Two Finnish towns near the Russian border plan to close schools offering Russian language and culture classes, upsetting parents and students who say cross-cultural understanding is needed more than ever.

Also Read: Russia-Ukraine Crisis

Finland’s relations with its powerful eastern neighbour have soured since Russia’s 2022 invasion.

The war prompted Helsinki to reverse its decades-long policy of military non-alignment and join North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in April 2023, a decision that angered Moscow.

Also Read: In Frames | Tough lessons from a war

When the towns of Lappeenranta and Joensuu announced this year they would close their two schools focusing on Russian language and culture due to a lack of resources, school representatives saw it as fallout from the rise of anti-Russian sentiment in Finland since the war in Ukraine.

The headmaster of the School of Eastern Finland, Katri Anttila, said town officials were no longer keen to maintain Russian language studies after the invasion.

Also read: Russia’s war in Ukraine has inflicted ‘horrific human cost’: UN

“This is part of the same trend, which is very sad. I am happy we have parents and students who do not link the Russian language to Russian President [Vladimir] Putin and the Russian government, because language should never be linked to politics or a certain country,” Ms. Anttila said.

The School of Eastern Finland has three branches in the towns of Lappeenranta, Imatra and Joensuu, the only schools outside the capital Helsinki that offer Russian culture and language studies in addition to the Finnish curriculum.

The state-funded schools founded in 1997 have 700 students aged six to 18.

Declining Interest

During a recent visit to the Lappeenranta school, classrooms were bustling with students chatting in Finnish and Russian, colourful posters hanging on the walls with writing in the two languages.

Located some 30 kilometres from Finland’s 1,340 kilometre (832-mile) border with Russia, the first spring flowers were beginning to bloom in the schoolyard under a gloomy April sky.

Both students and teachers were upset about Lappeenranta’s recent decision.

“I was shocked when I heard the school will close,” Eetu Varis, an 18-year-old at the upper secondary school, told AFP.

A city official in charge of Lappeenranta educational services, Juhani Junnilainen, told AFP the closure was due to a school network reform.

“We do not have enough resources to maintain all the schools we have,” he said.

In addition, “interest for the Russian language has decreased for more than a decade” while “Spanish has become more and more popular” in Lappeenranta schools.

The city of Turku also decided this year it would end a Finnish-Russian language programme offered at one public school, citing declining student enrolment.

A separate school in Helsinki offering classes in Russian told AFP it had no plans to close.

‘Next to us’

Before the Covid pandemic and Russia’s war in Ukraine, almost two million Russian tourists crossed Finland’s border to visit the Lappeenranta region annually, bringing in more than 300 million euros ($322 million).

Now, Russian licence plates are a rare sight on the streets of Lappeenranta.

In late 2022, Finland imposed entry restrictions on Russian tourists, allowing only essential travel.

“Before the ongoing situation in Ukraine you heard Russian everywhere,” said student Mr. Varis, adding: “It is important in this area.”

Like the majority of his classmates, Mr. Varis is a native Finnish speaker interested in learning about other languages and cultures.

Finland closed its entire eastern border with Russia in December, five months after Moscow began pushing undocumented migrants over the border in what Finnish officials labelled a “hybrid attack”. Russia has denied the charge.

Tuomas Laitinen, a parent of two children at the Lappeenranta school, accused the towns of miscalculating the need for an understanding of the Russian culture and language in Finland.

“Finland has been known for decades for our knowledge of Russia, and it benefits the European Union(EU) and NATO,” he said.

“Geographically we are not moving anywhere. Russia is next to us, and we have to know about their culture.”

Ms. Anttila meanwhile underlined that Finland must be able to “understand the language of the Russian opposition”, emphasising that the school would continue to fight to keep its doors open.

Helsinki, Finland:

Finland will fly its flags at half-mast on Wednesday to mark the country’s mourning after a 12-year-old opened fire at a school, killing one classmate and seriously injuring two others.

