Home > Statistics > Providers of education and educational institutions > 2008 > Number of comprehensive schools and comprehensive school level special education schools down by 90 from 2007; number of closures the highest in North Ostrobothnia, Pohjois-Savo and Central Finland

Published: 20 February 2009

Number of comprehensive schools and comprehensive school level special education schools down by 90 from 2007; number of closures the highest in North Ostrobothnia, Pohjois-Savo and Central Finland

According to Statistics Finland's Register of Educational Institutions, there were 877 active providers of education and 4,324 educational institutions in which 1.9 million students pursued studies at the end of 2008. The number of providers of education was 4 and that of educational institutions 119 lower than in 2007. Of the providers of education 54 per cent were municipalities or joint municipal boards, 7 per cent were central government units and 37 per cent private. The remaining two per cent of the providers of education operated in the region of Åland.

In 2008, there were 2,988 active comprehensive schools which had 538,100 pupils. Special education schools at the comprehensive school level numbered 148 and they had 7,900 pupils. A total of 95 comprehensive schools or comprehensive school level special education schools were closed down or merged with another educational institution. Of these, 25 were educational institutions with under 20 pupils, 34 had between 20 and 49 pupils while 36 had at least 50 pupils. The number of closures was the highest in the regions of North Ostrobothnia, Central Finland and Pohjois-Savo. The number of closures was the lowest in the region of Kanta-Häme where no comprehensive school was closed or merged with another educational institution.

Of all comprehensive schools 77 per cent taught grades 1 to 6, fourteen per cent taught grades 7-9 and nine per cent of comprehensive schools taught all the grades from 1 through to 9. Twenty-seven per cent of comprehensive schools had under 50 pupils and five per cent had over 500 pupils.

Educational institutions of the school system and numbers of students by type of educational institution in 2008

Type of educational institution	Number	Change from previous year1)	Students
11 Comprehensive schools	2,988	-79	538,100
12 Comprehensive school level special education schools	148	-11	7,900
15 Upper secondary general schools	406	-	120,600
19 Comprehensive and upper secondary general level schools	38	1	24,500
21 Vocational institutes	152	-9	166,200
22 Special needs vocational institutes	12	-	4,900
23 Specialised vocational institutes	37	-	29,100
24 Vocational adult education centres	32	0	45,600
28 Fire, police and security service institutes	1	-1	300
29 Military vocational institutes	14	-1	..
41 Polytechnics	28	-2	142,700
42 Universities	20	-	164,100
43 Military academies	1	-	..
61 Music schools and colleges	89	-	62,900
62 Sports institutes	14	-	1,600
63 Folk high schools	83	-6	14,800
64 Adult education centres	223	-11	515,500
65 Study circle centres	11	-	51,700
66 Summer universities	20	-	35,900
99 Other educational institutions	7	-	600
Total	4,324	-119	1,927,000
1) The change is described in the Finnish-language table Koululaitoksen oppilaitoksiin tehdyt muutokset oppilaitostyypin mukaan 2008 (Changes made to educational institutions of the school system by type of educational institution 2008).

Source: Education Statistics 2008. Statistics Finland.

Inquiries: Ms Elina Huusko +358 9 1734 3571, koulutus.tilastot@stat.fi

Director in charge: Mr Jari Tarkoma

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Last updated 20.2.2009