Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education and Culture visited EDUCA in Jyväskylä

Anita Lehikoinen, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education and Culture, gave the Uno Cygnaeus Lecture in Jyväskylä in early October. In her speech on the history, present and future of Finnish educational system she boldly assessed the policy choices made. She also discussed ongoing research projects with EDUCA's post doc researchers and encouraged researchers to bring a "voice of reason" to the debate on issues such as the PISA results.

In recent decades, learning outcomes in Finland have declined and educational attainment has lagged behind international development. "High-level objectives have not been met, at least not in all groups," said Lehikoinen. Why not?

- We have had almost a quarter of a century to analyse the reasons for the rather steep decline in learning outcomes, but perhaps we have missed the big picture," she said.

Lehikoinen sees internationalisation as a huge factor of change that will become even more important in the future. Society has changed, but has anyone dared to reform school?

- There have been reforms in education policy, and there is agreement on the objectives, but no consensus on the means," she said.

Lehikoinen thinks that the EDUCA Flagship is a huge possibility, and the scale of it is staggering. She encouraged EDUCA researchers to approach decision-makers and present their research results.

- Ministries and the members of the Government are happy to have discussions with researchers who can provide information and research-based evidence to support decision-making and finding solutions," she said.

Lehikoinen concluded her inspiring speech by saying that the education system does not just need to adapt to the current situation.

- Can we increase our understanding of why this has happened and how we can create a viable horizon of hope for our young people? This will enable us to make wise choices.