The Education Division's advisory services provide general guidance via telephone Mon-Fri 10.00–12.00 and 13.00–15.00, and at the office on Tuesdays and Thursdays 10.00–12.00 and 13.00–15.00 at Työpajankatu 8, 00580 Helsinki.

Extended compulsory education

A child is entitled to extended compulsory education if they will not be able to achieve the prescribed goals of education in nine years because of a severe disability or illness.

A child entitled to extended compulsory education is also approved for special support. Both of these decisions are made by the early childhood education district manager.

The decision on extended compulsory education is usually made before compulsory education begins, meaning before the child is six years old. The child’s guardians decide whether the child enters pre-primary education at age five, meaning a year before compulsory education begins

Application for extended compulsory education, PDF in Finnish

Pre-primary education for 6-year-olds may last 1–2 years, and it is organised in a daycare centre. The child will enter school when they start 1st grade. When necessary, the child may start school a year later.

Further information is provided by your child’s daycare centre and the region’s itinerant special needs early childhood education teacher.