> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://theinstitutionalist.jetri.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # VAKAVA: How Finland Made Teaching Harder to Enter Than Medicine - URL: https://theinstitutionalist.jetri.com/vakava-how-finland-made-teaching-harder-to-enter-than-medicine-3/ - Published: 2026-10-22T09:06:33.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-22T09:06:33.000Z - Description: Long before the world began praising Finnish schools, the country had erased the prestige gap holding its educators back. - Author: Jetri Press Desk - Tags: Newsletter In 2016, it was harder to get into the University of Helsinki's teacher training program than into its law school or its medical school. The acceptance rate for teacher education that year was 6.8 percent, against 8.3 percent for law and 7.3 percent for medicine. That was not a fluke year. It has been true for a generation, and it still is: in 2023, the University of Helsinki accepted just 10 percent of applicants to its primary teacher program and only 4 percent to special education, according to one of its own education faculty. It was not always like this. Before the 1970s, Finland trained its primary school teachers in three-year teacher colleges, a separate, lower track sitting well below university study. Secondary teachers at least studied an academic subject at university, but then bolted on a short practical add-on, closer to a trade certificate than a graduate degree. Two laws changed that. The Teacher Education Act of 1971 moved teacher preparation into the universities, and by 1974 Finland had reassigned all primary and secondary teacher training from the old colleges into new faculties of education. Teachers would now train in the same institutions as physicists and lawyers. The second law, passed in 1979, is the one that turned teaching into one of Finland’s most coveted careers. It’s also where things get more complicated. ***Read the full story*** –[***VAKAVA: How Finland Made Teaching Harder to Enter Than Medicine***](https://theinstitutionalist.jetri.com/vakava-how-finland-made-teaching-harder-to-enter-than-medicine/) --- **UPCOMING EVENTS** ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/e1/e2/e1e21761-39df-46cb-91d9-75e753319ad6/content/images/2026/10/JD-EP12-Tbnl--3--1.png) We respect teachers for the influence they have on generations of students. Yet teaching is rarely a first choice for India’s top graduates. Government posts draw applicants for their security, private schools struggle to keep strong teachers, and career progress often means leaving the classroom. The upcoming episode of **Jetri Dialogs** hosts [Maya Menon](https://www.linkedin.com/in/maya-menon-b12468/?ref=theinstitutionalist.jetri.com), [Dr. Parth J Shah](https://www.linkedin.com/in/parthjshah/?ref=theinstitutionalist.jetri.com), and [Avnita Bir](https://www.linkedin.com/in/avnita-bir-91a9257/?ref=theinstitutionalist.jetri.com), in conversation with Nidhi Reddy, to explore what it would take to make school teaching a career India’s young people actively choose. Join us on October 29, 2026 5.00-6.00 PM IST 📍Zoom, with Q&A [Register Now](https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/1317923835833/WN%5FpScVvliESdmKpXzpE-FfWw?ref=theinstitutionalist.jetri.com) --- **KEEP READING** [Geography Of Higher Education Report 2026Since 2001, India has built nearly a thousand universities and 35,000 colleges. Drawing on national data, this report maps a quarter century of institutional expansion against where India's young people live.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/e1/e2/e1e21761-39df-46cb-91d9-75e753319ad6/content/images/icon/flavicon_sage-29de825d-7951-4b79-9a3a-1d19e41c6e8d.png)The Institutionalist by JetriJetri Press Desk![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/e1/e2/e1e21761-39df-46cb-91d9-75e753319ad6/content/images/thumbnail/TI_Report-Cover-e0cd27cc-b22e-4a12-9497-dfa063ea07d1.png)](https://theinstitutionalist.jetri.com/geography-of-higher-education-report-2026/) [To Lead India, First Learn To Teach ItWhat might happen if every qualified graduate spent some time teaching?![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/e1/e2/e1e21761-39df-46cb-91d9-75e753319ad6/content/images/icon/flavicon_sage-4c93dc75-db86-476b-81c6-e96d48eed15f.png)The Institutionalist by JetriPramath Raj Sinha![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/e1/e2/e1e21761-39df-46cb-91d9-75e753319ad6/content/images/thumbnail/TIE-a86eb463-58a2-46a3-90f8-8faab4c63e50.png)](https://theinstitutionalist.jetri.com/to-lead-india-first-learn-to-teach-it/) [Who Wrote It May Be The Wrong QuestionWhen AI can produce the answer, a finished assignment proves very little. Assessment now has to show who owns the thinking.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/e1/e2/e1e21761-39df-46cb-91d9-75e753319ad6/content/images/icon/flavicon_sage-ed6ab2f2-739e-4489-b504-dc79cbf65e47.png)The Institutionalist by JetriSushma Bharath![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/e1/e2/e1e21761-39df-46cb-91d9-75e753319ad6/content/images/thumbnail/TI-Tbnl_SB-ce9971d5-f001-4766-89b0-f7a85e189745.png)](https://theinstitutionalist.jetri.com/who-wrote-it-may-be-the-wrong-question/) open call [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/e1/e2/e1e21761-39df-46cb-91d9-75e753319ad6/content/images/2026/10/Announcement-1.png)](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScYr0Czm3auS3WxvoTBN-na33Y4kvqNeeKasbRY4YDAELaXzQ/viewform?usp=dialog&ref=theinstitutionalist.jetri.com) ****Write For The Institutionalist** Your best thinking on education deserve a serious readership. We invite you to share what the sector needs to hear. 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