A bottleneck in the Finnish education system is leaving some 16-year-olds with nowhere to go.
In Helsinki last year, about 100 students finished their English-language schooling last year while 175 completed bilingual Finnish-English basic education, according to figures from the City of Helsinki.
But after that, there is a shortage of places for 16-year-olds in English-language education.
The problem is most acute in the capital, with the city offering 100 places in International Baccalaureate classes and 60 spots in a bilingual Finnish-English stream.
There are also lukio places available in private upper secondary schools, but these tend to be some of the most sought-after in the country, or charge exorbitant fees. In 2022 Helsingin Suomalainen Yhteiskoulu admitted candidates with average grades of 9.42, while those applying to Kulosaaren yhteiskoulun lukio had to sit an entrance exam. Tuition fees at the International School of Helsinki run to more than 16,000 euros per year.
Shwetha Ariyadka's son missed out on a place in an upper secondary school. She says it's a problem Finland needs to look at if more highly-skilled immigrants are going to move here.
"We have a perception abroad that Finland has the best education system, so we think that everything is taken care of here when you move. But I did not know that after ninth grade, between this crucial period of 10th to 12th grades, there are not many options in terms of English," Ariyadka tells Yle News.
The All Points North podcast explores what fierce competition for English-language high school places means for those left behind. Listen to the episode via this embedded player, on Yle Areena or via Spotify
Ariyadka moved to Helsinki from India with her 15-year-old son in 2020 to work as a postdoctoral researcher. She has since secured full-time employment as a scientist.
Although Ariyadka settled quickly into her home, she was struck by the contrast between her relatively easy integration into her new working environment, and the difficulties her son faced in the Finnish education system.
"I didn't find much difficulty in adjusting to this situation, and it immediately felt very much like back home," she says. "But for him, it was different."
Ariyadka's son was 15 when he moved from India, but started at one of the capital's English-language schools in 7th grade— a year lower than his age cohort.
But the real problems arose when he was in 9th grade, and had to decide what to do next. Usually, the choices facing a ninth grader in Finland are twofold: apply to upper secondary school or vocational institute.
Ending ninth grade with a GPA of 8 — considered good in Finland — Ariyadka's son did not have the requisite grades to qualify for any of the fiercely competitive English-language upper secondary schools that generally require GPAs above 9. At the same time, although his Finnish skills were improving, he was not yet at a level on par with attending a Finnish-language high school.
The 15-year-old also had very limited options to attend vocational programmes in English.
"We did not have enough choices," Ariyadka recalls, noting the importance of this stage in a child's education.
"This will decide your entire future," she adds.
Educational experts agree that decisions made at 15 and 16 are crucial for future success. In 2020 the Sanna Marin (SDP) government extended compulsory education in Finland to 18, saying that the measure would help tackle youth marginalisation.
Dropping out entirely at that stage is a huge risk. But doing vocational courses rather than the more academic lukio studies can also shut down options for the future.
The best — or least bad — option for Ariyadka and her son was for him to apply for a vocational training course where the instruction would be in Finnish.
Although she says he is trying his best, and slowly adapting to the language and the environment, Ariyadka concedes that he is "having difficulty" and they are considering other options.
Her son's experiences have cast a significant shadow over her own integration and attempts to settle in Finland.
Ariyadka also notes that this bottleneck in the Finnish education system will only get worse if — as Finland hopes and the Finnish economy needs — more skilled workers and their families move to Finland from abroad in the coming years.
"I do see that if someone is in a situation like this, then they will be in trouble," she says.
Problems in the pipeline
Services for immigrants and their families are going to be under the microscope in the coming years.
Finland's population increased last year, despite a record low birth rate and the highest death rate since the 1940s. Immigration from abroad was the main driver of population growth, as 34,780 more people immigrated to Finland than moved away.
Immigration was a topic of debate in the recent parliamentary elections, and 80 percent of the electorate voted for parties that support increasing work-based immigration.
That reflects the broad consensus among economists and Finnish employers. A report by business-backed think tank Etla calculated that Finland needs to triple its net migration every year over the next decade to plug the growing dependency ratio gap, while a study commissioned by the Akava Confederation found that every sector of the Finnish economy needs foreign workers.
However, as more people move to Finland, gaps in how efficiently and effectively the Finnish system integrates these workers, and their families, continue to be exposed.
