Education in Finland was free until 2017

Today, I focus on educational exploits of Ghanaian migrants in Finland, their work opportunities and the positive image they have created within the Ghanaian migrant community and in Finland generally.

I have been writing about different aspects of the Finnish educational system as well as how it affects migrants in Finland.

There are many positive things that Ghanaian individual migrants have achieved in the area of education that need to be stressed.

Educational opportunities in Finland

The Finnish education was free until about 2017. The Finnish educational system offers both the majority population and minority (including migrants) the chance to work while studying or after their studies.

Thus, the privilege of education enhances the potential of such migrants who study in Finland to become skilled workers in banks, as lawyers, medical doctors, nurses, engineers, ICT specialists, entrepreneurs, technical and semi-technical personnel in the country.

In recent times, some trained migrants are beginning to find jobs as experts and top-level personnel in the health, educational, and the service sectors of the economy.

Ghanaian migrant graduates

Many Ghanaian migrants have graduated from educational programmes in recent years, such as in the Health Care (Nursing) courses and other popular English-language study curricula.

Others have been educated in the engineering and technology sector; business and management; computer science and information technology (IT); natural sciences and mathematics; and education and training.

As I wrote some time ago, according to the Study in Finland portal, Finnish higher education institutions currently offer over 500 bachelor’s and master’s degree programmes taught in English. There are also countless doctoral degree programmes (see www.studyinfinland.fi).

Today, from the over 2000 Ghanaian migrants living in Finland, there are hundreds of them who hold the bachelor’s, the master’s, or the PhD degrees. There are also countless others who have graduated with the diploma. 

Education and the job market

Research has shown that most migrants are gainfully employed either as paid workers or as self-employed entrepreneurs.

Studies show that migrants often have unstable or marginal positions in the Finnish labour market as cleaners, waitresses, and bouncers in pubs.

However, as mentioned already, many Ghanaian migrants have become skilled workers in banks, as lawyers, medical doctors, nurses, engineers, ICT specialists, and entrepreneurs, technical and semi-technical personnel in Finland and they are excelling in their areas of work.

Gender aspects

Having opportunities to education is very much pronounced for both males and females, without any hindrances along gender lines in terms of admission into programmes and finding a job after graduation.

Although I do not have the specific number of Ghanaian (international) students who are admitted to Finnish universities or who graduated and gain employment, I can say that they are quite visible in Finnish institutions and in the job market in Finland.

In addition, there are those who have ventured into entrepreneurship.  This is an area that is gaining much attention in the entrepreneurial space in Finland.

Integration and inclusion through education

Finland is committed to the integration of migrants into the Finnish society, and a number of research studies from surveys and other in-depth enquiries have shown a trend of increasing efforts to integrate African and other migrants into the Finnish society.

One key area through which migrants can easily be integrated is the educational sector. For example, the work of the Finnish National Agency for Education is aimed at increasing equality and open-mindedness in education and internationalisation among others, according to information on its website.

One of the key points here is that supporting the integration of migrants, developing the teaching and education of learners with a migrant background and building a diverse society play an important role in achieving those goals (see www.oph.fi/em/news). Thank you!

The writer is a Ghanaian lecturer in Finland

By Perpetual Crentsil