Education expert blames Finland’s neglect of gifted students for PISA rankings decline

Supporting top students has benefits for society as a whole, according to the University of Helsinki's Professor of Education Kirsi Tirri.

A leading education expert has warned that gifted pupils are being neglected in Finnish schools, despite legal and curriculum requirements that teachers support all students.

"The law and school curricula require that teachers support all students. But too often the gifted students are left alone," Professor of Education Kirsi Tirri from the University of Helsinki told Yle.

Equality has long been a central aim of Finland's comprehensive school system, but Tirri believes this focus has sometimes come at the expense of high-achieving pupils.

"Equality does not mean levelling everyone down. It means responding individually to the needs of every students, whether weak or gifted," she said.

Catering to the needs of gifted students has at times been dismissed as elitist, an attitude Tirri said still lingers.

"Of course we know that intelligence is inherited, and academically gifted pupils mostly come from educated homes. But gifted students exist in all social classes. It's not elitist to ensure every pupil gets the kind of teaching that allows them to reach their full potential," Tirri added.

Gifted students are defined as those in the top 10 percent of their age group in any talent area whether it is academic, artistic or social. However, Tirri said misconceptions persist and some assume that gifted pupils excel in every subject, while others believe they need no support.

"Too often, the gifted student has been used as a teacher's assistant. Helping peers is fine, but they too have the right to learn new things at school. Their time cannot go only to teaching their friends."

She argued that ignoring the needs of gifted pupils has contributed to Finland's declining performance in the OECD's Pisa tests.

"Learning outcomes have fallen for gifted pupils as well. Teachers spend much of their time supporting weaker students, leaving too little time to provide instruction that matches the abilities of the gifted and gives them enough challenge."

Tirri warned the lack of challenge can lead to underachievement with the level of support depending heavily on the individual teacher.

"If everyone studies exactly the same content and does the same tasks, the weakest fall behind and the most gifted get bored," she said, adding that this boredom and loss of motivation are linked to underperformance.

Supporting gifted students benefits society as a whole, she stressed.

"We have climate change, we have security policy, we have many shared problems that we need gifted people to help solve. By supporting gifted students, we can find the resources to make the world a better place."

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my thoughts on why I support this:

• Research shows top-performing students have stronger correlation with economic growth than basic achievers
• East Asian countries achieved sustained high growth through merit-focused systems
• The research does show educational elites disproportionately become inventors and entrepreneurs
• Patent analysis reveals academic inventors occupy central positions in innovation networks
• Elite educational backgrounds remain overrepresented among startup founders

One standard deviation higher cognitive skills correlates with "approximately two percentage points higher annual growth in per capita GDP" – Do Better Schools Lead to More Growth? Cognitive Skills, Economic Outcomes, and Causation" – Hanushek-Woessmann

According to the above research, If a country increases its share of top-performing students by 10 percentage points (say from 5% to 15% of students scoring at elite levels), the country's economy will grow 1.3 percentage points faster per year

If a country increases basic literacy by the same amount (10 percentage points more students reaching minimum competency), economic growth only increases by 0.3 percentage points per year

Example:

• Elite focus: A country with 2% annual growth that develops more top performers would see growth jump to 3.3% annually
• Equity focus: The same country focusing on basic literacy would only reach 2.3% growth
• Over 40 years, this compounds to dramatically different outcomes

This directly validates the point that countries should prioritise "enabling the best to perform at their peak" rather than "growing the bottom 10% of the class a percentage point." The research shows that:

1. Resources matter more at the top: Each dollar spent developing high achievers yields 4x+ the economic return
2. Innovation drives growth: Top performers are the ones who create new technologies, start companies, and solve complex problems
3. Trickle-down through talent: Elite performers create jobs and economic opportunities for everyone else

The Hanushek-Woessmann data essentially proves that Professor Tirri's concerns about Finland are economically justified – neglecting gifted students costs countries significant economic growth potential.

sources:

1. https://yle.fi/a/74-20176839

2. https://hanushek.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/publications/Hanushek%2BWoessmann%202012%20JEconGrowth%2017%284%29.pdf