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Key legislation on general education This page lists the key acts and decrees on general education. If an English translation of an act or decree is available, the link takes you directly to the English version of the statute in the Finlex databas...

18.12.2025 | The international results of the OECD Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) 2024 were published earlier this autumn. They have now been supplemented with Finland’s national results. Finland participated in the main TALIS 2024, which focused on lower secondary school teachers and principals, and in the TALIS Starting Strong module, which targeted staff in early childhood education and care and pre-primary education.

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.

9.10.2023 | The Ministry of Education and Culture’s proportion of the 2024 budget proposal is EUR 8.0 billion, which is EUR 274 million more than in the 2023 Budget. The budget proposal implements the Programme of Prime Minister Petteri Orpo's Government by raising the level of education and competence of the entire population. The measures in the budget proposal aim to strengthen the effectiveness of science and improve the conditions for conducting research and development.

19.9.2022 | The budget proposal for 2023 of Prime Minister Sanna Marin’s Government will continue to invest in education and culture. The budget proposal helps implement the key objectives in the Government Programme of raising the level of education and competence, bridging learning gaps and increasing educational equality. Arts and culture will be used to boost conditions and strengthen engagement in creative work.

26.11.2019 | The Ministry of Education and Culture is set to launch the Right to Learn – An Equal Start on the Path of Education development programme. The programme, which will run from 2020 to 2022, is the Government term’s most significant package for the development of early childhood education and care and basic education.

20.1.2023 | After a COVID-induced hiatus, the Educa Fair is being held once again at Messukeskus Helsinki on 27–28 January. The Ministry of Education and Culture’s stand can be found in area 6n60. Minister of Education Li Andersson, Minister of Science and Culture Petri Honkonen and Permanent Secretary Anita Lehikoinen will be visiting the Ministry's stand on both days of the fair.

15.2.2023 | The Ministry of Education and Culture published on Wednesday 15 February an Outlook Review of the Officials of the Ministry of Education and Culture on the Next Government Term.  In the future, too, Finland’s success, wellbeing and sustainable growth can only be based on the growth of human and social capital and innovation.

12.5.2022 | The Teacher Education Development Programme for 2022-2026 aims to meet the new needs of teacher education in the context of the 2020s. The revised programme was published on Thursday 12 May.

5.8.2021 | The Ministry of Education and Culture and the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) have updated their recommendations on how to organise early childhood education and care, primary and lower secondary education, upper secondary education and higher education. The autumn term will start with the same health security practices as before: good hygiene and ventilation will be ensured; unnecess...

12.10.2021 | The Ministry of Education and Culture and the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare have issued new health security recommendations for early childhood education and care, schools, educational institutions and higher education institutions, taking into account the amendments to the Communicable Diseases Act and the transition to local and regional measures when lifting the restrictions. The recommendati...

14.1.2021 | The recommendations of the Forum for Developing Education and Training Provision and Programmes in Early Childhood Education and Care indicate the way for developing education and training provision and programmes in early childhood education and care (ECEC). The recommendations facilitate broader cooperation between education providers and stakeholders.

4.2.2020 | On 4 February, the European Committee on Social Rights issued its ruling on a collective complaint lodged by the Central Union for Child Welfare against Finland in November 2016 concerning the restriction of children's subjective right to early childhood education and care.

16.3.2020 | In order to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, the Government has adopted policy recommendations for the providers of early childhood education and care, pre-primary education, primary and lower secondary education, general upper secondary education, vocational education and higher education . This way we can safeguard early childhood education and care as well as education and the completion of examinations and qualifications and student admissions despite the coronavirus outbreak.

16.9.2020 | The Government will create conditions for growth in competence levels and employment by extending the duration of compulsory education, allocating funding for continuous learning and lowering fees for early childhood education and care. With the proceeds from gambling services diminishing, the funding for beneficiaries will be fully secured for 2021.

4.8.2020 | The Ministry of Education and Culture and the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare have updated the instructions related to the coronavirus epidemic they issued to education providers and educational institutions in the spring. The most important thing is, also from now on, to prevent infections, ensure good hygiene, avoid unnecessary close contacts, and arrange teaching premises more spaciously than usual.

15.3.2019 | As the first ever Nordic country, Finland hosted the International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) on 14 and 15 March 2019. The Summit brought delegations of ministers and deputy ministers from 21 countries across the world to Finland. Minister of Education and Culture Sanni Grahn-Laasonen and President of the Trade Union of Education Olli Luukkainen led the Finnish delegation. Early childhood education and care was included in the Summit’s key themes, also for the first time.

6.4.2020 | The Government will continue to impose restrictions on contact teaching at all levels of education. This means that the exceptional arrangements for education will be extended until 13 May. Teaching will continue to be organised in alternative ways by means of distance learning and other similar arrangements. The Government still recommends that children in early childhood education and care, pre-primary education and in years 1 to 3 of comprehensive school education stay at home, if possible.

12.5.2020 | The Ministry of Education and Culture and the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare have issued instructions that allow the return to early childhood education and contact teaching, taking care of safety and reducing the risk of COVID-19 infection. The latest instructions concern general upper secondary education, vocational education and training, universities, universities of applied sciences and liberal education.

17.9.2019 | The Government will invest in knowledge and education with a financing package of approximately EUR 350 million for all levels of education. This investment will raise the level of skills and competence in Finland, make education more equitable and improve its quality, and enhance the wellbeing of children and young people. The Government agreed on the content of the budget proposal for 2020 in a budget session on Tuesday 17 September.