It is important to offer children arriving in Finland an opportunity to attend early childhood education and care and pre-primary education without delay. Daily life in early childhood education and care and pre-primary education with its routines and interactive relationships strengthens children's experience of security. This page contains information about how early childhood education and care and pre-primary education can support children who have fled Ukraine.
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Children from Ukraine are making their way to different parts of Finland, and refugee numbers are likely to increase further. Some Ukrainians will continue their journey from Finland to some other European country, others will move from one place of residence to another within Finland's borders, and yet others have found a more permanent place of residence straight after arriving. Most of the refugees will certainly want to return to their homeland as quickly as possible, but no one knows when this could happen.

Those who have fled Ukraine can apply for temporary protection. For more information on the principles governing Ukrainians’ entry into Finland, see the websites of the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Education and Culture and the Finnish Immigration Service.

Early childhood education and care and pre-primary education have a significant impact on the child's learning capacity, linguistic skills and building a feeling of safety in their daily life. In early childhood education and care and pre-primary education, an effort is made to create an atmosphere of security, inclusion, appreciation and caring for the child.

The new provisions on support in early childhood education and care added to the Act on Early Childhood Education and Care entered into force on 1 August 2022. Under this Act, children have the right to receive support that addresses their needs for their development, learning and well-being. Timely, individually targeted and needs-based support promotes the child's development, learning and well-being. It also prevents the child's problems from growing and taking on more diverse forms as well as the risk of social exclusion. ECEC providers must engage in multidisciplinary cooperation with social welfare and health care. The practices of this cooperation are agreed upon locally. In ECEC, multidisciplinary cooperation with such actors as the child health clinic promotes the child's holistic well-being.

Children of pre-primary education age who have fled Ukraine have a right to pre-primary education, adequate support for their growth and learning as soon as the need for support arises, and pre-primary level pupil welfare services referred to in the Basic Education Act on the same grounds as other children attending pre-primary education. Responsibility for the welfare of the pre-primary education community rests first and foremost with the pre-primary education staff. The psychologist's and school social worker’s services included in pupil welfare services provide each pupil with personalised support according to their needs.

Given the uncertainty and unpredictability caused by the war, flexibility must be the aim in the provision of ECEC and pre-primary education. The key principles of ECEC and pre-primary education in terms of promoting the well-being of children fleeing Russia’s attack are their right to their own language, culture and worldview, as well as to a secure environment and safe adults.

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A child receiving temporary protection benefits from regular participation in day-care centre or family day care activities and has an opportunity to be part of a peer group with support provided by experts in early childhood education and care. Early childhood education and care offers care and a safe place to grow in, especially when the child's family has faced difficult experiences. In regular day-care centre activities and family day care, the child can be offered sustained support for their development, learning and well-being, should this be required to address the child's need for support.

The municipality can also offer open early childhood education and care to children receiving temporary protection. Open ECEC also offers opportunities for closer involvement of the child's guardians, enabling the child to get to know the peer group with their parent.

Temporary protection does not entitle a person to a municipality of residence. If the guardian has a municipality of residence in Finland, they can apply for a place in municipal early childhood education and care for their child. If the guardian does not have a municipality of residence in Finland, they can be treated as a resident of the municipality in which they live. Some of the children receiving temporary protection are assigned a municipality of residence in Finland directly if one of their family members has a municipality of residence in this country. These children have a subjective right to early childhood education and care organised by the municipality.

Children receiving temporary protection and those seeking asylum are entitled to early childhood education and care organised by the municipality if, for example, their guardian is working or studying, or for other similar reasons. Early childhood education and care must also be provided in an urgent situation or when this is otherwise required by the circumstances. When organising early childhood education and care, however, the child's best interests must always be the primary concern, and the provision of early childhood education and care must be based on an individual assessment of the child's needs.

The municipality has a duty to provide advice and guidance related to the ECEC services available in the municipality, and municipalities are encouraged to also offer early childhood education and care to children receiving temporary protection.

When a family and a child have been granted asylum, the child is entitled to early childhood education and care organised by the municipality on an equal footing with other children who have a municipality of residence in Finland. Should they wish, the family may also use private early childhood education and care services.
 

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Ukrainian children arriving in this country may be provided with instruction preparing them for basic education before they transition to pre-primary or basic education. Provisions on the minimum hours of this instruction are laid down in section 3 of the Basic Education Decree (at minimum 900 hours for children aged 6 to 10, and at minimum 1,000 hours for children aged over 10 years).

A child attending this instruction has a right to transition to basic education or pre-primary education even before the minimum number of hours is reached if they are ready to manage in these forms of education. The decisions about forming teaching groups in instruction preparing for basic education are made by the education provider. Consequently, group-based instruction preparing for basic education can, for example, be organised in a separate teaching group or inclusively in a joint group with basic education or pre-primary education pupils.

The municipality may, at its discretion, provide instruction preparing for basic education at a school or in an early childhood education and care unit. A private organisation or foundation has a right to provide instruction preparing for basic education and pre-primary education if it has been granted an authorisation to provide education as referred to in section 7 of the Basic Education Act which also includes the right to provide pre-primary education and instruction preparing for basic education. (Read more about the instruction preparing for basic or pre-primary education and its financing.)
 