All public buildings and institutions will lower their flags from 8:00 am (05:00 GMT), the Interior Ministry said on its website.

The ministry encouraged the whole country to participate in the event.

On Tuesday morning, a 12-year-old boy opened fire at his school in Vantaa, Finland’s fourth-largest city.

The school has around 90 staff and 800 pupils aged seven to 15.

According to the Finnish TV channel MTV Uutiset, the boy wore a mask and noise-cancelling headphones while carrying out the shooting.

The child who was killed, also aged 12, died at the scene, and the suspect had already fled the school by the time police arrived.

They have opened an investigation into murder and attempted murder.

The suspect, who was carrying a gun, was arrested in a “calm manner” within an hour of the shooting and admitted to being the shooter in a preliminary interrogation. 

There were no other suspects, police said.

They said the weapon the suspect was carrying belonged to a relative.

‘Deeply upsetting’

“The police are investigating, among other things, the motive for the act and the reasons for the incident,” Detective Chief Inspector Marko Sarkka, who is leading the investigation, said in a statement on Tuesday.

Sarkka added that the boy would not be incarcerated as he is under 15 years old and so cannot be held criminally responsible.

Police also said a technical investigation of the crime scene had begun at the school, which would continue on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said in a statement that the incident was “deeply upsetting”, adding that his thoughts were with the victims, their parents, other pupils and teachers.

“In the coming days, we must be present for the children and young people, offer them words of comfort and show them that we care about them,” he said in a statement.

“They may be scared or have questions. It is important that we talk about the incident in our homes.”

Finnish President Alexander Stubb said in a post on social media platform X that he was “shocked” by the shooting.

“I would like to express my deepest condolences to the families of the deceased student,” Stubb said.

‘Take violence seriously’

Elina Pekkarinen, Finland’s Children’s Rights Ombudsman, told Finnish news agency STT, that “for years (we have been repeating) that we need to take violence between children in society seriously”.

Acts of violence, particularly amongst children under 15 years old, have been on the rise for several years, she added.

Finland has already witnessed several gruesome school attacks in recent decades.

In November 2007, an 18-year-old man opened fire at a secondary school in Jokela, around 50 kilometres (30 miles) north of Helsinki, killing the headmaster and a nurse along with six pupils before turning the gun on himself.

A year later, in September 2008, 22-year-old Matti Juhani Saari killed 11 people at a vocational school in the western town of Kauhajoki. 

In October 2019, a college student, armed with a sabre, killed a 23-year-old woman and wounded nine others at a vocational school in the city of Kuopio. 

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A shooter opened fire on April 2 at a school in Vantaa outside the Finnish capital Helsinki injuring three minors, police said, adding that a suspect had been arrested.

“There are people injured in the shooting incident”, police said in a statement shortly after 10:00 a.m. (0700 GMT).

New York:

India was ranked 126th out of 143 nations in a global happiness index released on Wednesday which noted that older age is associated with higher life satisfaction in the world’s most populous country.

Finland emerged as the happiest country in the world, topping the World Happiness Report 2024, the seventh successive year that the country has occupied the top spot on the list.

The other of the top 10 countries are Denmark, Iceland, Sweden, Israel, Netherlands, Norway, Luxembourg, Switzerland and Australia.

India is ranked 126th on the list, behind countries such as Libya, Iraq, Palestine and Niger, according to the findings announced on Wednesday to mark the UN’s International Day of Happiness.

The World Happiness Report is a partnership of Gallup, the Oxford Wellbeing Research Centre, the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, and the WHR’s Editorial Board.

The young in India are the “happiest” while those in “lower middle” rung are the least happy.

The US (23rd) has fallen out of the top 20 for the first time since the World Happiness Report was first published in 2012, driven by a large drop in the well-being of Americans under 30.

Afghanistan remains bottom of the overall rankings as the world’s ‘unhappiest’ nation. Pakistan is ranked 108th on the list.

