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University Continuing Education in Finland
P. Kess 1, O. Tuomi 2
1 University of Oulu Continuing Education Centre, Oulu, Finland
2
Finnish Council of Directors of Centres for Continuing Higher Education, Tampere, Finland
Abstract. Statistics show that half of the adult population of Finland is engaged in study at some educational institution. The desire among Finns for education is an internationally interesting feature. At governmental level educational policy is considered an important aid in international competition. The concept of lifelong learning is supported in Finnish society by empirical evidence, even if the high appreciation in the social hierarchy for qualifications should also be mentioned as a characteristic feature. The following breakdown describes the organizational levels and forms in which Finnish adult education is realized: liberal education, basic vocational education, education in culture and exercise, basic general education and higher education; Continuing Education (CE) and open university teaching come under the last-mentioned. In the research on universities, University Continuing Education (UCE) and the centres for CE have been seen as ways and means of opening up the universities. The 1980's were a decisive time in the growth of CE, and the majority of the university centres for CE currently operational were founded in the 1980's. Adult education has taken its place as one of the main tasks of the universities alongside research and teaching based on research. CE is the point of intersection of new research findings and practical working life, at which the level of knowledge of graduates in working life is brought up to date and in which university education is offered to new groups of students and client sectors. Through the university's contacts to the surrounding society new problems are identified and new ways of resolving them are sought for the teaching and research activities of the university. The application of research findings and their conversion into products thus constitutes a reciprocal interaction. Adult education at the university can be described as an entity having seven complementary areas: professional CE, employment training, open university, regional and organizational development projects, development of teaching materials, research and publication, career services. The underlying principle in all modes of action is the notion of "modern learning environments". There has been a continuous increase in integration among CE, open university teaching and the basic teaching of university schools. There is to be seen in the adult education of the universities an increasing component of international co-operation. The essential principles of activities have been accessibility of teaching, learning habits of adults, development of learning outcomes and application of learning. CE has also been a pioneer of new teaching methods. UCE has been defined as a business activity which must be paid for. It is probable that in the future, modes of implementation tailored to the individual needs of students and clients will increase. In the future, students will be able to exploit the teaching offered by universities throughout the world, while Finnish education will be offered to an increasing extent for international consumption via the Internet. The expansion of the opportunities for internationality are decisively linked to Finland's policy vis a vis information society strategy, where an effort is being made to put Finland in the lead in the use of network-based education and research services. UCE maintains a strong presence in this strategy. For the most part CE activity is multi-disciplinary non-degree education. The intensity of internationalization and the European dimension have increased considerably since Finland joined the EU in 1995. Apart from and also partly in relation to the EU projects there are also what are referred to as co-operation projects in the surrounding area, Russia and the Baltic countries, which have come to be an important element in the routine functioning of the centres for CE. The financial changes in the universities have created further pressure to use CE as a cash cow. Important questions that remain to be studied are changes in working life, clients, the European dimension, the progress in information technology, and shaping the profile of the university component.
1. The Current State of University Continuing Education 1.1. History
Statistics show that over half of the adult population of Finland is engaged in study at some educational institution. The desire among Finns for education is an internationally interesting feature, while at governmental level educational policy is considered an important aid in international competition (Parjanen, 1994). The concept of lifelong learning is supported in Finnish society by empirical evidence, even if the high appreciation in the social hierarchy for qualifications should also be mentioned as a characteristic feature (Parjanen, 1992,
1993). The following breakdown describes the organizational levels and forms in which Finnish adult education is realized (Parjanen, 1997): (i) - liberal education, (ii) - basic vocational education, (iii) - education in culture and exercise, (iv) - basic general education, (v) - higher education. Continuing education and open university teaching come under the last-mentioned.
In the research on universities, university continuing education and the centres for continuing education have been seen as ways and means of opening up the universities. The first continuing education courses were organized at the end of the 19th century when the University of Helsinki organized what were called holiday courses for junior school teachers. At that time the university engaged in liberal education for citizens by sending its students to the provinces to lecture and give presentations.
The founding of the summer universities at the beginning of the 20th century was a step towards opening up the universities. Before the Second World War there were two summer universities in Finland, in the towns of Jyvaskyla and Turku. They concentrated chiefly on continuing education for teachers, but the principles already evinced the philosophy of the open university. In the 1950's and 1960's the summer university institution expanded, and there was a desire to redress the imbalance in the availability of university-level education between different regions and to lay the foundations of a regional university network. The absence in the Finnish system of a summer term also spoke in favour of such an arrangement. It was summer university activity which largely created the preconditions for the development of the open university in its present form. Between the summer universities and the centres for continuing education of the universities there still persists a cooperating organization in the arranging of open university teaching (Parjanen, 1997).
The founding of the universities' own centres for continuing education beginning in the 1970's may be seen as the 'second wave' of the expansion of the universities. The expansion of continuing education followed the phase in which the university institution expanded in the 1960's and 1970's and new universities were founded, partly through regional objectives, to form a nationwide network (Hasu, 1993).
The expansion of continuing education is also linked to an increase in the significance of adult education in the 1980's. This era saw the permanent organization of planning and development in adult education. The 1980's were a decisive time in the growth of continuing education, and the majority of the university centres for continuing education currently operational were founded in the 1990's.
Fig. 1. Development of the number of university centres for continuing education.
Adult education has taken its place as one of the main tasks of the universities alongside research and teaching based on research. This can be documented not only through statistical measurements but also through documents on university policy and, for example, through the agreements between the universities and the Ministry of Education.
1.2. Definition and guiding philosophy of university adult education
The aim of continuing education is the further development of the professional competences of university graduates. Activities include both the dissemination of new research findings and the students' active pursuit of knowledge and also the search for new modes of action.
The objective of employment training is to improve the employment rate by offering the unemployed those competences which increase their chances of gaining employment or of improving their job security.
The objective of open university teaching is to offer the opportunity for university study regardless of the educational background of the students (Seppala, 1994).
