.5%); Germany (6.3%)
When public spending on primary, secondary and post-secondary non-tertiary education is expressed as a percentage of GDP, the OECD and its partner countries rank as follows: Iceland (5.2%); Denmark (4.8%); Israel (4.7%); New Zealand (4.7%); Sweden (4.4%); Slovenia (4%); Poland (4%); Belgium (4%); United Kingdom (4%); Finland (3.9%); Poland (3.8%); France (3.8%); Brazil (3.7%); Switzerland (3.7%); Ireland (3.7%); United States (3.7%); Portugal (3.7%); Austria (3.6%); Netherlands (3.6%); OECD Average 3.5%); Estonia (3.5%); Australia (3.4%); Hungary (3.4%); Italy (3.4%); Korea (3.4%); Korea (3.4%); Luxembourg (3.4%); Canada (3.3%); Mexico (3.3%); Czech Republic (2.8%); Germany (2.8%); Spain (2.8%); Japan (2.6%); Chile (2.5%); Slovak Republic (2.4%); Russian Federation (2%); Turkey (1.9%)
Based on the OECD’s statistics, there appears to be no correlation between spending and performance on international tests.
The data is based on per student funding. Finland spends more per student than any nation on Earth below post secondary. It is second in the world in spending, per capita on post secondary. It is not spending as a % of GDP or as a % of total public expenditure that matters, it is per pupil expenditure that matters.
BTW it is not the only thing that matter. To become a teacher in Finland one needs a three year training post graduate, the equivalent of an MEd. Most secondary teachers also have a Masters in their field. Although not strictly required, to be accepted into teaching it is necessary to be competitive. Some A average BA students are accepted in hard to fill areas.
Finland does no streaming until very late in high school where they split academic and vocational. Their drop-out rate is very low.
Outside observers do seem baffled when trying to explain some differences. They are left with ‘culture’.
There is a reading culture in Finland which some says dates back to very democratic feelings that everyone ought to be able to read the Bible in the past rather than have a more catholic, priest driven approach to the Bible.
The modern explanations are based on a keen understanding within the population that the old economy lumber and forestry is gone as a major employer and the new Nokia economy is based on many more people reachinging much higher levels of education.
Seems that spending PER CAPITA still matters.