Every year, the Finnish National Agency for Education (EDUFI) sends 15-20 Finnish students on trainee placements abroad to universities teaching Finnish.

EDUFI traineeships abroad are meant for students in higher education and recently graduated higher education students. You need to meet the general application criteria to apply for an EDUFI traineeship. The criteria include Finnish citizenship or permanent residence in Finland. This means that if you are in Finland only for studying or another temporary reason, you are not eligible for an EDUFI traineeship position.

Due to the Russian invasion of the Ukraine, Russian and Belarusian universities cannot apply for trainee teachers for the time being.

Trainees are Finnish university students of Finnish language, Finno-Ugric languages or Finnish literature or newly graduated students of those subjects.

Traineeships last 1 to 3 months.

The trainees can, for example,

  • assist in teaching
  • run conversation classes
  • collect and prepare teaching material
  • assess exams
  • supervise students
  • run a library.

A traineeship should be supervised. A trainee should have a named supervisor, normally a lecturer of Finnish language and culture.
 

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We will announce the start of the application periods on the suomi-opettajat mailing list. If your university offers Finnish language and culuture courses you are welcome to join the teachers' mailing list. Please send your information and a request to join to the list to skk (at) oph.fi

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Universities will be informed about the selection in February/March and June/July.

Selection will be based on information provided in the applications.

The following will be considered as advantages to your application:

  • the university does not have a native Finnish teacher
  • the university has not had an EDUFI trainee in the past two years, and
  • the university will contribute to the accommodation or other costs of the trainee.

In addition, during the selection process, we will pay attention to if the university can get a trainee through another programme, and if the university is applying primarily for a trainee or a teacher.

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You may apply for a traineeship if you:

  • have native-level proficiency in Finnish
  • are a Finnish citizen or a permanent resident of Finland
    (The primary purpose of your stay in the country cannot be studies or any other temporary reason.)
  • study university courses in Finnish language as your major, minor, or elective subject. Applicants who are further along in their studies will be given priority.
  • may also be a recent graduate, meaning no more than one year has passed since completing your degree at the beginning of the traineeship
  • have studies that correspond to the wishes of the host university (e.g., Finnish language, Finno-Ugric linguistics, Finnish as a second language, literature, pedagogy, or another language or cultural subject)

If you have already received an EDUFI grant to another traineeship programme, you are not able to apply again.

If you are a recipient of an Erasmus grant, you cannot simultaneously receive a grant for a teaching traineeship.

Wrongly awarded grants can be recovered.
 

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EDUFI organizes two application rounds every year, the first of which starts in February and the second in September. 

You can apply for a traineeship in two locations at the same time. Please note: you will need to be prepared to take up a placement in either of these places; we will only send your application to one place at a time.

Application annexes required:

  • CV
  • transcript of study records
  • motivational letter and
  • a letter of recommendation from a teacher.

The CV, transcript of study records and motivational letter should be sent together with the online application form. They can be written in Finnish. If you wish, you can also write your motivational letter in the other working language of the trainee placement.

You will also need a letter of recommendation in Finnish (an assessment of your progress in your studies and your suitability for the traineeship in question) from a teacher in your subject. You can send the letter of recommendation by post together with the paper version of your application, or the teacher can send it directly to the contact person in EDUFI by email.

Online application form and application guidance: link to be updated at a later date.

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We will send each host university applications from 1 to 3 students. The university will make the final selection.

Information about candidates will be sent in October/November when the traineeship starts between January and June.

Information about candidates will be sent in April when the traineeship starts between July and December.

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EDUFI will award the trainee a grant that will be paid to the bank account of the trainee. 

In most cases, trainees are responsible for covering their own accommodation in the host country as well as travel expenses. However, we hope that the host university will contribute to the accommodation costs.

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Both the university and the trainee will send a report on the traineeship to the person responsible for the programme at EDUFI.

Attachments
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Descriptions of the available positions can be found on the Finnish-language page: oph.fi/harjoittelu-opetuspisteissa 

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Contact person: Merja Koski

Contact us: skk(at)oph.fi

 

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