Continuing education is the point of intersection of new research findings and practical working life, at which the level of knowledge of graduates in working life is brought up to date and in which university education is offered to new groups of students and client sectors. Through the university's contacts to the surrounding society new problems are identified and new ways of resolving them are sought for the teaching and research activities of the university. The application of research findings and their conversion into products thus constitutes a reciprocal interaction.
Adult education at the university can be described as an entity having seven complementary areas:
1. professional continuing education,
2. employment training,
3. open university,
4. regional and organizational development projects,
5. development of teaching materials,
6. research and publication,
7. careers services.
The main UCE modes of activity have been the first three of these, but the development of activity could be described as a qualitative change from arranger of courses to expert in the planning, development and application of education (Seppálá, 1994). The underlying principle in all modes of action is the notion of 'modern learning environments', which is comparable to the internationally used ODL concept.
Modes of action are integrated and dovetail in with each other so that the education and development needs of students and clients from the organizations can be better accommodated. There has been a continuous increase in integration among continuing education, open university teaching and the basic teaching of the university faculties. In the strategic plans of the universities there has been an increasing trend to perceive adult education as one of the universities' basic functions. Making a distinction between the forms of adult education is largely a technicality, not an operational issue.
In the activities of the centres for continuing education the conversion of research findings into education rests on the notion that planning of education brings added value to the application of research findings, which enhances the efficacy of education in improving working life. In the planning process there is an encounter of new research findings and scientific expertise, clients' needs, development of the learning process and administration, blending of perspectives and the combination of these into an education event.
There is to be seen in the adult education of the universities an increasing component of international cooperation which now concerns all seven areas noted above.
The essential principles of activities have been accessibility of teaching, learning habits of adults, development of learning outcomes and application of learning. Continuing education has also been a pioneer of new teaching methods.
1.3. Outline of the higher education system in Finland
There are 20 universities in Finland, of which ten are multidisciplinary and six are specialist universities (universities of technology, the schools of economics) and four are concerned with the arts. It is worth setting this number of universities against the population of Finland, namely 5 million.
All these universities are state-run, they all also engage in research and all have a centre of continuing education. The network of universities covers the entire country well. In the 1960's and 1970's there was a major expansion of the university institution. The economic recession of the 1990's has limited the growth in resources for the universities, but even at this time government has allocated extra resources for adult university education. The financial resources of the universities, however, would appear to remain stable at the present time although there is no prospect of growth in the foreseeable future.
A student who passes the Finnish matriculation examination is eligible for higher education. Since 1991 college and higher vocational level diplomas awarded by vocational institutions have also provided the same eligibility. The universities decide on their own entrance requirements. Admission is based on an entrance examination or school certificates, usually both. Entrance examinations are compulsory in nearly all fields of study.
Students at Finnish universities do not have to pay for tuition or for taking a degree. Students can apply for financial assistance from public funds. Three forms of financial assistance are available to university students: grants, housing allowances and loans. The arrangements for students in the adult education systems of the universities are not so clearcut.
In the 1990's the administrations of the universities have acquired more decision-making powers in the ways they allocate their resources and the dialogue between the Ministry of Education and the universities is
directed by result agreements between the Ministry and the universities. In recent education policy the debate on the quality of teaching and research and efficiency of activity and their evaluation have been prominent.
New legislation for establishing polytechnics in Finland was passed in 1991. This reform aimed at simplifying the entire vocational education system and setting up a distinct non-university sector of higher education. The main disciplines in polytechnics are technology, commerce and health care.
The education system can be described through the following diagram
Adult education
Higher
Upper Secondary
Universitie s
Upper secondary school
Polyt echnics
Secondary level vocational studies
Lower Secondary Primary
Comprehensive school
Preprimary education
Fig. 2. Structure of the education system in Finland.
Finnish university degrees correspond to the Bachelor's, Master's and doctor's degrees. In most fields students can also take an optional Licentiate's degree before going on to a doctorate. Degree reform is in progress, and up to the end of the 1980's most studies led to a Master's degree. Bachelor's degrees existed in only a few fields of study. Professional postgraduate degrees, specialist degrees, are awarded in medicine, dentistry and veterinary medicine. Outside this degree system, specialist training is given in continuing education programmes for which the universities (centres for continuing education) award a diploma or certificate.
In the early 1990's attention focused on evaluating the instruction leading to the Master's degree and the degree structure itself. These evaluations led to a new degree structure in nearly all fields of study, with most fields reinstating a Bachelor's level degree as well as more broadly based curricula. In postgraduate education universities have established joint programmes leading to the doctoral degree. A new system of four-year graduate schools will intensify this education. Teacher education and training takes place at the universities (Ministry of Education, 1996; National Board of Education, 1995).
1.4. The centres for continuing education
University adult education is implemented mainly through the centres for continuing education, whose total number of students annually is 170,000. Of this total rather less than 100,000 are students of continuing education and over 70,000 are students of the open university. Every Finnish university has a centre for continuing education, in addition to which some universities have branches of these at other locations and continuing education activity is in independent institutes, mostly in the provincial centres.
The number of students studying in the faculties of the universities is 135,000, thus, the number of those in the centres for continuing education and the open university is greater by 26%.
Table 1. Student numbers at the centres for continuing education in Finland
Year 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995
Continuing education 62,000 71,000 78,500 96,000 99,000
Open university 43,000 50,000 60,500 68,000 73,000
Table 2. Student numbers at CEC of the Oulu university
Year 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995
Continuing education 3471 3015 3332 4206 3695
Open university 3573 3406 3796 4590 5265
% of the national total CEC 5.6 4.2 4.2 4.4 3.7
% of the national total OU 8.3 6.8 6.3 6.8 7.2
The centres of continuing education are departments of the university having an administration of their own independent of the faculties. They are nevertheless a part of the university and of academic activity. At the present moment there is one university centre for continuing education which functions as a private company.
In relation to the volume of their activities the centres have few full-time teachers, in all less than 100. Full-time teachers are more to be found in the open university. The instructors are teachers and researchers of the universities and experts from working life who work as part-time teachers for the centres of continuing education. The personnel of the centres for continuing education amount to some 1,200 and in Oulu about 70. The total personnel of the universities is some 23,000 (KOTA, 1996) and in Oulu about 3,000.
