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Early childhood education and care In Finland local authorities are responsible for ensuring that early childhood education and care is provided in accordance with the needs of children and families. Early childhood education and care (ECEC) is pr...

Policies and development Educational policy objectives are used to further develop student financial aid. The goal is to provide students with sufficient financial aid so that it promotes full-time studies based on the student’s plans and to help ...

Welcome to the Cooperation Between Home and School in a Multilingual and Multicultural Everyday Context Webinar on Tue 27 January, 12:00–14:30!

Inclusion and participation of young people The Ministry of Education and Culture works to promote young people’s participation and inclusion, while the Government Programme pledges to assess the impacts of decisions on children and families. One ...

Client fees charged for early childhood education and care The Act on Client Fees in Early Childhood Education and Care (1503/2016) lays down provisions on the client fees charged for early childhood education and care services provided by municip...

Early childhood education and care services Early childhood education and care is provided or arranged by local authorities or private service providers as centre-based early education activities and family-based daycare activities. Municipalities...

Vision for strengthening the international dimension of Finnish higher education and research by 2035 Brochure: Vision for strengthening the international dimension of Finnish higher education and research by 2035 Finland is a responsible, welcomi...

Accessibility and diversity of culture The Ministry of Education and Culture aims to provide linguistic and cultural minorities, persons with disabilities and other special groups with opportunities to participate in culture and express their crea...

11.2.2026 | Under the leadership of the Ministry of Education and Culture, a vision for the comprehensive school of the future has been drawn up. Comprehensive Schools 2045: The vision for life estimates that with accelerating technological advances, an ecological crisis and social segregation, the core function of education is being challenged. Schools are not only expected to prepare young people for future changes but also equip them for life and enable them to change the world.

Promotion of physical activity The Ministry of Education and Culture endeavours to create conditions for a physically active lifestyle for the whole population. The aim is to enable the Finnish population to be physically active to a degree that s...

The working group will assess the current state of student financial aid in line with the Programme of Prime Minister Petteri Orpo's Government and draw up proposals for the Ministry for overhauling student financial aid. The working group has a monitoring group that handles matters prepared by the working group and takes a stand on its proposals.

14.1.2026 | The Ministry of Education and Culture carried out a two-year pre-primary education trial in a total of 148 municipalities between 2021 and 2024. Altogether 37,357 children took part. They were placed in the trial group and control group by drawing lots. Parents, carers and teachers were satisfied with the trial and the two-year pre-primary education trial slightly increased the participation rate of five-year-olds.

2.12.2025 | An OECD survey shows that Finnish early childhood education and care (ECEC) stands out for active cooperation with families. In Finland, staff communicate and organise events for families more often than in most other participating countries. Stress levels among ECEC and pre-primary staff and leaders are lower in Finland than elsewhere, but staff shortages are a major source of stress.

10.12.2024 | The Finnish model for leisure activities offers children and young people free extra-curricular activities as part of their school day. The clubs already reach around one in four students attending comprehensive schools in Finland. The model not only increases children's and young people's engagement in leisure activities, but also improves opportunities for those who have found it difficult to pursue activities, especially if they come from low-income or one-parent families.

31.3.2025 | Joint Finnish-Swedish proposal prepared for dipnet fishing in the Torne River rapids for inscription on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The decision on inscription is due in December 2026.

7.1.2026 | 1 Procedural recommendations for developing Finland’s national language reserve 2 Foreword We need an accurate picture of the national language reserve Fewer languages are being studied in school Developing school practices Early childhood educati...

30.9.2024 | The PISA 2022 results show that there are still major disparities in performance between immigrant and non-immigrant students in all domains of assessment. Underperformance of students with an immigrant background is often explained by weak reading performance and lower socio-economic status.

30.1.2025 | A working group preparing an overhaul of student financial aid has assessed the current situation in student financial aid and key development needs in the student financial aid system. Needs for development that were deemed essential include reinstating indexation and restructuring interest assistance and loan granting practices to improve the security of student loans. The working group's proposals were submitted to Minister Sandra Bergqvist on 30 January.

12.3.2025 | A survey by We Foundation shows that groups for extracurricular activity organised by municipalities free of charge as part of the school day provide the majority of the participants with a safe space that is free of bullying, discrimination and racism. The results confirm that groups based on the Finnish model for leisure activities increase student wellbeing and are the only opportunity for many children and young people to have a hobby. The survey covers 20 municipalities of different sizes.

11.10.2023 | The latest EUROSTUDENT report provides an overview of the progress of studies, wellbeing, employment and livelihood of higher education students in different life situations. This time, the study focused specifically on digitalisation in higher education studies. For the first time, the EUROSTUDENT survey, carried out during the COVID-19 pandemic in spring 2022, focused on students’ experiences related to the amount of remote education.