Piloting extended pre-primary education in Finland: Striving for improved opportunities and decreased marginalization

Finnish pre-primary education is a bridge between non-compulsory early childhood education and compulsory primary education. Prior to 2015, free pre-primary education was the right of every child, and average enrolment rate was ninety-eight percent. In 2015 pre-primary education became not only the right but also the duty. Currently, pre-primary education lasts one year, and it…

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Finnish preschool children learn through play and joy

My 6-year-old son started preschool this fall. In fact, he would have preferred to skip the summer vacation, because he had so much fun at the preschool orientation evening in May. In Finland pre-primary education became compulsory in August 2015. However, about 96 % of six-year-olds attended already when pre-primary education was voluntary. In Finland…

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