The centres for continuing education have become expert organizations whose work includes a good deal of analysing, complex problem-solving and planning. The level of the personnel's education is high and the organization's dependence on its personnel considerable, from which it follows that people are difficult to replace.
On the education markets the centres for continuing education assume a profile according to the nature of their own university. There are differences between the universities for the arts, the specialized universities (the schools of economics, universities of technology) and the smaller and larger multidisciplinary universities. This is significant in an examination of the education marketing of the centres for continuing education. Activity in continuing education cannot be approached as a monolith disregarding differences between universities.
1.5. Education offered
The following table serves to illustrate the volume of education offered, and also the shift in focus to lengthy courses and programmes in continuing education (KOTA, 1996).
Table 3. Number of courses and programmes in Finland
Year 1991 1993 1995
Short (under 5 days) 1285 1366 1785
Long (over 6 days) 321 615 718
Programmes in continuing education 374 782 1177
Table 4. Number of courses and programmes at Oulu CEC
Year 1991 1993 1995
All programmes 70 99 121
% of the national total 3.5 3.6 3.3
Programmes in continuing education have included PD and MBA programmes and are increasingly based on individual study plans.
In professional continuing education two thirds of the students are studying subjects in education, the behavioural sciences, social sciences or the humanities and one third - commercial subjects, natural sciences or technical subjects.
The multidisciplinary universities dominate the volume of the teaching offered. This development has persisted despite the fact that the Ministry of Education has also commissioned employment training to be carried out at the specialized universities (e.g. the schools of economics and universities of technology) and at the arts universities.
Continuing education by the centres of the universities has been defined as a business activity which must be paid for. Nevertheless, the public funding allocated at the beginning of the 1990s has increased because, owing to the economic recession, the activities of the centres for continuing education have assumed importance in employment policy by virtue of their capability to raise the level of education in the population, because they are resources for lifelong education and also an investment in national competitiveness.
It is probable that in the future modes of implementation tailored to the individual needs of students and clients will increase. In the future students will be able to exploit the teaching offered by universities throughout the world, while Finnish education will be offered to an increasing extent for international consumption via the Internet. The technical resources for international 'programme policy' are already good, but cultural considerations render it necessary to refine further the solution models. The expansion of the opportunities for internationally are decisively linked to Finland's policy vis a vis information society strategy, where an effort is being made to put Finland in the lead in the use of network-based education and research services. Adult education at the universities maintains a strong presence in this strategy.
The general picture of adult education at the universities reflects its firm association with their other basic functions. In actual practice this association has recently become clearly closer.
1.6. Functions in society
In Finnish education policy continuing education is perceived, in keeping with the conception of the Nordic welfare state, to have more general functions in society than a mere education business. Through the perspective of the welfare state conflicting elements may also be identified: on the one hand, education is being offered in an attempt to promote equality, yet the generally recognized accumulation of education has in part the effect of promoting inequality.
The function of continuing education as regards education and social policy is to bring up to date the knowhow of the academically educated in the population and to ensure the updating of the knowledge of those who have taken the universities' own degrees. Education is not only concerned with updating restricted professional knowledge, but also with the up-to-date application of scientific research and methods of scientific thinking. Keeping the knowledge base up to date creates the infrastructure for the further development of society, which is of greater significance than the study and practice of professional skills and techniques.
Education arranged for reasons of employment policy has been one of the most important functions of continuing education as regards employment policy. At the beginning of the 1990's there was a dramatic increase in unemployment while simultaneously there was naturally a decrease in demand for education from the markets. In all probability the rapid implementation of education and employment training projects would have been impossible without the resources of the centres for continuing education. Government decided to solve the problem of youth unemployment by increasing the number of places in education, which occasioned a clear change in the nature of the open university from its former role in adult education when, for reasons of unemployment policy, it was extended as a means of educating youth. For reasons of employment policy lengthy courses have been arranged in an attempt to improve the qualifications of unemployed graduates on the markets. In form this employment training is in keeping with programmes arranged for paying clients, but the costs are borne by either the Ministry of Education or the Ministry of Labour and are free to participants.
The careers services developed as the first aid for getting new graduates into employment operate in the centres for continuing education of many universities. This is integrated action with the faculties, study administration and centres for continuing education. Those careers advice units which are not arranged in the centres for continuing education avail themselves of the services the centres can provide. These careers services have already established their position as a form of service, and will surely continue to be an integral part of the universities in the future.
The centres for continuing education are actively involved in regional development projects. In regional projects continuing education and research frequently join forces and are instruments of regional networking with the mission of social development work. Many of the branches of the centres for continuing education have developed as a result of regional and local initiative when an attempt has been made to bring academia into the infrastructure for regional development.
Activity in continuing education has had a shot in the arm through EU structural funds. The resources available through the structural funds have quantitatively become increasingly significant. The EU projects funding systems have several sources and interest groups involved: the municipalities, the region, the university, the Council of State. EU structural fund projects are likewise mostly concerned with social missions. In international education and development projects the position of Finland as the gateway to Russia and the Baltic states has been much discussed.
1.7. The open university and ODL
Open university education corresponds to regular undergraduate courses as officially confirmed by the faculties as regards contents, teaching and requirements. There are no formal educational requirements for admission.
Open university students cannot take a complete degree. However, should they gain admission to degree programmes in the faculties their achievements in the open university are accredited. In the centres for continuing education there are efforts to make getting a degree (Bachelor's or Master's) easier.
The Finnish open university can be characterized as a binary institution. Courses are organized by the centres for continuing education and education takes two forms: contact teaching and distance teaching. In contact teaching instruction is by university teachers in the evenings or at weekends at the university or neighbouring adult education institutions. Instruction is largely a duplication of conventional university teaching. Open university courses are also arranged in collaboration with other adult education institutions and summer universities. In this network the distance teaching method is intensively used and teaching is offered in some 200 municipalities in cooperation with some 300 colleges. These colleges provide facilities and the basic equipment needed in distance teaching. They are also in charge of local administrative arrangements and payment of the local tutors' salaries. The universities for their part are responsible for the quality of education, course design, production of materials, distance learning between the university and study groups and tutor training (Rinta-Kanto, Vaherva, 1995).
