Recipes for Systemic Change - Helsinki Design Lab

employment options. A second large segment of young men will elect tofulfil their military service requirement before pursuing higher educationor work. A third group will use the time to prepare for or retake universityor polytechnic entrance exams, especially those who previously missed thecutoff for an especially competitive program or a highly selective school.Even as vocational upper secondary school has steadily increased inpopularity among graduates of comprehensive schools over recent years,this sector also saw the largest proportion of students who discontinuedtheir studies. More students in vocational upper secondary school, polytechnicinstitutes, and universities quit school than switched to a differentsector. However, trends show that more students transfer into the practicaland applied qualifications programs than shift to the general or more academicprograms.SourceStatisticsFinland,EducationStatisticsSector of education(academic year 2006/2007)Students Discontinuedin ownsector ofeducationChangedsector ofeducationGeneral upper secondary school 4,800 4.20% 2.10% 2.00%Vocational upper secondary school 27,200 10.20% 1.00% 9.20%Polytechnic education 12,000 9.00% 2.30% 6.80%University education 9,900 5.60% 0.80% 4.80%DiscontinuedcompletelyTotal 53,900 7.30% 1.50% 5.80%D3.2 Economics and DropoutsOne of the primary incentives behind the policy to decrease and eliminatethe number of dropouts is an economic rationale.More education translates into higher earningsEarnings by Level of Education, 2007EUR/monthSourceStatisticsFinland,Structure ofEarningsPrimary Education 2.392Secondary Education 2.431Undergraduate Tertiary Education 3.243Graduate Tertiary Education 3.972Post-graduate Tertiary Education 4.462Higher incomes not only have added benefits for individuals or families,they also serve to bolster the national balance sheet with added revenuein taxes.171