How to apply for a transfer
If you would like to transfer your child to another daycare centre or group family daycare centre or to a different type of service, submit a transfer application on the Edlevo e-service.
We process the transfer applications twice a year: in October and in April-May.
The twice-a-year rule does not apply in following situations:
- You are applying to the same daycare centre or location where the child’s sibling is.
- Your transfer application concerns early childhood education with extended hours (i.e. evening, night and weekend care).
- Your child’s current place is located more than 1.5 kilometres away from your home address or a future home address following a planned move.
- You want to change the language of instruction, i.e. change from a Finnish-language daycare centre to a Swedish-language daycare centre or vice versa. Note that your preferred daycare centres must all have a same language of instruction.
In the above cases, we will process your transfer application as soon as possible after receiving it.
You can submit a transfer application at any time of the year. Your requested transfer date will affect the placement.
When can I apply for a transfer?
Apply for a transfer on the day your child’s early childhood education begins, at the earliest.
If you would like to transfer your child sooner, select urgent when filling in your application. This allows you to choose a date no earlier than 14 days from the date of application. You do not have to attach proof for the urgency in the transfer application.
The desired transfer date will serve as the basis for processing your application, but the transfer may not necessarily take place on that date. If necessary, the Service Guidance team may specify the start date and contact you to agree on the best start date for your family for the application.
We process transfer applications in accordance with the grounds for granting early childhood education places.
If you want to keep your transfer application valid, you cannot cancel your current early childhood education place. You also cannot cancel your child’s early childhood education place before the transfer takes place if you want the transfer to remain valid. The client fee is always charged from the start date of early childhood education, even if you do not use the early childhood education place you have accepted.
How transfer application affects my child’s current place
When your child is designated a new place at another daycare centre, you automatically lose your place at the current daycare centre.
If you have applied for a transfer but later decide that you do not want it, you must immediately withdraw your application. Otherwise, you will lose your current place once the transfer application has been processed. We will not send you a notification when your application is taken into processing.
The only exception to this is when your family is moving. If you have applied for a transfer to another daycare because your family is moving, but you are offered a place at a daycare centre that does not match your preferences, we will confirm with you whether you accept this place. This will allow you to consider whether transferring your child to the other daycare centre is in your child’s best interests.
Cancelling a place in early childhood education
If you wish to cancel your child’s early childhood education place, inform the daycare centre manager in writing as soon as possible. This way, we can give the place to the next child on the waiting list.
Suspending early childhood education
After your child has spent one semester, or approximately four months, in early childhood education, you can temporarily suspend your child’s early childhood education. Please notify the manager of your child’s daycare centre of the suspension and its duration at least one month in advance. The minimum duration of a suspension is four months, and the maximum duration is two years plus the summer months of June and July.
After the suspension, your child can go back to the same daycare centre if there is room for the child and enough staff available. It is important that you let your child’s daycare centre know the end date of the suspension at least two months before your child is to return. If you wish to continue the suspension beyond the end date, notify the daycare centre of this at least two months before the end date.
Your child can return to early childhood education earlier than the planned end date only for a justified reason.
During the suspension, your child can participate in club activities organised by the municipality. You can receive child home care allowance for a child under the age of three and a supplement for any siblings over the age of three but under school age.
Parental leave
The parents and guardians of children under the age of two may take parental leave.
At the earliest, a child can get a place in early childhood education from the beginning of the calendar month in which the child turns nine months old. A child’s enrolment in early childhood education is not dependent on the parent or guardian having used up their days of parental allowance. Parents and guardians can get parental allowance for periods of their choosing until the child turns two years old.
If the child is in daycare or other type of early childhood education, the child has a right to attend that same place after a maximum of 13 weeks of continuous absence due to parental leave. Early childhood education must also be provided for the period during which parental allowance is paid partially due to part-time work. If the parent(s) or guardian(s) are on partial parental leave for one day, only half a day of parental allowance is used up. Parents and guardians must submit a Kela decision on parental leave to the manager of the daycare centre to receive a free early childhood education period. The Kela decision will be later returned to the family or disposed of securely.
For absences of more than five days, the parent or guardian must notify the daycare centre at least one month before the planned start date of the absence.
Read more
Parental allowance on Kela’s website(Link leads to external service)
Reporting absences during parental leave
If your child is absent for more than five days, notify the daycare centre at least one month before the planned start date of the absence. Absences of more than five days may be one-off, continuous or recurring. No early childhood education fee is charged during absences.
If your child is regularly absent for periods of 1–5 days, notify the daycare centre one week before the first absence. As this is a continuous and regular arrangement, it is sufficient to give notice only before the first absence. You will not be charged the early childhood education fee during your child’s regular absences.
You do not have to report one-off absences of up to five days. Please note that they are not free of charge as specified in the Act on Client Fees in Early Childhood Education and Care.
Regular and scheduled absences help ensure that early childhood education is organised and beneficial for the child, their peers, and the staff.
Regular and pre-arranged absences allow early childhood education to be carried out in a planned way for the child, the other children and the staff.