Among the open university students' objectives vary a great deal: some are seeking professional achievement, some are pursuing a hobby. Some are aiming at a place on a degree programme in a faculty, some are studying out of love for learning.
The most popular subjects in open university activity have been education, social sciences and humanities, but the open university has in recent times expanded to include engineering, natural sciences, economic sciences and arts.
The scope of university instruction was enlarged significantly in 1993 by the removal, for reasons of employment policy of the minimum age of 25. The aim of the reform was to alleviate the problems of youth unemployment by offering young people the opportunity to take university courses after the matriculation examination and also offering this opportunity to those students who failed to gain admission to a university. Of the students of the open university some 30% are under 25. This development has given rise to a great deal of criticism from students admitted to the faculties and from the student union. Students who have got through the numerus clausus system and inside the Golden Gate (Parjanen, 1994) feel that places to study in the open university are a threat to their own studies and subsequent job opportunities.
One third of the teaching of the open university is given as distance teaching using to an ever greater extent electronic communications as a means of teaching and learning with the use of tutoring services an attempt to ensure the effectiveness of teaching.
The open university has been a pioneer in distance teaching including audio and video and Cd-rom-based teaching methods.
1.8. The competitive situation
In Finland at the present time there is a very large amount of adult education on offer through numerous institutions and organizations and also private education entrepreneurs. There are at least 1,000 organizations in Finland offering adult education. According to a survey (Opetusministerio, 1996b), however, it would appear that the competition situation of the activities of the university centres for continuing education and other organizers is somewhat exaggerated: the continuing education offered by the university centres for continuing education is based on the core expertise of the universities and this university connection is seen as a strong competitive weapon. In the future it is probable that the stamp of the university institution will only become stronger in continuing education. The appearance on the scene of the polytechnics as providers of continuing education will affect the competitive situation, but this justifies the need for the centres of continuing education to shape their profiles more clearly and to rely on the core expertise of the universities.
As regards pricing of education there are certain uncharted factors in the competition situation: in certain fields the scientific departments of the universities also offer continuing education so giving rise to internal competition. The university centres for continuing education set their prices according to business principles, while the pricing policies of the scientific departments vary so that the same education may be offered in the same university differently priced. In the competitive situation of education discussions are being held and no doubt clarity will be achieved on rules of play within the university institution. The considerable subsidies received by the polytechnics, for example, will inevitably come under critical scrutiny as they distort the competitive situation between the universities and the polytechnics.
1.9. The university centres for continuing education and the degree system
For the most part continuing education activity is multi-disciplinary non-degree education. The statute on the system for university degrees stipulates that 'a diploma or certificate shall be issued for specialist studies which supplement the degree system and which are organized as extensive programmes in continuing education'. Such specialist studies include PD and M.B.A. programmes for persons who are currently exercising a profession.
The development in specialist programmes has approached the implementation in continuing education of basic and postgraduate studies. The programmes are controlled in form and also in this reminiscent of degree studies. Specialist programmes are used, for example, as parts of postgraduate (Licentiate, doctoral) studies. These programmes also offer a welcome alternative to those whose professional advancement may require a second Master's degree. Thus, specialist programmes channel pressures on intake in faculty study and direct the need for degree study among adults into a more flexible form.
In the relation of specialist programmes and postgraduate studies - mostly for the Licentiate's degree -there are certain uncharted elements: as they are scientific postgraduate degrees, study for Licentiate's and doctoral degrees is free of charge, whereas specialist programmes must be paid for. In some areas, however, it has been seen fit to include professional specialization, when the end result is reminiscent of a specialist programme. Likewise the education of a medical practitioner (which requires a Licentiate's degree even before the legal right to practice is granted) to become a specialist is degree education, although it embodies a considerable component of professional continuing education.
From the perspective of payment this view is significant: from the point of view of the individual to be educated there is no equality between the various academic fields of professional continuing education; the need for payment is different in different disciplines depending, for one thing, on whether the field is taken to include professional specialization leading to the Licentiate's degree.
In the 1990's there has been a marked increase in lengthy continuing education programmes, and it has been policy to have a clear move in the direction of long programmes with degree-type components without being able to formally refer to these as degrees. Such programmes are under way at all the university centres for continuing education. The role of studies for specialization is gaining further strength when the system of registration referred to in the statute or the system of accrediting is currently being realized. The register of PD specialist programmes is to be added to the evaluation of quality in education.
1.10. Funding arrangements
The funding of continuing education is based on the course fees, contracts with enterprises or administrative offices. Government subsidies strengthen the education in sciences and in programmes difficult to sell at market prices but which from the education policy perspective are important to the development of society. Considerations of employment policy have led to considerable government financing of continuing education and open university activities, but instead of subsidies, it is better to say that government buys education services from CE centres.
The centres for continuing education generate more than one third of the total income from all commercial services provided by the universities. Financial arrangements vary, but an average of 58% of the total funding comes from commercial services. University budgets account for 12% and Ministry of Education allocations for 21%. Local government subsidies account for 9%, but are paid to only a handful of institutions.
The variation in the structure of funding is seen in the fact that the share of income from payments is greatest in the universities of technology and the schools of economics and business administration (70%). The clientele in these fields consists largely of enterprises and their personnel having purchasing power. The main source of income for the arts universities' centres of continuing education is allocations from the Ministry of Education, which account for 40% of their total funding. Revenue from fees from the arts universities' centres for continuing education is 37%. Clients in the centres of continuing education in the arts have traditionally been less capable of meeting all the costs of such education themselves. The costs of education in artistic fields are, moreover, partly higher than others because of small group size in these subjects. In the multidisciplinary universities' centres for continuing education the share of revenue from fees is on average 60% of total financing (Opetusministerio, 1996b).
