Two-year pre-primary education

Turku is taking part in a trial in which children will start pre-primary education at the age of five. The trial will be carried out by the Ministry of Education and Culture from the start of August 2021 to the end of May 2024. The trial involves children born in 2016 and 2017.

The research and the trial will be conducted by the Ministry of Education and Culture. Random sampling was used to select municipalities or areas consisting of municipalities for the ministry’s trial. In addition, the trial will also involve municipalities, or parts of municipalities, that will act as a control group and will not provide two-year pre-primary education. The ministry’s researchers have selected the day-care centres and children taking part in the trial. The families involved will be informed separately.

A child’s participation in the trial requires the consent of their guardian(s)

A child’s participation in the trial is based on the consent of the child’s guardian(s). For the children taking part in the trial, two-year pre-primary education will be compulsory in the same way as the pre-primary education currently being provided. The child’s guardian must ensure that the child takes part in the pre-primary education that is provided or meets the requirements of two-year pre-primary education in some other way. Pre-primary education is free for families.

The two-year pre-primary education trial is part of the Ministry of Education and Culture’s Right to Learn development programme.

Further information

(the links are to Finnish pages)

Ministry of Education and Culture/two-year pre-primary education trial

The Finnish National Agency for Education: News about the two year pre-primary

The municipalities and day-care centres taking part in the trial