“The aim of the comprehensive school reform was to increase social equality. The purpose was that educational opportunities would no longer be limited by the parents’ position or place of residence,” says Roope Uusitalo, head of research at VATT – the Government Institute for Economic Research.

A fresh study indicates that the aim has been at least partially successful. Economists have now calculated the degree to which the parents’ income level was passed on to the next generation before and after the implementation of comprehensive school. According to the findings, education policy can increase the possibilities of children of low-income families to get a better standard of living than their parents.

The study focused on comparing the incomes of fathers and their sons.

Project of the 1970s

The comprehensive school reform was implemented in phases from 1972 to 1977. The changes were first implemented in Finnish Lapland, moving south, eventually reaching Helsinki.

Before comprehensive school, all children had the same curriculum for only the first four years of elementary school. At age 11 the pupils were split into two groups, one of which carried the potential of leading to an academic career.

In comprehensive school, the same curriculum is followed until the age of 16. In the reform, one foreign language became compulsory for all. In addition, there is a greater emphasis than before on mathematics and sciences.

“The ideology of equality was the key factor pushing forward the reform”, says Roope Uusitalo, the head of the study.

The study also found that the hereditary character of family income was significantly greater in Helsinki than in the east of Finland.

The study, by Roope Uusitalo, Tuomas Pekkarinen, and Sari Kerri is to be published in the Journal of Public Economics.