The activities of the open university are mostly funded by the allocations made by the Ministry of Education to the universities. Tuition fees cover only study administration costs such as information, supervision, study materials and similar items. Fees vary according to teaching and teaching arrangements, but in keeping with the aims of equality in education efforts are made to keep the fees required of students to a modest level. The students of the open university are entitled to government support in their studies.
1.11. Quality and evaluation
In the matter of quality evaluation the centres of continuing education differ from the faculties in that evaluation is built-in through client feedback. In the faculties, by contrast, quality thinking in degree education is entirely new. Quality evaluation at the open university is likewise in its infancy.
Work on quality systems is under development at several centres of continuing education. In some it is already in use. The basis has been the criteria of quality awards, but they have been applied relatively freely in keeping with the organization's own development objectives and strategies. The quality system is conceived of more from the standpoint of development of activities and leadership than as a system of control per se. In the quality assessment of education projects use is also made of feedback from clients and evaluations made in conjunction with client organizations.
Evaluations of given universities which are concerned with the functioning of the entire university or with certain scientific fields have been made during the period 1992-1995 using foreign experts. The OECD has also made an evaluation of the Finnish university institution (OECD, 1995).
The Evaluation Council for Higher Education appointed by the Ministry of Education and composed of academic personnel from the universities and representatives of the polytechnics has the mission to act as an expert body in quality evaluation.
The Ministry of Education also evaluates the results of the universities and uses this evaluation as a method to control and direct the resources allocated to the universities. The Ministry also evaluates the quality of teaching, efficiency and effectiveness and originality of ideas.
The frequency of evaluation is clearly on the increase and individual universities have initiated their own quality assessment and development projects (see, for example, Hyvarinen et al., 1996).
1.12. Strategic planning
The centres for continuing education have initiated discussion on the universities' adult education strategies. Some universities have prepared an adult education strategy in which the implementation and objectives of adult education strategy are assessed from the standpoint of the entire university, not merely as the strategy of the centres for continuing education.
1.13. The status of UCE
There is also a great deal of public discussion on the universities' centres for continuing education. This includes some critical trends, however, the belief in Finland in the importance of adult education to the development of society is firm.
The role of the centres for continuing education in regional development projects and in the creation of networks known as centres of expertise has been a regionally significant and acknowledged factor. At regional level there is a firm conviction about university innovations.
In recent decades adult education has carried more weight within the universities and in society. The University of Tampere Institute for Extension Studies, for example, was chosen as a centre of excellence in 1995 and 1996.
1.14. The virtual open university
Teaching is already carried out on the networks to the extent that it is possible to complete certain credit courses at the open university without setting foot on the university campus. At the time of writing the initial stages of the implementation of the virtual open university project are under way. It is the intention to network the advisory services of the open university nationwide on the Internet and later to expand this into a nationwide tool for offering programmes.
The virtual UCE will be realized more widely than as only the open university. Education on the network will also be connected to professional continuing education and programme development.
1.15. The European dimension in the UCE
The strategic principles connected to EU education are applied in Finnish continuing education. Among these there are numerous principles which were incorporated in Finnish continuing education before the EU era. It could possibly be stated that the Nordic conception of democracy actually preceded those views expressed in the programme texts of the EU as regards equality of opportunity in education. Although the firm connection of the centres for continuing education with business life is essential, it is a positive thing that the EU principles for continuing education have expanded from the function of instrumental economy to have a more comprehensive profile in social policy.
There are ten EUCEN members among the Finnish universities (appendix). Six Finnish universities belong to the EuroStudyCentre network. The membership of Finnish centres of continuing education (or their parent universities) includes the following international associations
EUCEN European University Continuing Education Network - http://www.fe.up.pt/eucen/
EADTU European Association of Distance Teaching Universities -http://www.eadtu.ouh.nl/eadtu/homepage.html
ELLI The European Lifelong Learning Initiative
EFMD European Foundation for Management Development
ESREA European Society for Research on the Education of Adults - http://www.helsinki.fi/jarj/esrea/
ECLO The European Consortium for Learning Organization - http://eclo.com/
EDEN Electronic Distance Education Network - http://eden.scbe.on.ca/
ICDE International Council for Distance Education - http://www.cde.psu.edu/ICDE/
EAIE European Association for International Education - http://www.eaie.nl/eaie.html
SEFI Societé Européenne pour la Formation des Ingénieurs -http://sparccom.ntb.ch/SEFI/Index.html#Index
Education cooperation includes work with the following international organizations
ESSAM European Summer School for Advanced Management
EADRI European Association for Development and Research Institutions
MPI Meeting Planners International
The intensity of internationalization and the European dimension have increased considerably since Finland joined the EU in 1995. In many cases education for internationality has been integrated into the programmes. National education products frequently include teaching and practical periods abroad and in such cases the partner is often a foreign opposite number. The number of foreign teachers on courses organized in Finland has also increased.
Training programmes which have been transferred directly from other European countries are relatively little used, and not very systematically, as pilot projects. With the products of the EuroStudyCentre network there has been participation in complete programmes. The preparation of teaching material in foreign languages has delayed the programmes to be offered for international use. In the Finnish universities teaching with English as the medium of instruction has clearly increased, but material for distance teaching requires a considerable input owing to matters of translation and recognition of the demands of international application.
In the centres for continuing education there are the SOCRATES (COMENIUS & LINGUA), LEONARDO, ADAPT and TEMPUS projects.
2. Existing Good Practices in UCE
2.1. Funding
The system of financing from mixed sources combining public funds and funding received from the education markets through business activity has proved itself from the point of view of continuing education activity. On the one hand, it makes it possible to stay close to the markets while on the other it provides opportunities in sectors which are important from the standpoint of education policy where purchasing power at market prices is an impossibility. The system of financing has also made it possible to seek answers to problems relating to the change in working life and unemployment.
Government has given significant support, particularly to employment training and open university teaching. This has been influenced by the unemployment situation in Finland in the early 1990's. Admitting young people to open university teaching was a part of government policy in the 1990's.
