Curriculum system
The national core curricula are drawn up by the National Board of Education in cooperation with employers' organisations, trade unions, the Trade Union of Education and student unions. They are dealt with by Training committees, which are tripartite bodies established for each occupational field by the Ministry of Education for a term of three years at a time to plan and develop vocational education and training. Local curricula and students' individual study plans must follow the relevant national core curriculum. Local tripartite bodies as well as other representatives of working life take part in the curriculum work as advisers and consultants. Local curricula (education and training providers' curricula) are approved by the boards of education providers. There are 119 study programmes leading to 53 different vocational qualifications confirmed by the Ministry of Education. The number of further and specialist qualifications, which are taken as competence-based qualifications, is 305. The qualifications give comprehensive basic skills for working in the field and more specialized skills in one sector. The curriculum includes: vocational studies and on-the-job learning which vary according to the qualification (90 credits); core subjects, common to all qualifications (20 credits, out of which 16 are compulsory and 4 are optional); free-choice studies, which vary (10 credits); these include at least 1.5 credits of student counselling and a final project with a minimum 2 credits. The compulsory core subjects (16 credits) are: language: Finnish, Swedish (4 credits), other national language: Finnish, Swedish (1 credit), foreign language (2 credits), mathematics (3 credits), physics and chemistry (2 credits), social, business and labour-market subjects (1 credit), health education (1 credit), physical education (1 credit), arts and culture (1 credit). Students may choose from a range of free-choice studies available either at their own or another institution. Free-choice studies can be vocationally complementary courses in their own or another field, supplementary core subjects, or general studies which enable students to complete general upper secondary school and/or the matriculation examination at the same time as the vocational qualification. They may even select courses based on their own interest. All qualifications include a six-month period of on-the-job learning (at least 20 credits). On-the-job learning is a focused, supervised and assessed study carried out in service or production capacities at the workplace. The objective is to familiarise students with real working life to enhance their employment opportunities. Read more about on-the-job learning Vocational skills demonstrations were introduced in August 2006. In these, students demonstrate how well they have achieved vocational studies objectives and the vocational skills and knowledge required by working life. Read more about skills demonstrations Renewal of curricula Each VET curriculum is based on the national core curriculum and consists of the institution's individual curriculum and the individual study plan. National core curriculum The national core curricula and the framework for competence-based qualifications constitute a legal norm for educational institutions and apply to all upper secondary vocational education providers. The Finnish National Board of Education approves qualification-specific core curricula and the requirements of each competence-based qualification. They are drawn up in cooperation with social partners from various different fields plus representatives and experts from business as well as teachers and students. In addition to vocational and general subjects, core curricula and the competence-based qualification requirements include the following topics: internationality, promoting sustainable development, using technology and information technology, entrepreneurship, high-quality and customer-focused activity, consumer skills and management of occupational health and safety. They also include the following core skills: learning skills, problem-solving skills, interaction and communication skills, cooperation skills and ethical and aesthetic skills. Education and training providers' curricula The core curricula provide the framework for more detailed curricula which are defined in each institution's individual curriculum. Providers (municipalities) can delegate decision making to the institutions to organise their instruction as they see fit, and may take local and changing needs into account. With the Finnish decentralised approach, teachers have considerable freedom on issues concerning their own teaching, such as choosing methods to achieve the objectives defined in the curriculum. They often adopt a wide range of working methods and teaching not tied to year classes, integration of theory and practice and cooperation and interaction between institutions in planning and implementing instruction. Individual study plans Because the students have the right to choose optional courses, and even studies in other institutions, an individual study plan is needed to steer matters. Students are provided with individual study plans which outline what, when, how they study and the assessment of studies. The individual study plan is made on the basis of the curriculum and student choice; it is then supported with continued study counselling. Individual choices and marks achieved are recorded on their certificate at the end of the studies. Modular qualifications The modular qualification structure increases flexibility and options and makes it easier for students to gain credit for previous studies. Qualifications are in large modules, which students may choose themselves and complete in the manner best suited to them.

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