Meet the 34-year-old female Minister of Education of Finland

With a friendly smile, black pants and a black and white striped shirt, and a quick demeanor, the Finnish Minister of Education and Culture made a good impression on those he met.

Within the framework of a working trip to the Nordic countries to explore and promote international cooperation opportunities in education, on the morning of August 29, Minister of Education and Training Phung Xuan Nha had a meeting with Finnish Minister of Education and Culture Sanni Grahn-Laasonen.

Minister Phung Xuan Nha and Minister Sanni Grahn Lassonen

During the brief working session, directly speaking in English with the partner, Minister Phung Xuan Nha asked the other side to provide technical support in education. In addition to the contents on the possibility of cooperation in developing training programs, transferring documents and learning materials, promoting start-up activities, the two sides spent time discussing the issue of coordinating teacher training and development.

After the talks, 18 memorandums of understanding between Vietnamese universities and Finnish partners were signed under the witness of the Ministers of Education of the two countries.

Minister Sanni Grahn-Laasonen.

Sanni Grahn-Laasonen became Finland's Minister of Education and Culture in 2015, at the age of 32 (born 1983). Before that, she was Minister of the Environment. Since becoming Minister of Education, she has pushed for reforms in primary education, with a program approved in 2016.

After earning a bachelor's degree in social sciences, Sanni Grahn-Laasoen went on to complete a master's degree in political science. She worked as a journalist and then as editor-in-chief of a newspaper in Finland. Lauren also entered parliament quite early.

On the sidelines of the event, the Finnish Minister had a short conversation with VietNamNet.

Reporter:Madam, since Finland emerged as an educational miracle, there have been hundreds of delegations from countries around the world, along with many programs and articles introducing this superiority. Could you briefly tell us what the values ​​of Finnish education are?

Minister Sanni Grahn-Laasoen:Finland has an egalitarian education system that ensures fairness for everyone. We want to create opportunities for all people, regardless of their background, whether they are rich or poor.

Finnish students' learning outcomes according to PISA are among the highest in the world. The secret to this success lies in our teachers. We have a highly qualified teaching staff. All teachers are carefully selected and have master's degrees.

In Finland, teaching is a noble and socially respected profession.

Together with colleagues from the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture.

Our teachers are given a great deal of autonomy. They have freedom in their teaching methods, teaching materials and curriculum organization.

Teachers and students are not strictly controlled and supervised.

We don't have standardized tests because we don't want students to feel pressured. Most importantly, we want students to feel happy and comfortable when they come to school.

Are teachers well paid in Finland, madam?

- Teachers are paid quite well, of course not as much as doctors.

I would say that teacher salaries are important, but in our country, there are other reasons to show the importance of the teaching profession.

In general, many people want to become teachers. In teacher training colleges, only 1 in 10 students are selected to study. Only the most talented and intelligent people become teachers.

We value research-based teacher training. This enables them to actively develop their own learning programs with their students.

In addition, parents, students, educational management agencies and society are very secure and trust teachers.

Vietnam has an area similar to Finland, and its history has some similarities with Finland in the past. Currently, Vietnam's population is many times larger than Finland's, and its socio-economic foundation is also far behind Finland's. So, in your opinion, what can Vietnam learn from Finland to develop education effectively?

- Finland is a country with a small population, each student is given the opportunity to develop their best potential, to be able to compete internationally. Since independence 100 years ago (1917), we have invested a lot in education and very early.

Portrait of Minister Sanni Grahn Laasonen on a Finnish website.

After 100 years, Finland is now a rich, developed country with the highest standard of living in the world. All because we invest in education, the whole country considers education important, and everyone wants to develop it in the future.

Finland has been widely known in recent decades for Nokia phones and the phenomenon of “education miracle”. Now Nokia has declined. Do you think that at some point, Finnish education will also lose its upper hand like Nokia did?

- The world changes very quickly and we must always strive to keep up with the development of humanity.

We must try to learn every day, learn all our lives to develop.

Thank you!

According to Vietnamnet.vn