Finnish education system began at the age of seven students and are required in the next nine years until the student reaches the age of sixteen. Homeschooling in Finland, but very rarely permitted, unlike other places in the world. There are very few private schools in Finland and one to be started, was granted permission from the council of state, who will make decisions based on political reasons.

Grading is done in primary schools in Finland but did not seem as true as some other countries, the classification is usually done on a verbal rather than a trial basis and parents will receive an annual report twice a year. There are free lunch for both school students and elementary and high school students can also expect to be free medical care. In some schools, students will also receive free teaching resources and funding for school trips.

Secondary schools are spilt normally with the intention of teaching younger children and those getting ready to leave and go on to higher education. For Finnish pupils, Swedish is a mandatory school subject and likewise Finnish is mandatory for Swedish pupils. The value of Finland’s society is held in high regard and results of Finnish pupils and records of achievement are generally high, this in part is attributed to the high society values held in Finland.

Numerous foreign languages, environmental studies, religion, ethics, social sciences, history, maths and various sciences are just some of the languages taught in Finnish schools and the Finnish population strongly promotes English as one of the most important languages and if you visit Finland, you will encounter the majority of the population as fluent in the English language.

The principle of the Finnish education system is that everyone has access to learning in all areas and this attitude that all people are capable of learning new things at different stages of life, is a principle they abide by. The last three years of schooling as well as being subject based, also includes preparing young adults and teaching them the skills they will require to live and adapt in society.

children can attend English schools English language experts in Finland, but they will have to learn and study required of Finland. Other schools will have students with the aim of English teaching in the Finnish education system and once again, students will be asked to speak and learn Finnish. Children enter the school system seemed to absorb the Finnish language Finnish is easy and comfortable to say it quickly.

Finland traditionally scores high in technology related studies and we take special pride in our hi-tech companies such as Nokia. According to Tilastokeskus, a market research and statistics company, 78% of Finnish households own a computer and 82% of people between the ages of 16 to 74, use the Internet weekly.

Online shopping itself is also featured on the list, rising slowly but steadily. Judging by these figures, Internet should be very important marketing channel for almost every Finnish company selling consumer goods and/or services.

So why these companies are not willing to invest money in online marketing? Why do they see it as a secondary way to promote themselves? Why in international researches, such as the ones conducted by IAB Europe, Finnish companies spend well below average on Internet marketing, leaving clearly behind of other Nordic countries.

One of the main reasons for this is that Finland has very strong traditions in newspaper and television advertising. To put it bluntly, marketers are used to pay to be seen and nothing more. In online world, you have to change that way of thinking and start being active. That means that marketers should participate in discussions, operate in social media and really pay attention on their web presences, adjusting to changes as they happen. That of course takes time and effort as well as willingness to communicate with your customers in much different way than before.

This is not currently happening, and we are in a situation where Internet marketing, as a word, does not quite have the right ring to it. When marketing executives hear it, they instantly think of passive advertising, when in fact they should think of it as a new way to approach marketing with ads being just one part of it, not the whole show. That, I feel, is the main challenge the Finnish online marketing world has to overcome in order to start flourishing.