Recent UNESCO publications emphasize that the financing structure of education should support the chance for everyone to have access to lifelong learning. In the case of the universities, this has been taken to require the opening up of university teaching to a wider student population. In this endeavour efforts have been made to remove the dividing line between basic teaching and continuing education and to replace these with the concept of lifelong learning. Lifelong learning also points the way to the concept of a learning society. The main mission of adult education is also seen to be opportunities for adults to improve themselves in other areas than professional expertise. In this way of thinking professional expertise should be rendered more broad and profound by as great a range as possible of liberal education. In Finnish adult education these aspects of
education policy are being put into practice, and the major expansion of the activities of the open university as of 1993 can in this respect be considered a success story.
2.2. The regional system and ODL
The Finnish university institution and with it the network of centres for continuing education is regionally comprehensive. This is significant for regional equality of educational opportunity and regional development projects and centres of expertise. The activities of the centres for continuing education continue to be key figures in serving the regional area. 'Europe of regions' thinking fits well into the structures of Finnish regional policy both in economics and culture.
Distance teaching and the accompanying cooperation organization between the universities and other colleges have been used to realize regional coverage by the open university. Through this system the larger universities have in practice expanded into a nationwide network university.
There is cooperation with the Finnish Broadcasting Company (TV and radio) in distance teaching
services.
Distance teaching has made it possible to reach a quantitatively and qualitatively greater number of clients and the meaning of distance in accessibility of education has clearly decreased. Learning processes have benefited from the tutoring systems of distance teaching.
2.3. The network of centres of continuing education
The establishment and activities of the Finnish Council of Directors of Centres for Continuing Higher Education has improved the transfer of information on the field and education of colleagues and has also served to further common interests. Cooperation between the Ministry of Education and the Council and open communication have also been positive development factors.
The centres for continuing education also operate in a situation of competition between centres which has served to further the formation of profiles.
2.4. Flexibility and tailormade education
Given that most of the continuing education does not carry any credit points, the centres are free to set up multidisciplinary, flexible programmes originating from the needs of working life. The system of credits in the faculties does not allow such flexibility or rapid reaction.
Development and consulting projects are carried out with the client organization in such a way that programmes are tailored to client needs, still keeping in mind the nature of the university and the university as a knowledge resource.
From the perspective of the individual client it is important that more individual study programmes are used as forms of giving education and these are supported through tutoring services in order to build up clients' study and employment programmes.
2.5. Production of teaching materials
Continuing education and open university teaching have been pioneers in teaching and learning material production. Instead of the teaching materials and frequently conventional methods used in the basic teaching of the faculties, an effort has been made for teaching materials in adult education. Some of the centres for continuing education have developed into major producers and publishers of textbooks and teaching materials. In adult education the teaching methods which have evolved have frequently transferred at a later stage to the degree teaching given in the faculties.
2.6. Capability in information technology
Today one of the leading infrastructural aims in Finnish educational and research policy is to develop new options in information technology. Finland already seems to be highly qualified in the field of high technology innovations. In government policy this is seen as the most important tool in making Finland into a qualified information society and this activity will receive funding in the future.
Of course, from the adult education point of view this is very positive, because the uses of new information systems have been in the focus of the interests of the centres for continuing education. Technical capability creates good preconditions for offering education internationally and for the networking of education programmes. The report of the CRE (CRE, 1996) also made a positive evaluation of the level of the Finnish information network and of the will of government to promote this further.
2.7. Marketing and client relations
In the centres for continuing education the importance of a client-centred approach has grown, and activities have become increasingly business-like in forming new client relationships, maintaining these, in marketing and in being service-minded. Education is seen as a comprehensive service involving a whole process as in business activities. Educating itself is not an isolated activity in the overall service. Well-aimed marketing, satisfying client needs and quality requirements are perceived as one core competence in activities. Ample attention is also paid to duration of client relationships and to serving existing clients in the long term. However, strategy in targeting of marketing and maintaining client relationships is a continuous development process and development project for those who produce educational services.
2.8. Learning at the workplace
Lengthy education programmes generally include either a period of practical training or that the student work for the further development of his/her own work organization, for example, by the choice of subject for theses and essays. In education for a specific organization the focus is generally on the further development of working practices when the connection between the education and the work done by the student plays a prominent role in the education.
At the present time there is in the planning stage the development of apprenticeship systems for academic fields, when the connection between work and study would be stronger than ever. So far such apprenticeship education has mostly been implemented in secondary level vocational studies.
2.9. Adult education strategies
It is to the advantage of continuing education and the open university that some universities have prepared and others are engaged in preparing strategies for their adult education. It is also advantageous in clarifying the discussion within the university on continuing education and the university's commitment to adult education. The dominant feature would appear to be that adult education is the concern of the university and not only the job of the centre for continuing education which organizes it.
2.10. The EU, Russia and the Baltic countries
In the universities and centres of continuing education Finland's membership in the European Union gave rise to an accelerating process to become involved in European joint projects in the fields of education and research. The EU regional development projects also concern the activities of the centres for CE. Apart from and also partly in relation to the EU projects there are also what are referred to as cooperation projects in the surrounding area, Russia and the Baltic countries, which have come to be an important element in the routine functioning of the centres for CE. The projects with Russia and the Baltic countries include education for managers of enterprises, college teachers and directors, personnel in the field of social and health care and programmes on realisation of equality.
2.11. PD programmes
Professional development programmes have been prominent among the production of lengthier education in the 1990's. Programmes are frequently multidisciplinary and intended to raise the participants' level of professional expertise and competence. Their basic concept is linked to the student's individual study plan: programmes are tailored to meet the needs of each student and to combine a scientific and professional approach.
2.12. Careers services
Careers services have been instrumental in setting up links between employers and young graduates who have just taken their master's degrees. In two and a half years the service has become a competitive channel for recruitment/job seeking. The service has brought into the university a forum in which those about to complete their studies and transfer to working life can refine and bring up to date those skills needed in working life, skills in job-seeking and knowledge of the labour markets. Activity takes the form of individual advice and group activity in which the most important thing is education training. Two and a half years earlier the universities were entirely unable to offer this service.