The report said that older age is associated with higher life satisfaction in India, “refuting some claims that the positive association between age and life satisfaction only exists in high-income nations.” On average, older men in India are more satisfied with life than older women “but when taking all other measures into account, older women report higher life satisfaction than their male counterparts,” it said.

In India, older adults with secondary or higher education and those of higher social castes report higher life satisfaction than counterparts without formal education and those from scheduled castes and scheduled tribes.

“India’s older population is the second largest worldwide, with 140 million Indians aged 60 and over, second only to its 250 million Chinese counterparts. Additionally, the average growth rate for Indians aged 60 and above is three times higher than the overall population growth rate of the country,” the report said.

Satisfaction with living arrangements, perceived discrimination, and self-rated health emerge as the top three predictors of life satisfaction for India in this study, the report said.

“We found that older men, those in the higher age groups, currently married, and those who were educated, report higher life satisfaction compared to their respective peers. Lower satisfaction with living arrangements, perceived discrimination, and poor self-rated health were important factors associated with low life satisfaction among older Indians,” it said.

The findings of this study indicate that strengthening family networks to ensure a comfortable living arrangement for older adults, men, widowed, and those without formal education in particular, and bolstering social networks to reduce discrimination may enhance well-being in older age, it noted.

The report added that Serbia (37th) and Bulgaria (81st) have had the biggest increases in average life evaluation scores since they were first measured by the Gallup World Poll in 2013.

The next two countries showing the largest increases in life evaluations are Latvia (46th) and Congo (Brazzaville) (89th), with rank increases of 44 and 40 places, respectively, between 2013 and 2024.

For the first time, the report gives separate rankings by age group, in many cases varying widely from the overall rankings. Lithuania tops the list for children and young people under 30, while Denmark is the world’s happiest nation for those 60 and older. 

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Helsinki:

Finland remained the world’s happiest country for a seventh straight year in an annual UN sponsored World Happiness Report published on Wednesday.

And Nordic countries kept their places among the 10 most cheerful, with Denmark, Iceland and Sweden trailing Finland.

Afghanistan, plagued by a humanitarian catastrophe since the Taliban regained control in 2020, stayed at the bottom of the 143 countries surveyed.

For the first time since the report was published more than a decade ago, the United States and Germany were not among the 20 happiest nations, coming in 23rd and 24th respectively.

In turn, Costa Rica and Kuwait entered the top 20 at 12 and 13.

The report noted the happiest countries no longer included any of the world’s largest countries.

“In the top 10 countries only the Netherlands and Australia have populations over 15 million. In the whole of the top 20, only Canada and the UK have populations over 30 million.”

The sharpest decline in happiness since 2006-10 was noted in Afghanistan, Lebanon and Jordan, while the Eastern European countries Serbia, Bulgaria and Latvia reported the biggest increases.

The happiness ranking is based on individuals’ self-assessed evaluations of life satisfaction, as well as GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom, generosity and corruption.

– Growing inequality –

Jennifer De Paola, a happiness researcher at the University of Helsinki in Finland, told AFP that Finns’ close connection to nature and healthy work-life balance were key contributors to their life satisfaction.

In addition, Finns may have a “more attainable understanding of what a successful life is”, compared to for example the United States where success is often equated with financial gain, she said.

Finns’ strong welfare society, trust in state authorities, low levels of corruption and free healthcare and education were also key.

“Finnish society is permeated by a sense of trust, freedom, and high level of autonomy,” De Paola said.

This year’s report also found that younger generations were happier than their older peers in most of the world’s regions — but not all.

In North America, Australia and New Zealand, happiness among groups under 30 has dropped dramatically since 2006-10, with older generations now happier than the young.

By contrast, in Central and Eastern Europe, happiness increased substantially at all ages during the same period, while in Western Europe people of all ages reported similar levels of happiness.