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Under the Constitution of Finland, each person living in Finland has the right to maintain and develop their own language and culture. This is why it is important to support Ukrainian children in preserving their mother tongue in early childhood education and care and pre-primary education. The mother tongue can be defined in several different ways: it can be the first language a person learned or, for example, the language that they know best or identify with. A person may have more than one mother tongues. Mother tongue is also a tool for preserving and transferring culture. Ukrainian children in pre-primary education can participate in the instruction of their mother tongue if pre-primary education is provided in connection with basic education.

In early childhood education and care and pre-primary education, the staff provide a linguistic model for the children, which is why language awareness is important in pedagogical activities. It is important that the staff understand the key importance of language for children's development and learning, interaction and cooperation, and for building their identities and belonging to society.

The National core curriculum for early childhood education and care discusses key areas of children’s linguistic development.
 

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In instruction of Finnish/Swedish as a second language, it is important to account for the situation of Ukrainian families. Many families hope that they can return to Ukraine as soon as possible. Children from Ukraine may have one or more home languages. Early childhood education and care and pre-primary education have an important role in children's learning of Finnish and Swedish. The activities in early childhood education and care and pre-primary education support the development of the child's language proficiency, self-esteem, linguistic and cultural identities and social relationships. Early childhood education and care and pre-primary education support the child’s integration in Finnish society.

Regular instruction of Finnish/Swedish as a second language supports the child's linguistic development. Concrete everyday language and its resource of expressions are the starting point for learning the Finnish or Swedish language. Language comprehension and production skills develop in connection with one another. Children learn to make observations as well as express their ideas, emotions, and opinions in a manner that is suitable for the situation and natural to them. Familiarisation with and learning of Finnish or Swedish related to the child’s linguistic development should not be compared to support provided in early childhood education and care. If the child is struggling with their language development even if they have received goal-oriented instruction in Finnish/Swedish as a second language and been exposed to high-quality Finnish/Swedish as a second language, the child may need support. The guardian may also bring up concerns related to the development of the child's mother tongue.  

Instruction of Finnish/Swedish as a second language is provided in connection with early childhood education and care activities and in all the different situations during the day, such as play, meals and transition situations. The child's Finnish or Swedish skills are developed, and the child is supported in expressing themselves. The ECEC and pre-primary education staff have the task of modelling Finnish or Swedish for the child in different situations. To support language learning, such aids as images, objects or drawing can be used. The child should be helped to understand what happens next in the day-care centre or family day-care, to express their wishes and to ask for help. The child is gradually given opportunities to practise listening, talking and expressing their thoughts and opinions also in Finnish or Swedish. As far as possible, opportunities to use and learn their mother tongue(s) may also be organised for the child in ECEC or pre-primary education.

Consulting early childhood education teachers who specialise in the instruction of Finnish/Swedish as a second language may also work in ECEC.
 

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Encountering a multilingual and foreign-language speaking family may seem challenging at first. However, it should be remembered that focusing and spending time on interaction build trust and understanding between ECEC or pre-primary education and the guardian. If necessary, an interpreter is used in discussions with the guardian to ensure mutual understanding.

Local practices of encountering multilingual and foreign-language speaking children and methods for goal-oriented and pedagogical promotion of language development in ECEC and pre-primary education are agreed locally.

When a child starts attending ECEC or pre-primary education, the goals, contents and methods of Finnish early childhood education and care and pre-primary education activities should be explained to the guardian. The family's linguistic environment, language choices, formation of plurilingual and multicultural identities as well as the stages and importance of the development of mother tongue(s) should also be discussed with the guardian. It is important to tell the guardian that preserving and developing the child's mother tongue(s) and culture is primarily the family's responsibility. When a child learns Finnish/Swedish, they may also start using it at home. It is important to encourage the guardian to use their mother tongue when talking to the child, despite the fact that the child may respond in Finnish/Swedish. The child’s guardians may also speak two different mother tongues, and each of them can be encouraged to speak their mother tongue with the child.

During these discussions, it may be pointed out to the guardian that they can give the child opportunities to encounter Finnish/Swedish in different ways by meeting friends and adults who speak one of these languages, for example in playgrounds and recreational activities.
 

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When a child starts attending ECEC or pre-primary education, trustful cooperation with the guardian is a priority. Building this cooperation should start as early as possible, and an initial discussion is an effective practice for this. The ECEC environment must be safe, taking into consideration the child's age, development and other preconditions. The fact that violence, bullying or other harassment are not allowed in early childhood education and care or pre-primary education is discussed with the guardian. It is important for the guardian to know that they have a right to bring up any shortcomings they encounter. It is also a good idea to agree with the guardian on what aspects of their situation the staff are allowed to talk about and what they would like the rest of the child group and other guardians know.

When a child starts getting to know and attending ECEC or pre-primary education, time must be allowed for the child to get used to the new environment.
 

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Among Ukrainian refugees, there are persons who have competence and experience in working in early childhood education and care and/or pre-primary education. The ECEC provider can investigate and plan for possibilities of such persons working in a day-care centre, family day-care or group family day care.

Some guardians do not find it necessary for their children to learn Finnish or Swedish when they arrive in Finland. Learning a new language takes time, and some guardians may think that they will return to their home country with their child quite soon. Ukrainian workers can support the development of the child’s mother tongue(s) in early childhood education and care. Regardless of the worker's Finnish or Swedish proficiency, they may have a great deal of valuable competence needed for working in early childhood education and care.
 

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For more information about supporting the early childhood education and care and pre-primary education of children who have fled Ukraine, contact: varhaiskasvatus [at] oph.fi 


 

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