Activities began in the centres for continuing education when it was possible to take advantage of their knowledge of working life and networks. There may be differences in the way the service is operated, but the same elements recur regardless of the practical implementation.
3. Existing Problems with the UCE
3.1. Funding arrangements
The financial crises of the universities and the dominant ideology in economic policy have caused the allocations of the universities for continuing education to become smaller. There has been talk in Finland about privatization of the centres for continuing education, and in 1996 the Ministry of Education set up a workgroup to examine this. The workgroup came to the conclusion that widespread privatization was not to be advocated, but that the universities can privatize their activities if they consider it necessary in order to achieve a competitive advantage.
The financial crises in the universities have also created further pressure to use continuing education as a cash cow. There is an increased need for external financing throughout the university institution and in such a situation activities in continuing education might be seen as a means of bringing in more money for the activities of the rest of the university.
Reasons of finance have also aroused the interest of the faculties and scientific departments of the universities to organize continuing education without having any cooperation with the centres of continuing education. To some extent this goes on, but the strategic plans of the universities require that the division of labour within the universities would be made more clearcut and firm. Transferring continuing education to the scientific departments would probably be detrimental to the client-centred and multidisciplinary approach, and, indeed, to the basic tasks of the scientific departments themselves.
Problems in financing are indirectly linked to the polemic discussion which periodically takes place on the role of continuing education in the university. Within the universities there persists the notion that the centre for continuing education is something of a cuckoo in the nest, devouring resources, fattening itself up and depriving the scientific departments of their expertise.
Cash cow thinking can only cut down what the centres for continuing education can offer in the interests of making a quick profit, when the principles of educational policy stressing the updating of professional skills would be defeated. In any case more and more business-oriented features are coming into the centres for continuing education.
3.2. Degrees at the open university
It is not possible to take a degree at the open university. In order to complete a degree the student of the open university must become a full-time student in one of the faculties, and frequently through the normal entrance test, even though s/he may have completed a considerable number of credits at the open university. The chances of being accepted for a degree are limited by a strict numerus clausus and entrance to the universities (faculties) has been closed to the majority of applicants by the so-called Golden Gate (Parjanen, 1994). This has been found to be a problem in adult education and an unjustified obstacle (OECD, 1995). Moreover, an ever greater part of those accepted as faculty students via the entrance tests already has credits completed at the open university.
The Ministry of Education has required of the universities that they open up more clearly than before the opportunity for students of the open university to complete a degree. There has been progress in recent years, but much friction still persists (Opetusministerio, 1996a).
3.3. Financial aid for mature students and study while unemployed
There are problems inherent in the support system for people in adult education which stem from its complexity and discrepancies in the bases for obtaining assistance. Finding out about the bases for eligibility is laborious and it may be problematic for an applicant to ascertain how his/her income can be ensured while studying. The benefits produced by the systems differ in respect of level of assistance, assessment of needs, range of studies, the individual's history in working life, age limits and procedure for applying for benefit. The problems also include a decisive difference in whether the individual may study while in receipt of unemployment benefit (when the place to study is allotted by the employment administration) or whether the individual must him/herself secure financial support for education at his/her own discretion, where the choice is with the applicant and his/her assessment of the prospects for securing support.
The Finnish government has committed itself to EU declarations emphasizing major adult professional re-education and continuing education as an integral part of the solution to the employment problem in Europe. As a basis for a reform of the system of financial support for studies an extensive reconnaissance and accompanying proposals for action have been carried out (Valtioneuvoston kanslia, 1997). These proposals have had a mixed reception and the progress of the matter continues to depend on the unions, employers and members of parliament finding a common willingness.
3.4. Recruitment of personnel
The recruitment and remuneration of personnel in continuing education has been tied to the principles of employment of state officials. The remuneration of personnel in the centres of adult education may be seen to be partly in a rut. Remuneration by results is only under development. The salaries of the directors of the centres for continuing education, most of whom hold doctor's degrees, are small in comparison, for example, to those of university professors. This is regardless of the fact that management by results of the centres for continuing education is a demanding type of expert organization leadership and also one which demands academic proficiency. There also exists in recruitment a myopia which is due to the terms of employment in the state administration.
4. New Needs in UCE and Measures to Be Taken to Satisfy the Needs Identified
4.1. Changes in working life
Long-term prognosis of changes in working life has become increasingly difficult alongside the developments in international development cycles. From the standpoint of continuing education the changed environment of activities means intensified interaction with clients and reference groups. Success in education demands better and faster reactions. The principle message of the EU White Paper 'Teaching and Learning -Towards the Learning Society' is the increase in cooperation between enterprises and education organizations, the demand for flexibility in such cooperation and the finding of re-routing systems of learning and teaching, notably with the aid of distance teaching.
It would appear that terms of employment are becoming shorter and shorter, temporary and for only specified periods. The professional careers of personnel are becoming project-based, composed of fragments of alternating salaried employment, self-employment, training and unemployment. This developmental feature demands that a wider range of education be offered and that programmes be more sensitive to rapid change. The need for individual programmes and routes is on the increase. Mass education does not serve the needs of changing working life. The fragmentary nature of working life and the organization of education during spells of unemployment and for new jobs demands more clearly programmed solutions of adult social support in studying.
The message of the White Paper was also aimed at opening teaching to improve European competitiveness. Everyone should be offered the opportunity to develop in society regardless of social and educational background. Education should be a means to promote the equality and well-being of citizens. Education also has a function in the sense of social policy in preventing the polarization of society. The reasons for this are connected not only to democracy but also in the last instance to economy. From the standpoint of social progress polarization is a source of friction inhibiting economic development.
