Ask cultural instructors about studying in a general upper secondary school and the Finnish school system: a pop-up info point in Iso Omena and in Sello Library
Parent, would you like to receive more information about general upper secondary studies in Finland? What is it like to study in a general upper secondary school? What kind of opportunities do young people have after comprehensive school and upper secondary education? The cultural instructors of general upper secondary education will talk about studying and answer questions in Finnish, English, Somali, Arabic, Russian and Chinese every other Wednesday at the Iso Omena info and every other Wednesday in Sello Library during autumn 2023. Check out the schedule and come chat with them!
Throughout this autumn, cultural instructors will work in Iso Omena every other Wednesday and every other Wednesday in Sello Library from 12.00 noon to 2.00 pm, from 6th September to 29th November.
Cultural instructors will help you with all your questions concerning studies in a general upper secondary school. In addition to Finnish and English, they can serve you in their mother tongue, i.e., Arabic, Somali, Chinese and Russian.
The cultural instructors of general upper secondary education may provide information on the following topics:
The Finnish education system
- Applying for general upper secondary education and joint application to upper secondary education
- Finnish general upper secondary school culture
- Higher education after the matriculation examination
Where?
- In Iso Omena the Service Centre is located on the third floor of the shopping centre, right next to the library, Kela and Employment Espoo.
- In Sello Library cultural instructors have the info point in the lobby.
There is no need to make an appointment in advance and advice is free of charge. It’s convenient to stop by the pop-up info point when taking care of your other affairs.
Cultural instructors help young people with an immigrant background and their parents on the study path
- Last spring, a lot of questions were asked in the Pop-up info, e.g. about the Finnish education system, how to apply to upper secondary school in a joint application and what support and guidance upper secondary schools offer,”, explains Shan Zhu project planner of ‘Ohjauksella onnistumisiin’ project.
- Finnish upper secondary school is not a familiar concept to all parents who speak a foreign language. The multilingual pop-up counseling of the high school's cultural instructors enables low-threshold advice and discussion of the Finnish school system for parents, so that the young person can get the best possible support from home for e.g. high school studies, says Ulla-Kaisa Pihlaja, Communications specialist, Immigrant Guidance and Advisory Services.
Since autumn 2022 different methods of cultural guidance have been piloted to support and guide young people with an immigrant background in applying for general upper secondary education, progressing in studies and higher education. Four cultural instructors of general upper secondary education work in the ‘Ohjauksella onnistumisiin’ project funded by the Finnish National Agency for Education. These cultural instructors represent the largest immigrant language groups in Espoo and have multicultural backgrounds, as do most of their clients. Read more about the cultural instructors’ work to promote integration.
- When the number of high school students with an immigration background increases, it is important that the cultural instructors have been able to stop and answer the questions that concern students and guardians, guide them to the right information and support in problem situations, says Education Service Manager Jaakko Turpeinen.
In addition to young people, more and more parents who have not gone to school in Finland need support and guidance with general upper secondary education. Now they will be assisted by new cultural instructors, whom the guardians of general upper secondary school students will meet or have met at parent-teacher meetings in general upper secondary schools.
Pop-up info point for cultural guidance, general upper secondary school
where: Iso Omena shopping centre, Service Centre 3rd floor (Suomenlahdentie 1, Espoo) and Sello Library’s Lobby (Leppävaarankatu 9, Espoo)
when: Wednesdays from 12.00 noon to 2.00 pm
6.9. In Finnish, English, Somali and Arabic(Iso Omena)
13.9. In Finnish, English, Somali and Russian (Sello)
20.9. In Finnish, English, Russian and Chinese (Iso Omena)
27.9. In Finnish, English, Somali and Chinese (Sello)
4.10. In Finnish, English, Russian and Somali (Iso Omena)
11.10. In Finnish, English, Russian and Arabic (Sello)
18.10. In Finnish, English, Arabic and Chinese (Iso Omena)
25.10. In Finnish, English, Somali and Chinese (Sello)
1.11. In Finnish, English, Somali and Arabic (Iso Omena)
8.11. In Finnish, English, Russian and Arabic (Sello)
15.11. In Finnish, English, Arabic and Chinese (Iso Omena)
22.11. In Finnish, English, Russian and Arabic (Sello)
29.11. In Finnish, English, Somali and Chinese (Iso Omena)