Tuesday, October 21, 2025

Polaris of Enlightenment

Finnish high school encourages pen and paper

Published 29 April 2024
– By Editorial Staff
Handwriting is good for memory and learning.
2 minute read

A secondary school in Finland does not ban the use of computers, but encourages students to use paper and pencil in class instead. The reason is to reduce unnecessary use of screens.

In Sweden, there are plans for a total ban on cell phones in all primary schools, something the government and the Sweden Democrats agreed on after the latest PISA survey showed that about a quarter of Swedish 15-year-olds cannot read or count correctly.

Finland has concluded that a cell phone ban is not currently relevant for schools, arguing among other things that such a ban does not guarantee better PISA results. Finland’s 15-year-olds, like Sweden’s, did not perform well in the survey, which showed a decline in both math and reading skills.

Nevertheless, some schools, including the Brändö Upper Secondary School in Helsinki, have introduced a ban on cell phones in class.

Divided opinions

However, Larkspur Upper Secondary School in Helsinki has taken a different approach to reducing students’ screen time. Instead of banning, or not banning, students are encouraged to use paper and pencil. All students have been given notebooks, but computers are still available.

– Everyone chooses how they want to take notes, but if you don’t want to take notes on the computer, feel free to close it. The idea of the notebooks is to create a way to get away from the screens, teacher Martin Nugent told Finnish state broadcaster Yle.

Students have mixed opinions about the notebooks, with student Nikita Leuchanka, for example, saying it would be good to use both.

– In social studies, the computer is better because you can write more information in dot form. But in math or physics, it is easier to write formulas by hand.

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Finns live longer than ever before

Published yesterday 7:39
– By Editorial Staff
Women in Finland live longer than men everywhere, with the largest difference in Kainuu and the smallest in Central Ostrobothnia.
2 minute read

In 2024, life expectancy in Finland reached new record levels. Children born in Åland have the highest life expectancy in the entire country.

Finnish boys born today are expected to live to 79.6 years old, while girls are expected to reach 84.8 years. This is according to fresh statistics from Statistics Finland, the country’s national statistical institute.

This represents an increase of 0.7 years for boys and 0.6 years for girls compared to the previous year.

In Åland, an autonomous Finnish archipelago in the Baltic Sea, life expectancy is the highest in all of Finland. During the period 2022–2024, life expectancy was 81.4 years for boys and 86.1 years for girls in the island region.

In Kymenlaakso, a region in southeastern Finland, life expectancy for boys was 77.2 years, while Lapland had the lowest figure for girls at 83.2 years. However, it’s worth noting that in provinces with smaller populations, variations in life expectancy between years are greater than in larger provinces, says Joni Rantakari, senior actuary at Statistics Finland, in a press release.

Married people live longer

Women have higher life expectancy than men everywhere in the country. The difference is greatest in Kainuu, a region in central Finland, where women live more than six years longer, while the gap is smallest in Central Ostrobothnia at just under three and a half years.

Marital status also plays a significant role in life expectancy. Married men are expected to live eight years longer than unmarried men, while the corresponding difference for women is nearly six years.

These differences have been roughly the same for several years, with the exception of a temporary decrease in 2023, says Rantakari.

Finland was a European model – now homelessness is rising again

Welfare collapse

Published 18 October 2025
– By Editorial Staff
Getting off the streets is extremely difficult once you end up there.
3 minute read

Finland has long been a model in the fight against homelessness, but now the trend is reversing.

For the first time since 2012, the number of homeless people is increasing – and street homelessness among young people is rising sharply.

Julius Virtavuori has lived without permanent housing for over two decades. When Yle (Finnish public broadcaster) meets him at the Tupa supported housing facility in Helsinki, Finland, he reflects on his situation.

— It’s quite a long time. I think these are probably the last years I’ll be in this situation. There are apartments in Finland after all.

The hardest part is the feeling of lacking goals, he tells them.

— You take one day at a time. There’s nothing to build your life on long-term. And the side effects that homelessness brings – a certain use of intoxicants. That boom is long past for me, now I just take it easy.

Successful model under pressure

Julius’s situation is not unique, but Finland has for many years worked systematically to reduce homelessness. The country has been a pioneer in Europe, primarily through the so-called “Housing First principle”.

The model means that homeless people first receive their own apartment with a rental contract, and then support services tailored to individual needs. Instead of requiring people to first solve their social or health problems to qualify for housing, the order is reversed – housing comes first. The approach has received broad international attention and shown good results.

But according to a recent report from the Housing Finance and Development Centre of Finland (formerly ARA), the trend has been broken. For the first time since 2012, homelessness is increasing again.

At the end of 2024, 3,806 homeless people were registered in Finland. Particularly alarming is the increase in rough sleeping – people sleeping outdoors, in stairwells, or in temporary shelters. A total of 649 people lived under these conditions, which is 230 more than the previous year.

However, the figures are only indicative, as homelessness is difficult to measure exactly. A person who sleeps at an acquaintance’s place one night may be forced to sleep on the street or in a stairwell the next night.

“Very alarming”

Emergency housing units report a sharp increase in young people falling outside society’s support measures and being forced to sleep on the street.

Jussi Lehtonen, service manager at the organization Vailla vakinaista asuntoa (Without Permanent Housing), has worked with homelessness issues for over 30 years. He sees the increasing youth homelessness as particularly worrying.

