ABSTRACT
The aim of this chapter is to elaborate the historical evolution of the Finnish vocational education and training (VET) system as it unfolded from 1945 to 2015. The focus is on the development of VET as an institutionalised education at the upper secondary level (initial vocational education and training). The interest is in how the organising of Finnish upper secondary VET is linked to the construction of Finland as a welfare state, and what kinds of gradual, neo-liberal deregulations have influenced the VET development since the 1990s. The emphasis is on the recognition of major turning points, in part on the role of the different players as co-determinants of Finnish VET.
