Finnish model of education is good for us

A reader thinks the Finnish education system is suitable for the UAE. Other topics: higher education, health insurance, littering, Banyas

A reader thinks the Finnish model of education is suitable for the UAE. Sarah Dea / The National

I don't agree with the initial premise of the opinion article Why Finnish model of education cannot be imported to the UAE (may 17). Education is the most vital and elementary tool for societal reform. Education should not be a treated as an accessory to a society, otherwise how are we going to move forward?

It’s the school that offers a safe and burden-free environment for children to learn and develop ideals and values. And, contrary to what the writer suggests, Finnish society has not always been rainbows and butterflies. Rather Finland had concern that the way its society was moving was not producing the desired result. This is why it took some bold reform initiatives.

In this context, I wonder what makes for-profit British- and American-curriculum schools more beneficial to the culture of the UAE than the Finnish system? On the contrary, research points to negative consequences of the starting age for literacy and numeracy in these systems, which is between 3 and 4, as opposed to 7 in the Finnish system.

It’s not surprising as the primary aim of putting children in school so early was not originally aimed at benefiting children. The decision to put children early in school was originally taken by the British parliament in 1870 to enable mothers to return sooner to their low-paid jobs in factories.

So the bottom line is that we need to change the education system to change a nation. The question of suitability of a particular model is irrelevant.

I guess this type of transition will not be favoured by the British and North American education industry.

Ruba Asi, Abu Dhabi

Concern over health cover

What I gather from your editorial The insurance system is changing (May 17) is that those suffering from chronic conditions now have to pay large sums to live a normal life because of those abusing the system in the past. How is that helping?

Emma Ewing, Dubai

Has anybody been to the doctor and not walked out with a shopping bag of prescriptions? Some doctors and hospitals are abusing insurance and as always it is the public who will suffer the knock-on effects.

Ben Neal, Abu Dhabi

Whenever they say it’s for the benefit of the consumer, it’s usually just the opposite.

Jeffrey Martin, Dubai

End Abu Dhabi’s littering problem

It doesn’t matter where I park my car – at my office, outside a supermarket or near my home in Manaseer.

Nearly every time I come to retrieve it, there is one or more cards on the window or under the door handle, advertising massage services.

Walk round the main streets of Abu Dhabi and you will find that areas where parking is permitted are littered with discarded cards, apart from cigarette butts and other detritus.

Instead of attempting to clear the litter by employing hundreds of workers, why not try to treat the cause by placing more litter receptacles in public areas and imposing fines on perpetrators?

It might help to clean up the streets of Abu Dhabi, which are a mess.

Jeremy Weeks, Abu Dhabi

Baniyas needs more shops

I would like to draw the attention of the authorities over the lack of shops and super marketsin Baniyas. This causes a great inconvenience to the residents of the area.

I request the authorities concerned to look into this matter and come up with a solution.

M A Mannan, Abu Dhabi