Growing divide in literacy among Finland's population

Via Yle Uutiset: Growing divide in literacy among Finland's population.

The Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) surveys have shown that the gap between high and low achieving students in Finland has widened over time. The survey measures pupils' performance in science, mathematics and reading skills. 

According to Johanna Kaakinen, Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Turku, the reason behind this is because the weaker students are doing worse, while the highly-performing ones are doing just as well as before.  

Indeed, the proportion of youngsters with excellent literacy levels, measured at 14.5 percent in 2018, had not changed much from 14.2 percent in 2009.  

On the other hand, the proportion of poor readers had increased markedly. In 2009, 8.1 percent of all pupils achieved a level below 2. However, in 2018 this figure had risen to 13.5 percent.  

Pisa has established level 2 as the baseline for literacy, where students can successfully comprehend, use, reflect, and engage with written texts. At this level, students demonstrate the skills necessary to function as a student, worker, and citizen effectively and productively.  

According to the Ministry of Education, this means that Finland has an increasing number of young people who are not literate enough to study and participate in society.  

Socio-economic background clearly linked to literacy  

In 2018, the literacy gap between students was the widest in the history of Finland's Pisa surveys.  

The latest Pisa survey in 2018 found that while on average, the reading literacy of 15-year-olds in Finland is still at a top level compared to other countries, socio-economic background was more clearly linked to reading literacy than ever before in the history of Pisa surveys.  

In Finland, the average difference in literacy scores between the top and bottom socio-economic quartile was 79 points. This is equivalent to up to two years of schooling.  

This result is due to the fact that the scores of students belonging to the lowest socio-economic quartile have worsened between 2009 and 2018, while the scores of those in the top quartile have stayed relatively the same.  

Students' socioeconomic background, measured by parental education, occupation, and household wealth, was linked to their literacy in all Pisa-testing countries. Young people from lower socio-economic backgrounds were less likely to read books, if they did so at all.  

Literacy has declined in the 2000s  

The Finnish National Board of Education also acknowledges that students' literacy levels have differentiated. As a result, some students are able to read long texts fluently by the time they are in primary school, while others still struggle doing so in upper secondary.  

According to the board, while the average reading literacy rate in the country is high, the level of proficiency also varies across age groups. Particularly among young people, reading literacy has declined in the 2000s. Nearly 14 percent of youngsters lack sufficient reading skills to cope with everyday situations, according to the 2018 Pisa results.  

The board therefore launched a national literacy initiative in 2021 to address the differentiation and counterbalance the effects of the underlying factors. These include family background, learning difficulties and time spent reading in leisure time.  

The 2021 Pisa survey had to be postponed until spring 2022 due to the Covid pandemic, and its results will be published in 2023.