Equality in education: an analysis of experience in Denmark, Norway, Finland, and Sweden

This paper is focused on mitigating the challenge of inequality in educational systems of the four Nordic states: Denmark, Norway, Finland, and Sweden. Although many other countries invest significantly in education, the Nordic states accommodate lower level of child poverty and smaller scales of such negative social processes as criminality, child pregnancies, substance abuse, etc. The author summaries modern research findings revealing that equal societies with the smallest property gap between the richest and the poorest are safe, healthy, and therefore competitive. The experience of the Nordic states suggests inter alia that competition between pupils, as a manifestation of inequality, does not benefit anyone. From inequalities, the society suffers as a whole. It can thus be approximated equality in the Nordic states which explains their leading position in international education rankings and the overall high level of social welfare.