— It’s very alarming, because young people have their whole lives ahead of them. It shows for years afterward if they end up in that situation. And it would be very important to get them out of that situation quickly, says Lehtonen.

He believes that homelessness is often a consequence of too few affordable homes combined with cuts in benefit systems, which has made it harder for people with small incomes to manage financially.

— Ending up on the street is harmful in many different ways. For some, homelessness becomes chronic. The social network is reformed, and you have quite a lot to do with people who are on the street. Anyone understands that’s not good, Lehtonen states.

Nigerians flock to tax-funded Finnish culinary education

Published 8 October 2025
– By Editorial Staff
The majority of students in Vamia's international culinary program come from Asia and Africa.
2 minute read

The vocational school Vamia in Vaasa, Finland receives thousands of applications annually from Africa and Asia for its free culinary education program.

Of this year’s 4,059 applications, nearly half came from Nigeria, and now the Finnish government wants the education to become fee-based for non-European students.

Ebuka Mbanugo, 33, from Nigeria already has a degree in accounting from his home country. But that degree hasn’t been of much use to him in his hometown of Lagos, he explains. Instead, he chose to move to Finland to study on Vamia’s international culinary program.

The education is free of charge – that is, financed by Finnish taxpayers.

— Honestly, I wouldn’t be able to afford to pay a fee for my studies, he tells Yle.

He used his savings to travel to Finland and has received financial help from his family to build a life here.

Majority from Africa and Asia

In the practice kitchen at Vamia, the majority of students come from Asia and Africa. Of this year’s over 4,000 applications, 1,962 came from Nigeria, and overall the number of applications from outside the EU has increased dramatically in recent years.

Last year, over 12,200 people from countries outside Europe studied at Finnish vocational schools and 4,700 at upper secondary schools.

Principal Åsa Stenbacka says she doesn’t know exactly why the school receives so many applications from outside Europe, but she assumes that the free education plays a decisive role. It takes three people a full week to go through all the applications.

€7,000 per student

Each graduated restaurant chef provides Vamia with approximately €7,000 through the tax-funded state subsidy system. The government’s proposal means that students from outside Europe would have to pay this amount themselves to finance their education.

— This will significantly affect the number of applicants, says Stenbacka, who argues that both the school and companies that need workers will be affected.

She points out that many students already work alongside their studies to manage financially.

— If they also have to pay a fee of €7,000, it will become unsustainable for them, she continues.

About 75 percent of graduates find jobs in Finland’s restaurant industry. Some move to the capital region, Lapland, or Åland. At the same time, unemployment has increased in Finland in recent years, and the restaurant industry is notorious for its low wages and high staff turnover.

“The economy is strained”

Education Minister Anders Adlercreutz explains that a fee for foreign students is a way to save money for the state.

— At the beginning of the government term, the government made an assessment that a fee could be appropriate, since the economy is strained, he states.

He also highlights the problem of upper secondary schools and vocational schools attracting foreign students, often minors living without guardians in Finland.

Apprenticeship education, where students study in combination with work, will remain free of charge going forward.

Gold rush in eastern Finland – billions await below ground

Published 4 October 2025
– By Editorial Staff
Gold is seen as a safe investment during uncertain times – its value has remained stable for centuries and the price is now breaking records almost daily.
2 minute read

Deposits believed to contain gold worth several billion euros have been discovered in eastern Finland. Mining company Endomines is now planning a massive expansion and aims to become a significant global gold producer.

In the easternmost part of Finland, just a few dozen kilometers from the Russian border, large gold deposits have raised hopes of an imminent gold rush. Record-high gold prices and new promising discoveries are giving Finnish mining company Endomines a bright outlook for the future.

— I believe in gold. There’s enormous potential here that hasn’t been exploited yet. We’re finding new promising deposits all the time, says the company’s CEO Kari Vyhtinen to Finnish public broadcaster Yle.

The latest major discovery is the Ukko deposit in the municipality of Ilomantsi, where gold occurs in connection with an enormous iron formation that is seven kilometers long. The deposit is part of the so-called Karelian gold line, a 40-kilometer-long area in Ilomantsi’s greenstone belt.

According to Bo Långbacka, a specialist expert at the Geological Survey of Finland, the Finnish bedrock is fully comparable to the rich ore areas in Canada and Australia. He believes that Finland, from that perspective, has Europe’s best conditions for gold extraction.

Seven-fold production increase planned

Currently, Endomines knows of approximately half a million troy ounces of gold (about 15.5 tons) in its area, but the goal is significantly higher than that.

— In five years, we should ideally know of two million troy ounces of gold. Our gold production could then amount to 100,000 troy ounces, Vyhtinen continues.

This would mean a seven-fold production increase, and with today’s gold price, which is around €106 per gram, such production would be worth approximately €330 million annually.

1,200 meters underground

Endomines currently operates two mines in Ilomantsi – the Pampalo mine and the Hosko mine. At the Pampalo mine, work is now being conducted at a depth of 900 meters, and by 2032, operations will be 1.2 kilometers underground.

The company invests four to six million euros annually in prospecting to find new gold deposits. Operations are growing rapidly – the company has about a hundred employees and recently hired 20 new staff members.

Ahead of autumn’s test drilling at the Ukko deposit, the CEO says the excitement keeps him awake at night.

— It’s so exciting and thrilling to wait for the results, says Vyhtinen.

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