The number of schools with Muslim pupils is steadily increasing. As a result, some schools are taking a stance on children fasting during Ramadan which began on Friday.
Ville Raatikainen, head of Basic Education at the City of Helsinki, told Finnish news agency STT that the city has instructed its schools on how to approach Ramadan fasting.
That said, a school in Helsinki asked parents of young pupils to limit fasting to weekends or afternoons when there is no schoolwork.
Päivi Lyhykäinen of the teacher trade union OAJ said she agreed with this guidance, noting that another school had discussed Ramadan during a morning assembly.
"This is cultural education for the whole student body," she explained.
No big deal
But not all schools have felt compelled to provide guidelines on Ramadan, as seen at the Ahvenisjärvi School in Tampere.
"The school cannot take a stance on whether pupils should participate in fasting during Ramadan or not," said Marika Korpinurmi, the school's principal.
Of the city's schools, Ahvenisjärvi has the highest number of Muslim pupils, making Ramadan a relatively common religious observance.
"It doesn't cause or require any special arrangements. We have not sent any specific guidance to the guardians regarding fasting. We also haven't observed any situation where Muslim pupils have monitored other Muslim pupils' fasting," she added.
According to Korpinurmi, the youngest children at her school do not fast during Ramadan.
"But if a young pupil's fasting were to cause issues at school, the teacher would call the child's parents and discuss the matter with them," she said.
Ramadan fasting involves not eating during daylight hours. When Ramadan overlaps with Finland's summer months, it presents a particularly challenging test, as daylight lasts nearly the entire day.
However, Muslims typically follow the times for sunrise and sunset in Mecca, Islam's holy city, even while observing the fast in Finland.
