Two-year pre-primary education trial
Is your child participating in a two-year pre-school trial?
This is for children who have been selected for the two-year pre-primary education pilot study and who have received a letter at home regarding the trial
In pre-primary education, children are introduced to things that interest them by playing and exploring, and in other ways that are suitable for young children. The aim is for pre-primary education to open up opportunities for children to friendship, the joy of learning, and new areas of interest. The two-year duration gives children time to grow and learn at their own pace. The pilot study will collect information on the effects of two years of pre-primary education on children's developmental and learning conditions, social skills, and the formation of healthy self-esteem.
The two-year pre-primary education is free of charge. It is held four hours a day, following the working and holiday hours of basic education. In addition to two years of pre-primary education, the child can participate in supplementary early childhood education, for which there is an early childhood education fee.
The child's guardian must ensure that the child participates in two years of preprimary education at the trial site or otherwise achieves the goals of the two-year pre-primary education.
You can find your child’s appointed day care center in the letter you received at home.
Participation in the two-year pre-primary education at the pilot site requires registration.
Fill out the registration form that accompanies the letter and return it to the day care center assigned to your child by 31.3.2022. If we do not have your notice regarding the matter by the end of the application period, we will then interpret that your child will reach their two-year pre-primary education in another manner, instead of participating in the two-year try-out pre-primary education.
If your child needs early childhood education in addition to pre-primary education and the child has not been in early childhood education in Vantaa before starting the two-year pre-primary education, you must also apply for early childhood education supplementing pre-primary education. You can fill in the early childhood education application electronically in the VaSa Service or print and fill in the early childhood education paper application.
For more information on two-year pre-primary education and how to register for it, contact the day care center and early childhood education service counselors in the areas.
The pilot study is provided for by law and is part of a national research study (Ministry of Education and Culture). In a follow-up study, children participate in assessments and caregivers can be interviewed. Assessments of individual children and the results of guardian surveys are not reported in the followup study and respondents cannot be identified in any other way. Even if 3 the child does not participate in two-year pre-primary education at the pilot site, information about him or her will be stored in the pilot study registry.
The children participating in the pilot study are placed on a level for Kela benefits with the children participating in pre-primary education at the age of six.
In the case of home care allowance, this means that if the sibling of a child under the age of 3 who is entitled to home care allowance participates in pre-primary education in the pilot study, he or she will be paid the full care allowance (65.97 €/month). If he or she participates in supplementary municipal early childhood education in addition to the pre-primary pilot study, a caregiving allowance will not be paid for him or her.
Sample case studies:
- Aaltonen's 5-year-old Matias participates in pre-primary education in the pilot study. After the pre-primary education period (approx. 4 hours / day), he is in home care with his father and 2-year-old Anna, for whose home caregiving the family is paid home caregiving allowance and the so-called sibling increase. Participation in a pre-primary education experiment does not affect the benefit paid to the family.
- Mäkinen's 5-year-old Sonja participates in the pre-primary education pilot study, but after preprimary education she stays in supplementary municipal early childhood education. The mother of the Mäkinen family is at home caring for the one-year-old Maisa, from whom the family is paid home caregiving allowance and the so-called sibling increase. When Sonja participates in supplementary early childhood education, no sibling increase is paid. The pilot study has no effect on flexible or partial care money.
Participation in two-year pre-primary education is not an obstacle to receiving the Vantaa supplement.
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The trial’s objective and schedule
The objective of this trial is to reinforce educational equality, develop the quality and effectiveness of pre-primary education, review the continuums of early childhood education and care as well as initial teaching, and find out more about the effects two-year pre-primary education has on the children's development and learning capabilities, their social skills and building a healthy self-confidence.
This trial by the Ministry of Education and Culture takes place between August 2021 and May 2024.
Through a randomised selection process, Vantaa was elected as one of the municipalities chosen for the two-year pre-primary school trial. The follow-up studies of this two-year pre-primary education trial monitor and assess factors such as the trial’s implementation and pedagogical and functional practices as well as review experiences regarding the trial. The follow-up survey assesses many factors in a systematic and diverse way, such as the following:
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how has the objective of the two-year pre-primary education trial been achieved
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experiences of the children, families and education personnel concerning the trial
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the effects of longer pre-primary education of the development of the children’s learning capabilities
The municipalities participating in the trial will receive state subsidies based on the Act on a Two-Year Pre-primary Education Trial. The subsidies are paid for the first pre-primary education year of the children participating in the two-year pre-primary education.
The trial’s implementation
The trial’s implementation. The two-year pre-primary education’s impact on the children taking part in it will be monitored over the course of the trial. The children have been divided into trial and control groups for the purposes of the trial. The children in the trial group will take part in the two-year pre-primary education while the children in the control group do not. In Vantaa, the trail group comprises around 500 children and the control group about 2,200 children. The Ministry of Education and Culture has decided the groups, and the City of Vantaa has not had a say in the decisions.
The Finnish National Agency for Education has compiled the basis for the trial’s curriculum based on which the City of Vantaa has drafted a local curriculum. The curriculum of this two-year pre-primary education trial can be read via eRequirements website. The purpose of this trial is to reinforce the equality if education and develop the quality and effectiveness of pre-primary education. Additionally, the trial strives to review the continuums between pre-primary and primary education and the families’ service selection. A further goal is to find out more about the effects two-year pre-primary education has on the children's development and learning capabilities, their social skills and building a healthy self-confidence. The objectives will be achieved through play and positive learning experiences.
Locations randomly drawn by the Ministry of Education and Culture take part in the trial’s operations. The trial is intended for children born in 2016 and 2017. A latter of the opportunity to apply for the two-year pre-primary education will be sent to the children selected to the trial group. The families of children born in 2017 to whom this trial applies will be informed of the application process separately during March 2022.
The trial is also related to a national research project that helps assess the implementation and effectiveness of the pilot. Children that take part in the trial are also participating in the follow-up research Additionally, some control day care centres have been randomly selected for the research. The children from the same age groups in these centres will also take in the research.