Happiness inequality increased in every region except Europe, which authors described as a “worrying trend”.

The rise was especially distinct among the old and in Sub-Saharan Africa, reflecting inequalities in “income, education, health care, social acceptance, trust, and the presence of supportive social environments at the family, community and national levels,” the authors said. 

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Zoho Chief Executive Officer Sridhar Vembu reacted to FIITJEE’s latest advertisement which drew heavy criticism for its unethical tactics. The print ad used a student’s image to suggest declining performance after leaving their institute. It further stooped to fear-mongering by associating a competitor with student suicides and using inflammatory language like “evil.” Mr Vembu reposted the ad and said that the country needs to get out of the “ultra-competitive exam pressure” on students and young adults. He added that his company has “pledged to not even consider academic credentials” as an employer.

“India has to get out of this ultra-competitive exam pressure on children and young adults. This is one area where I would *not* learn from East Asia but instead learn from Finland which has a superb state-funded educational system that serves every child without such competitive insanity,” Mr Vembu wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

India has to get out of this ultra-competitive exam pressure on children and young adults. This is one area where I would *not* learn from East Asia but instead learn from Finland which has a superb state-funded educational system that serves every child without such competitive… https://t.co/AjdkIl0Nmt

— Sridhar Vembu (@svembu) March 17, 2024

The Zoho Chief slammed the competitive exam culture and said that pressure at a young age “destroys talent and creates zombified adults.” He added, “It is the rat race to extinction. Intense competition is for companies serving a market and for sports, not for children in education.”

He continued, “As an employer, we have pledged to not even consider academic credentials. We are also investing in educational alternatives that are inspired by Finland.”

Since being shared, the post has amassed over two lakh views and three thousand likes. Several people also took to the comments section to share their views on the same.

“Another important thing to learn from Finland is the medium of instruction. Most schools teach in Finnish language. Mother tongue based education has played a key role in their education success,” said a user.

Another user wrote, “We need more such voices!”

“Amongst all the things that need a revamp, Indian educational system tops the list,” remarked a user.

A user mentioned, “All this is due to the fact that most of our parents before social media age didn’t have vision beyond government exams or competitive exams. But as we grow old and become parents people will surely get more options to explore.”

“We should be fostering creativity, resilience, and removing the ‘do or die exams’ culture! Success is a marathon, and pursuing it with joy is doable!” expressed a person.

Moscow:

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday vowed to deploy its troops and strike systems near the Finnish border following its accession to NATO, Al Jazeera reported.

Putin said Finland and Sweden’s entry into NATO is ‘a meaningless step’, adding that Russia will deploy troops and systems of destruction on the Finnish border following its accession to the alliance last April.

“This is an absolutely meaningless step [for Finland and Sweden] from the point of view of ensuring their own national interests,” Putin told Russia’s RIA state news agency and Rossiya-1 state television in a wide-ranging interview.

“We didn’t have troops there [at the Finland border], now they will be there. There were no systems of destruction there, now they will appear,” he added.

Following the launch of Russia’s offensive in Ukraine more than two years ago, Sweden abandoned its long-standing neutrality and joined NATO on Thursday, becoming the organisation’s newest member. After Hungary–the last of the 31 alliance countries to approve Sweden–submitted its ratification document, the membership became official, Politico reported.

Sweden is now fully covered by Article 5 of the alliance, which requires all other members to defend one another in the event of an attack.

To celebrate the accession formally, a flag-raising ceremony has been planned for Monday (March 11) at the alliance headquarters in Brussels, according to Politico.

Finland, Sweden’s neighbour, became a member of the alliance on April 4 last year. With the two Nordic countries in the alliance, NATO controls almost all of the Baltic Sea.

Both a robust armaments industry and a well-equipped military are present in Sweden.The nation intends to spend 2.1 per cent of GDP on defence this year, about twice as much as it did in 2020 and over NATO’s target, as per Politico.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)