In our recent "If You Want The American Dream, Go To Finland" post about different school systems of the world, we told you about the Finnish school system, which is widely considered as one of the best in the world.*
(*Technically, South Korean students score the highest in test scores, but their education system relies heavily on after-hour academic academies called hagwons where students study all the time.)
That post drew some enlightening comments from Neatoramanaut CreamK, who live in Finland, about lifelong, continuing adult education and the role of education in advancement of one's career:
For higher degrees in "blue collar" job titles it's combined seamlessly with work. You can get any degree on your field while working and it's subsidiced so that government will pay part of your salary when you have to be away from work (about 1-2 months per year). Employers are very eager to participate as they get better educated, motivated old known workers for pennies.. [...]
I'm doing a similar degree right now, i have very few courses since i managed to work in various jobs in av industry before. I got VERY tailored curriculum to fit my needs and every single one gets the same treatment. Basically i need to prove that i'm able to do things in a professional manner. I will be "judged" in work or work simulated situations by three professionals with an academic degree in my field
CreamK summarizes:
So most workers that want to have a career, are constantly on school part time getting higher and higher degrees [...] The level of commitment on those adult schools from both teachers and pupils is really really high and the percentage that get a job from that route is staggering: in my field we are expecting 80% employment before the school ends.
I'm glad to find out that there is a sane education system in the world (one that includes lifelong, continuing adult education as well). It's sad that it seems only to exist in Finland.
Image: Walking Graduation Cap from the NeatoShop