Finnish language courses aimed at stay-at-home parents are established as part of Espoo’s integration services

Since 2023, we have developed a service concept that allows immigrant stay-at-home parents, often mothers, to study a language during family leave. Three operators are part of the close cooperation: Koto-Espoo, which provides integration services for persons outside the labour force, open early childhood education and Omnia.

Koto-Espoo is responsible for coordinating the courses and service packages, customer guidance and communications. In addition to the courses, Koto-Espoo also provides its customers personal guidance and information on various services in Espoo.

Omnia is responsible for the high-quality teaching of Finnish, language testing, etc. City of Espoo open early childhood education provides its core competence, that is, high-quality early childhood education and care. For the duration of the courses, we offer club activities for children over the age of 1. For the parents of babies, we organise separate baby courses on which the child and the parent attend the teaching together.

We offer courses of different levels in Matinkylä and Espoon keskus. Those who are interested in studying Swedish will be referred to language courses organised by other operators.

Often, the lack of childcare prevents stay-at-home parents from attending language courses and postpones language learning. “Especially in families with many children, mothers may have stayed at home for several years without getting the taste for studying the language. On the other hand, the parents themselves need language proficiency because they want to understand their children’s matters and sphere of life,” describes Matleena Anttila, Service Supervisor at Koto-Espoo.

The children’s club plays an essential role in allowing parents to study. The mother or father can focus on studying in peace when the child is in safe care with professionals. In children’s club activities, children and parents familiarise themselves with early childhood education and gain good experiences of it. This also increases later application to an early childhood education and daycare centre and thus also the parents’ transition to working life.

The children’s club activities have received excellent customer feedback. Parents praise the friendliness and care of the early childhood education professionals. From past experience, we also know that parents’ trust in childcare is critical. If childcare is not considered trustworthy, parents may easily drop out of the course. In addition, many parents emphasise that without childcare, they would not have any access to a language course.

“At first, we had challenges in finding suitable facilities, and cooperation between three operators requires a lot of agreement and compromises. For example, different operators are guided by different laws. However, we have been able to reach agreement on it all. The benefit of customer families and the benefit from the operations have been clear to everyone from the outset,” Anttila explains the achievements of the development work.

According to the customers, the benefits of attending the courses are clear. In addition to language learning, social contacts between both children and adults are considered important. Some say that they have even been given a reason to venture outside the home. The participants also emphasise that they have gained more courage to use the language in their daily lives. They don’t have to be afraid of grammar mistakes, and they don’t have to be nervous about speaking anymore. The courses also support the maintenance of previously acquired Finnish language skills during family leave.

One of the seven main objectives of the Espoo story is that Espoo succeeds in the opportunities and challenges of internationalisation. Indeed, language courses supported by childcare contribute to this strategic goal. The operations support the parents’ employment, the children’s participation in early childhood education, and the entire family’s integration into Finnish society.

The model for Finnish language courses for stay-at-home parents has been developed in the From Home to Work project, which began in 2023. The project was funded by the EU Social Fund (ESF) until 2025, but the operations have now become established as a permanent integration service in Espoo. The reform of the Act on the Promotion of Immigrant Integration, in which municipalities’ responsibility for organising integration services for persons outside the labour force has been increased, has also contributed to this.

Matleena Anttila, Service Manager at Koto-Espoo

matleena.anttila(at)espoo.fi, tel. +358 40 6364935

More information on Finnish courses aimed at stay-at-home parents.