Espoo will develop language teaching based on families’ wishes

The language programme for basic education refers to a plan on the offering of advanced languages in schools and how language learning is organised at different grades. An A1 language refers to the foreign language that pupils begin studying in the first grade of comprehensive school. An A2 language, on the other hand, is a voluntary foreign language that they usually begin studying in the fourth grade. The aim of the language programme reform is to increase pupils’ commitment to studying languages and to give everyone a chance to learn versatile language skills.

In a survey conducted in spring 2024, 2,385 families gave their views on language choices. According to the survey, the most popular A1 language was English, and the most wished-for A2 languages were Swedish, Spanish and German.

Guardians emphasised the importance of English as a global skill, the position of Swedish in the bilingual Finland and the widespread use of Spanish around the world. They also emphasised that it is important for all children to learn the Finnish language and to preserve their home languages.

Espoo wants to ensure that each pupil has the opportunity to choose an A2 language and that the language paths continue smoothly from primary school to lower secondary school. The starting points for development are a customer-oriented approach and taking the needs of families into consideration.

The feedback provided by the Growth and Learning Committee on 12 November has been taken into account and, as an addition, it is proposed that a school with two or more classes in each grade may offer an A2 language taught in the school as an A1 language alongside English. The school must also offer English as an A2 language for the age group in question. Groups are implemented according to the same group size requirements that apply to all language groups. The Growth and Learning Committee will discuss the matter next on 10 December 2025.