4.2. Clients
In order to respond to the trend described above it is necessary to lend a heedful ear to the clients' conceptions of quality of education, because for them the transformation of education into working practice is a matter of costs. The client needs to be absolutely certain that the education will either produce a job (at individual level) or then improve the activities of the organization as regards productivity and yield qualitative change. Clients demand of the party producing the education that costs are known and correctly allocated. The competition situation on the markets has the same affect. The education organization must be cost-conscious and well informed on the markets when it builds up its economic viability. From this there follows not only the demand for lower organization but also a more precise analysis than hitherto of economic viability in the centre for continuing education. Probably it will be necessary to aim at clearer product definition.
4.3. The European dimension
In Europe we are so far only at the very beginning of programme transfer and international coordination of continuing education. The European dimension will still need a great deal of long-term work, including improved transfer of information and a reduction in the economic friction factors in programme transfer and exploitation. This cooperation would do well to avoid those bureaucratic features of the European Union which delay real cooperation and which are actually totally alien, for example, to those organizations in business life which those providing continuing education consider to be their clients. Bureaucratic modes of operation would be contrary to the general call for change in society.
4.4. The progress in information technology
Activities in continuing education need to be of the very best as regards technological excellence, and may certainly not lag behind what is already there in working life. As distance work becomes more widespread improved skills in using the latest applications may be expected of clients. This will give rise to diversification in education offered through the information networks and will also accelerate the rate at which programmes are completed. However, it is not possible to put all education onto the information networks. Moreover, there is variation in the abilities and appliances of clients for distance learning. The great enthusiasm for information technology could result in increased inequality in accessibility of education. This should be born in mind as an important area in its own right in development work and with an eye to the future.
4.5. Shaping the profile of the university component
Continuing education offered by the universities finds itself compelled to raise a more clearcut profile on the education markets. Education which is not grounded in the core competence of the universities has no place in the centres for continuing higher education of the universities. Structurally this means intensified cooperation between the scientific departments and the centres for higher continuing education. It is important to recognize the common advantage. Setting up rules of play for such joint activity is not only in the interests of the centres for continuing education, but also of the universities' basic activities.
5. The University of Oulu and the New Learning Environments
Towards the end of the 1980's, the University of Oulu made the strategic decision to develop open university activities, in particular through technology-supported learning environments. The decision was based on the identification of general developmental trends and regional education responsibilities as well as on understanding the possibilities opened up by technology.
The activities of the open university were already based on regional networking at that time. There was cooperation with the various adult education units in northern Finland. The open university courses were organized mostly in the evenings and at weekends in the form of contact and distance teaching. Distance education was based to a large extent on telephony and audiographics. A few experiments were also made on the radio, but it was given up soon because the activities were regional and the target groups were too small. The self-directed study systems were based on written materials and on recordings to support them. The pedagogical strategies of distance teaching were not yet mature, and teaching by distance was typical of these activities.
Because the faculties did not feel much need for distance education at that time and thus did not think that such activities were any of their business, the responsibility for the development of distance education rested with the Continuing Education Centre, which was in charge of the arrangements of open university activities. This caused problems since the contents and methods of education did not develop together. The teachers were not familiar with distance education and with the new forms of action required of them, neither did they consider it to be important to acquire such skills or develop learning materials.
The readiness of the cooperating sites to work with distance education also varied. There were educational institutes in which it was hard to find any local expertise, student tutoring, technical equipment or the skills to use them which are needed in distance education. The readiness of the students for independent and technology-supported study was also often poor. It was felt, however, that distance education was important, as there were no other alternatives in many cases. All in all, the experiences of distance education were positive however. The critical factor behind this success was the desire to learn. This enthusiasm was obvious and also infected the teachers, and the results were good even though the conditions were deficient in all ways.
Since then the readiness of the cooperating institutions and students has improved considerably. At the same time, the ideas on teaching and learning have been revolutionized, and the possibilities of technology have increased manyfold. A move has taken place from the culture of teaching to an emphasis on learning. The role of the students has changed from the object of teaching to the subject of learning. New technology offered new and more interactive, flexible and efficient opportunities. These included video conferencing, E-mail and the Internet. It is important to note that the change has taken place not only in the sphere of the open university but throughout the entire university and adult education in general. This has also helped to integrate the open university with the rest of the university and with the cooperating sites, developed uniform models of action and thereby improved essentially the prerequisites for the new learning environments to function.
As a result of the successful experiences, the University of Oulu has decided to make the strategic choice of continuing to develop the university by making use of the possibilities offered by new technology and the new learning environments. The university has been expanding its activities by developing its educational services and by searching for new types of students and cooperation partners. In this way the activities have expanded from the regional to the national and international levels.
The university has noted that the new learning environments do not arise by themselves - they must be created. This is why the open university has not only been developing educational services but also, and in particular, action environments as a whole. This has meant the training of teachers, tutors, cooperating institutions and students, development of support activities and materials, as well as improvement of technical facilities.
An example of this development work is the 15-credit course in educational technology offered by the open university. Its purpose is to provide the participants with the skills needed to plan and organize new learning environments, to develop educational applications connected with the new technology, and to do scientific research. The course is run by virtual means in several locations at the same time. The university and the other educational institutes have formed a functional, organizational, economic and technological network for the purposes of this training. Most of the teaching takes place by means of videoconferencing, and the university has a videoconferencing bridge of its own for these purposes. Part of the teaching takes place in the local institutes in which there are also trained tutors. A special electronic interactive environment, mainly based on the World Wide Web, has been developed for the purposes of this training.
The strategic meaning to the open university of the implementation of this course comes from the fact that it is not just an educational service implemented by virtual means, but that new skilled cooperating partners and students emerge in the region as a result. In this way a network of educational sites and students comes to life and will be capable of receiving and conveying also other services offered by the university and other educational organizations in the future.
Society needs flexible educational services which respond quickly to the development of the environment. This has also been one of the starting-points for the Ministry of Education's strategy on Training and Research. The University of Oulu has accepted the new learning environments as a real challenge and as a means to respond to its responsibility for development. The new learning environments are, however, never ready but develop all the time. This creates an atmosphere of dynamism and change which is the basic purpose of the new learning environments.
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