Support for learning and school attendance
Provisions on the principles for support for learning and school attendance and how they are provided in pre-primary, primary and lower secondary education are laid down in the Act on Primary and Lower Secondary Education. The core curriculum for pre-primary, primary and lower secondary education guides how the support is implemented. The guiding principle is to make sure students receive the concrete support they need.
The aim is to give students low-threshold support services for their learning as early as possible. The guiding principle is to make sure students receive the concrete support they need and that schools have sufficient resources to provide such support.
The conditions for learning are supported by teaching arrangements, such as the formation of teaching groups so that the objectives in instruction can be achieved and teachers can take the needs of the group they are teaching properly into account.
The primary forms of support that all students are entitled to are group-specific. These include:
- general remedial teaching
- remedial teaching in the language of instruction
- teaching provided by a special educational needs teacher.
If group-specific support proves to be insufficient, students can receive individual support that is regular and based on individual needs for support. These include:
- teaching given partly in a small group
- teaching given entirely in a class for students with special educational needs, if necessary
- personal interpretation and assistant services.
Another objective is to make the decision-making procedures related to support measures clearer and to reduce the obligation of teachers to record entries into documentation on support measures. The number of pedagogical documents for support measures have been reduced and their preparation process has been streamlined, and in such a way that the identification, assessment and planning of the need for support can be carried out appropriately.
The changes to the support for learning in primary and lower secondary education were outlined in the Programme of Prime Minister Orpo's Government. The Act on Amending the Act on Primary and Lower Secondary Education (1090/2024) entered into force on 1 August 2025. The Finnish National Agency for Education has updated the core curricula to comply with the amendments to legislation.
Contact information
Merja Mannerkoski, Senior Specialist
Ministry of Education and Culture, Varhaiskasvatuksen, perusopetuksen ja vapaan sivistystyön osasto ( VAPOS ) Telephone:0295330325 Email Address: [email protected]
Erja Vitikka, opetusneuvos
Ministry of Education and Culture, Varhaiskasvatuksen, perusopetuksen ja vapaan sivistystyön osasto ( VAPOS ) Telephone:0295330058 Email Address: [email protected]