Own native language instruction

We have native language groups, for example, in the following languages: Albanian, Amharic, Arabic, Bengali, Bosnian/Serbian/Croatian, Bulgarian, Czech, Dutch, English, Estonian, Farsi/Dari, Filipino, French, German, Greek, Gujarati, Hindi, Hungarian, Igbo, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Kannada, Korean, Kurdish, Latvian, Lithuanian, Malayalam, Mandarin Chinese, Nepali, Pashto, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Sinhala, Somali, Spanish, Swahili, Tamil, Telugu, Thai, Tigrinya, Turkish, Ukrainian, Urdu, Vietnamese and Yoruba.

Pupils are enrolled in native language instruction for the entire duration of basic education, usually starting at the beginning of the school year. A pupil can apply for native language instruction if:

• the pupil and/or their guardian has an immigrant background related to language and culture (the pupil or guardian has moved to Finland from abroad, or the pupil is a second- or third-generation immigrant), and
• the native language of the pupil and/or their guardian is other than Finnish or Swedish.

A pupil cannot be admitted to native language instruction if the language to be taught:

• was learned through early childhood education
• was learned while living abroad
• is the second official language of the family’s former home country
• is a foreign language spoken at home
• is the language of instruction at the pupil’s school or teaching group.

Native language instruction is organised after other lessons. There are two lessons per week (90 minutes in total). A pupil can only participate in the instruction of one native language. Native language instruction may not always take place in the pupil’s own school. When this is the case, it can be arranged at a nearby school, preferably as close to home as possible, and organised in age-based groups:

grades 1–6 (or grades 1–2 and 3–6)

grades 7–9

Each pupil’s lessons can be seen in their schedule on Wilma. Guardians will not be separately informed of their children’s group. In the spring, at the end of the school year, each pupil receives a separate certificate for attending native language instruction.

Applications for native language instruction for the school year 2025–2026 can be submitted during the application period, 1 January–30 April 2025. Applications received after the deadline will not be processed. The application can be completed in Wilma under ‘Applications and Decisions’. See the video on how to fill in the application.  If the family does not yet have a Wilma account, the application form can be found at www.espoo.fi/en/childcare-and-education/forms-and-instructions.

During the school year, the groups only accept new pupils who move to Espoo in the middle of the school year.

Participation in native language instruction can be cancelled by completing a cancellation form that can be found in Wilma under ‘Applications and Decisions’. If a pupil has cancelled their participation in native language instruction and wishes to start again, they must reapply during the next application period.

A pupil who has two native languages (other than Finnish or Swedish) may change the language of instruction. Requests to change the language should be sent to oak@espoo.fi during the general application period.

If you have any questions related to native language instruction, please contact oak@espoo.fi