This is not strictly speaking true. Finnish kids can and do retake years, if they are not ready to advance. Also the kids start getting traditional grades after

This is not strictly speaking true. Finnish kids can and do retake years, if they are not ready to advance. Also the kids start getting traditional grades after the first few years. And, yes, it's a good thing that a child cannot fail in their first few years of school. Nobody should ever brand a child trying to learn a failure, especially not literally in their first year of education. Each child should be encouraged to learn and, if needed, helped to learn at their own pace. It is far more important that each child gets a strong foundation to learn and truly learns the basics needed to continue their education in their first years than that they get a ranking.