Invest to ‘meet needs’ of primary level pupils

GREATER investment in education here should be matched with more autonomy for schools and less focus on reading and maths, an expert who helped turn Finland’s education system into one of the world’s best has suggested.

From being one of the poorest systems in the developed world up to the 1990s, Finland now tops most international education system rankings.

It invests more than 7% of national income in education compared to 4.6% here, but Dr Pasi Sahlberg said primary schools must be particularly well-funded to set the foundation blocks for a knowledge economy.