Preparatory education for pre-primary-age children
Preparatory education for pre-primary-age children is provided in municipal Finnish speaking pre-primary education groups. Preparatory education is part of other teaching and activities in pre-primary education.
Preparatory pre-primary education is free of charge and provided for five hours a day.
You can enrol your child for preparatory education for pre-primary-age children when applying for pre-primary education, but please discuss it with the staff of your child’s day care centre first.
Children attending extended compulsory education are not entitled to preparatory education. If the child has received or later receives a decision on extended compulsory education, the child’s placement will be changed to a pre-primary education placement. The child’s pre-primary education unit may also change.
Children who speak little or no Finnish can receive preparatory pre-primary education. The goal of preparatory education is to improve the child's language skills and readiness for pre-primary and basic education. Preparatory education is only available in Finnish. Preparatory education may be provided as part of pre-primary education for children: - who were born outside Finland, and - whose Finnish language skills are not yet sufficient for pre-primary or basic education. The aim of preparatory education is to improve the child's language skills and readiness for pre-primary and basic education. The Act on Primary and Lower Secondary Education has been amended (1369/2025). Under the new legislation, municipalities may provide preparatory education only to children with a foreign background who were not born in Finland. The legislative amendment will enter into force on 1 August 2026.