Music Education in School

Within the school system, about 43,000 children and adolescents are involved in basic arts education (the “general arts curriculum”) in the field of music. Contemporary school music can justly be described as multi-valued; learners are introduced to as wide a variety as possible. The aims defined for the comprehensive school emphasise fostering positive attitudes, raising an interest, learning to listen, training of skills, and interacting by means of music. One of the central cross-curricular subjects, both in the comprehensive and upper secondary school, is education for international understanding.

Finland’s national heritage is the thread running through the entire curriculum from the comprehensive to the upper secondary school. Cultural identity as expressed through folk arts (dance, music, crafts) is an extremely important part of Finn’s lives and powers their drive to excellent music and arts education. Folk music enjoys wide popularity and continues to evolve with each generation.

Funding for music education activities can be roughly divided between the government (44%), local authorities (40%) and private funding (16% in the form of student fees, etc.).