Finland's lack of English-language upper secondary schools is leaving some 15-year-olds in limbo.
A bottleneck in the Finnish education system means ninth grade pupils who have studied solely or predominantly in English have significantly limited options when it comes to choosing an upper secondary school or vocational institute.
The show hears from Shwetha Ariyadka, who moved to Finland from India when her son was in middle school. With a GPA of 8, she said her teenager was unable to gain entry into one of the capital region's fiercely competitive English-language high schools.
"You know we have a perception outside that Finland has the best education system, so we think that 'oh okay' everything is taken care of here when you move in. But I did not know that after ninth—in between this crucial period of 10 to 12—there are not many options in terms of English," Ariyadka told APN.
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All Points North also talks with Michaela Moua, a Finn who was appointed the European Commission's Coordinator on combating racism in 2021.
Moua tells APN that an update to the 'Being Black in the EU' report is coming out later this year. A previous version of the study, released in 2018, found that Finland was among the most racist countries in the EU.
"What is really crucial is that the data shows structural and systemic racism is actually a very true and tangible thing affecting people's access to equal opportunities," Moua said.
This week's show was also at the Santahamina barracks in Helsinki as NBA basketball star Lauri Markkanen reported for duty to begin his compulsory national service.
"Obviously it's a new challenge that I'm going to go after here, just like on the basketball court. I'll try to give it everything I got and I know everything's going to be fine," Markkanen said.
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This week's show was presented by Ronan Browne and Zena Iovino with additional reporting from Denise Wall and Matthew Schilke. The sound engineer was Juha Hjelm.
If you have any questions or would like to share your thoughts, contact us via WhatsApp on +358 44 421 0909, on our Facebook or Twitter accounts, or at yle.news@yle.fi and allpointsnorth@yle.fi.
The Education Coordinator for the City of Helsinki, mentioned in the show, is contactable by email eduguidance@hel.fi and by phone +358 9 310 76965.
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