According to all quality parameters and indicators, the Finnish educational model is one of the best in the world. The most relevant indicator is the achievements of Finnish students in the most famous and prestigious international tests and competitions where they are always among the top ranked. This is an acknowledgement for the local schools and the acquired knowledge and skills of the Finnish students.

North Macedonia tends to follow global educational trends. With the newly established cooperation with Finland, the Ministry of Education and Science and other institutions in the country have received support from their Finnish peers.

In light of the above, today a one-day webinar was organized, where the Finnish educational experiences were shared with the Macedonian colleagues in support of the reforms in the primary education in North Macedonia. The webinar was attended by the Minister of Education and Science, Jeton Shaqiri, and the heads of several departments in the Ministry of Education and Science, as well as representatives of the Bureau for Development of Education. Finland was represented by the Finnish Ambassador to North Macedonia, H.E. Kimmo Lahdevirta, the advisers of the Finnish National Education Agency, professor from the Oulu University Teacher Training, as well as severaleducational experts.

Several topics were discussed on the webinar, but the focus was mostly on building a network of schools that will strive to increase their competitiveness, as well ason finding motivational measures that the competent institutions of the system will use to support such schools. The representatives of Finland shared the experience of preparing their national strategy.

In his address on the webinar, the Minister of Education and Science, Mr. Shaqiri expressed his gratitude to the Finnish representatives for their openness to help our country progress in the process of creating and implementing an authentic concept of modern education.

"At a time when North Macedonia is focused on implementing major reforms, especially in the field of primary education, it is very important for us to hear the experiences of those who actually drive the global educational trends. We have been learning from Finland thus far. We have analyzed the Finnish education, but direct communication is the best way to familiarize with your policies, and I am convinced that this meeting will help us a lot", said Minister Shaqiri.

Statement from the Finnish Ambassador

In his introductory remarks, Finnish Ambassador Kimmo Lähdevirta underlined that the development of the whole education system takes time. “In Finland, the reforming of the education system continues even today. It is a rather unique combination of different factors and any country seeking to follow Finland’s footsteps needs to look at a bigger, more holistic picture. Finland is ready to share knowledge and we believe that international cooperation in education is essential”, said Lähdevirta.

 

 

Minister Shaqiri continued that in the last two or three years the Ministry of Education and Science has been paying great attention to the teaching staff, as the most important link in the educational process, emphasizing that even the best written reforms would not succeed if schools do not have high quality, well-trained and motivated teaching staff.

“Therefore, we have increased their salaries by over 20 percent in the past period, and we have introduced opportunities for career advancement. We are working to have better conditions for the teaching process, and we are especially committed to providing continuous training for the professional development of teachers" said Shaqiri.

 

At the end of the seminar, the policies for protection of students from all forms of violence were discussed, especially the policies for protection from online violence.

 

 

The representatives of North Macedonia and Finland agreed that having webinars like this are good for the peer exchange and that they will continue with the direct communication in the next period.