Chamber of Commerce: "This is insane"
In the context of Finland needing to attract more workers from abroad, Markku Lahtinen of the Helsinki Region's Chamber of Commerce describes the focus on foreign workers as individuals — rather than incorporating their spouses and families too — as an 'insane' strategy.
He says he wants clearer information as well as better integration services to help newcomers navigate through the Finnish system.
"Overall, we should have more focused, oriented programmes for how families could settle [into Finland], and there could be a 'soft landing' service, but definitely there should be some kind of career prospects for the spouses and also for how children get their education places, in primary school and secondary level and universities," Lahtinen says.
He also says the Ministry of Education and Culture to allow upper secondary schools and vocational institutions to increase the number of courses they provide in English.
"The Ministry of Education should be more willing to increase the permit for vocational education training institutions to make it easier to implement these programs," he says.
In 2021, the ministry authorised four vocational education and training providers to use English as a language of instruction and qualifications for a set of five new qualification programmes.
The programmes included courses in management, tourism and a qualification in cleaning and property services.
According to the ministry's latest figures, over 60 permits have been granted since 2021 to vocational institutions nationwide to provide English-language courses and qualifications.
Helsinki "absolutely aware" of bottleneck issues
Satu Koistinen, a pedagogical specialist in languages and foreign language learning for the City of Helsinki, tells Yle News that education authorities in the capital are "absolutely, absolutely aware" of the changing landscape.
"Helsinki is providing lots of paths which are bilingual, so that a student can have very good skills in Finnish, and can use their knowledge in English and develop the Finnish language at the same time and vice versa," Koistinen says.
However, the matriculation exam at the end of upper secondary school must be taken in one of Finland's two official languages: Finnish or Swedish. This limits the changes the city can make to the current educational offering.
"The national curriculum requires that pupils graduating from basic education should have the abilities and the knowledge to continue into secondary education," she explains. "We cannot provide a lukio education completely in English, because at the end, the matriculation exam is in Finnish [or Swedish]."
She adds that the same principle applies to vocational education, with the same knock-on effect.
"Vocational education aims to provide professionals to the labour market immediately. There is a very strong need for the Finnish or Swedish language because a nurse, for example, needs to speak Finnish [or Swedish]," Koistinen says.
In 2017 the then-education minister Sanni-Grahn Laasonen (NCP) ordered a report on allowing students to take the matriculation exam in English. The report was compiled by the education ministry and informed a legislative proposal aimed at changing the law, but it ran aground at the parliamentary committee stage.
The proposal did not progress under Marin's government.
"The upcoming government will take a stand on the preparation of a new legislative proposal concerning the matriculation examination in English," Tiina Silander of the education ministry tells Yle News.
At present each vocational programme using English as a teaching language must be approved by the Ministry for Education, and they must also ensure their pupils learn one of Finland's national languages as well.
Despite her research into the Finnish education system before she moved with her son, Ariyadka was not aware that a student studying in English in Finland may hit a full stop when they reach the end of ninth grade.
"The thing is when you are an international citizen here in Finland, I think your opportunities are limited. Someone has to understand this and give people moving here enough information as to how to go about it if you come at a later stage," she says.
Koistinen concedes that such information is not always readily available, noting that the City of Helsinki and other equivalent authorities around the country should plug this information gap.
"We should provide more information about the different possibilities, and we should be able to reach everybody and be able to discuss with parents about each case, because every case is very unique and the goals and things that people want are completely different," she says, adding that the city has attempted to address this issue by establishing an English and bilingual services team within the city's Education Division.
Education Coordinator Janne Loisa tells Yle News that the team was set up to provide advice and guidance to English speaking people seeking education and training in Helsinki.
"We answer questions about English and bilingual education services in the city of Helsinki for all levels of education. We also receive questions about education more generally from English-speaking clients, and we will of course also answer these questions or forward the more specific questions to the experts who can answer them in more detail," Loisa explains.
The office is contactable by email [email protected] and by phone +358 9 310 76965.
Ariyadka hopes that her experience — and especially that of her 15-year-old son — will serve as a warning to others and ultimately lead to changes in the Finnish education system.
"There are a lot of welcome signs [for foreign workers to move to Finland], but then you also need to tell them what the alerts are. Especially when you move here with kids," she adds.
Additional reporting by Denise Wall.
Would you like a roundup of the week's top stories in your inbox every Thursday? Then sign up to receive our weekly email.
