Education and training

Learning goals

School is a key part of the life of children and young people. What is it like to go to school in Finland? How are immigrant children and young people taken into account at different levels of study? Many adult immigrants study in Finland, for example, to learn Finnish or Swedish, to supplement their skills or to learn a new profession. What opportunities are there for adult education in Finland?

After completing this section, the participant of the civic orientation will:

• be familiar with the basic features of the Finnish education system
• understand the basics of pre-primary education
• understand what school life is like in Finland
• know about educational choices for young people and adults in Finland
• know what kind of support there is for the education and studies of children, young people and adults in Finland.

Case study

Halima has just turned 18. She came to Finland through family reunification and lives with her parents. Halima’s father, mother, and her four younger siblings are all in Finland. Halima has completed general upper secondary education (lukio) in her previous home country, and she would like to study to become a nurse.

Halima has planned to first attend a Finnish general upper secondary school so that she can achieve a sufficient level of language proficiency for university of applied sciences studies (ammattikorkeakouluopinnot) and gain eligibility for further education (jatko-opintokelpoisuus). After turning 18, she registers as a jobseeker and shares her plan with the employment services.

However, the service advisor says that since Halima has already completed upper secondary school in her previous country of residence, she cannot study in a Finnish upper secondary school and receive unemployment benefits. Halima wonders how she could achieve her goal of studying nursing, as her Finnish language skills are not yet sufficient.

The service advisor explains that an assessment of service needs for integration (palvelutarpeen arviointi) will now be conducted for Halima, and based on that, an integration plan (kotoutumissuunnitelma) will be created. Her skills, goals, and study readiness will be documented, and the advisor will note in the plan that the first step on Halima’s integration path is to attend integration training. There, she will have the opportunity to begin acquiring the necessary language skills for her future studies.

Halima works hard to improve her Finnish language skills during the integration training. Afterward, she applies to and is accepted into vocational education (ammatillinen koulutus) to study as a practical nurse (lähihoitaja). After working for a while as a practical nurse in a hospital, Halima applies to a university of applied sciences to study nursing. She is accepted on her second attempt. Finally, Halima’s plan comes true, and she can begin her nursing studies in Finnish. She plans to work part-time alongside her studies to support herself financially.