Finland/ 8.3 Arts and cultural education  

8.3.1 Institutional overview

For the legislative basis of arts and cultural education, see Table 14 in chapter 7.1.

The institutions of professional education and training are administratively separated from the rest of the cultural and arts administration because they are within the jurisdiction of the Department of Education and Science of the Ministry of Education and Culture (see chapter 3.1). These institutions forms a hierarchical structure built upon nine year comprehensive compulsory school and post-compulsory secondary academic or vocational education which have as a dual top of higher education consisting of art universities (N=4) and polytechnics (N=29). The four art universities are Sibelius Academy, University of Art and Design, Theatre Academy and Academy of Fine Arts. Presently there are, however, only three "pure" art universities, because the University of Art and Design became part of the Aalto University as it was administratively fused with the University of Technology and the Helsinki School of Economics. The three other art universities, the Sibelius Academy of Music, the Academy of Fine Arts and the Theatre Academy will merge into a University of Arts in 2013. In the new University of Arts there will be about 2 000 students and personnel of 600.  

There are no "pure" art polytechnics, but most of them have special programmes for the arts, arts management, media and humanities. Furthermore, the graduates of the faculties of humanities at "science universities" are competing in labour markets with the graduates of art universities and polytechnics e.g. for jobs at publishing houses and managerial and administrative posts at cultural associations and foundations.

The secondary level of this educational structure is supported with an extensive system of art schools, music schools and conservatories which in turn are supported by the systems of extra curricular "basic" arts education and paralleled by secondary schools with special art oriented curricula. The 1992 Act on Basic Arts Education united private and municipal art and music schools into the system of general arts education, which financially became a part of the formula-based state / municipality subsidy system ("vos"). This attracted municipalities to organise more systematic extracurricular arts education, that is, extensive supply of art courses outside the regular school curricula. The lion's share of public funding for the new system of basic arts education has gone, however, to music schools and conservatories.

Historically the voluntary general (non-vocational) adult education has been one of the basic pillars of the Finnish arts and culture – and also of Finnish culture in ideological and socio-cultural sense. It is often contrasted to vocational adult education, which offer occupational basic and retraining programmes and courses and aims at balancing supply and demand unbalances in labour markets (see Table 14 in chapter 7.1).

The main institutional forms of the voluntary general adult education are Citizens' Institutes (originally; Institutes of Citizens and Workers) and People's Collages (see chapter 7.1 Table 14). The former are more arts and humanist oriented and teaching is carried out as specialised courses for study groups. The People collages have integrated term-based curricula, which are not usually bound to a single academic discipline or an occupational category. The courses of Citizens Institutes are often offered in summer universities or by Study Centres managed by coalitions of political or ideological third sector associations.

In 2010 there were 197 citizens' institutes, 87 people's colleges, 20 summer universities and 10 study centres. In the 2000s an average 1.7 million persons have annually participated the education they have provided The state formula based transfers and other subsidies to these institutions and their management amounted to 181.6 million EUR There is no legal obligations for municipalities to contribute and course fees and tuitions are more important than in the main fields of education.

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