Everyone has a right to a safe learning environment
Everyone has a right to a safe learning environment where they can feel accepted as they are. Equality in childhood education and care, schools and educational institutions supports the well-being and studies of children, young people and adult learners. Promoting these aims is a responsibility that the Non-Discrimination Act and the Equality Act impose on the authorities, including the Finnish National Agency for Education and education providers.
"While equality is a statutory obligation it is, above all, a prerequisite for everyone feeling safe, welcome and part of the group as well as thriving in their studies. This is something we can all influence in everyday encounters. We at the Finnish National Agency for Education are committed to supporting education providers in this important work," says Paula Merikko, Acting Director General of the Finnish National Agency for Education.
The Finnish National Agency for Education has published a report that provides a snapshot of factors affecting students’ equality in vocational education and training. A similar snapshot report has not been produced before.
"Both us authorities and education providers should use the information collected for this report to plan how different learners could find education and employment paths that match their strengths,” says Laura Jauhola, Senior Adviser at the Finnish National Agency for Education.
Guidance counselling is the first step to promoting equality in vocational education and training
The level of awareness of factors that affect students' equality has improved in educational institutions in recent years. For example, harassment is identified better, and institutions have created operating models for preventing and intervening in it.
The snapshot report points out that while most students find their learning environment safe, attention should still be paid to ensuring this. Experiences of bullying and discrimination also differ by students' gender and background. For example, students belonging to sexual and gender minorities, those with a foreign background and those representing different linguistic minorities experience harassment, bullying and discrimination more often than others.
Challenges associated with students' equality persist, and goal-oriented work will be required to resolve them. Choices relating to upper secondary education continue to be strongly segregated by gender. Belonging to a sexual or gender minority and the stress and fears stemming from a minority status may also affect study and career choices.
"A question that also arises is whether children and young people with disabilities are guided to education paths indicated by their strengths, and whether their possibilities of entering and working in different occupations are examined with them. It would be important to remember that where necessary, education providers must provide for reasonable accommodation as referred to in the Non-Discrimination Act. This includes adjustments in instruction or the learning environment that enable the equal participation in the studies of a student with a disability," says Jauhola.
Education providers are responsible for the institution's equality and equity planning
Education providers have a duty to draw up equality and equity plans. However, variations in the quality and impact of the plans are great.
Information gathered from different sources on student well-being, inclusion and learning must play a key role in the planning of development measures. Each institution should identify those who are at risk of being excluded from education and the community, and the types of support measures they would need. For example, it is important to consider how language-aware instruction and guidance can help students improve their competence in the language of their qualification.
A reform of learning support will take effect in vocational education and training from 1 August 2026. To ensure that different learners' studies progress and that a path forward can be found for everyone, it is essential for educational institutions and representatives of businesses and employers to make sure that the reform is implemented in practice.
Read the snapshot report
Tools for promoting equality
The Finnish National Agency for Education helps education professionals promote equality by offering various support materials, training and projects.
The Finnish National Agency for Education is involved in the national Coordinating the Participation of Children, Young People and Families initiative, in which we support projects receiving European Social Fund + funding. The projects develop practices that support equality and inclusion in early childhood education and care, schools and institutions as well as in other services for children, young people and families.
The project website contains a large selection of materials to support professionals, including the Education path nodes tool and materials for intervening in dating violence. The website also contains plenty of materials and tips for encountering children, young people and families equally.
Review of equality and equity in vocational education and training
- To compile the newly published snapshot report, the Finnish National Agency for Education drew on previous reports and studies as well as guidelines and regulations on vocational education and training.
- The report contains information obtained from public officials and researchers as well as from interviews with minority group representatives and similar.
- While the snapshot report was published in Finnish, its summary has also been translated into Swedish and English.
- The publication is part of the EQAVET quality project 2023–2026 coordinated by the Finnish National Agency for Education and funded by the European Commission.
Further information
- Senior Adviser Laura Jauhola, Finnish National Agency for Education, firstname.lastname(at)oph.fi+358 29 5331578