The 13th OECD Rural Development Conference was held in Cavan, Ireland on 28-30 September 2022 under the theme "Building Sustainable, Resilient and Thriving Rural Places". These are the presentations from the Conference parallel session "Innovative Ways to Deliver Education and Skills Training in Rural Areas ". For more information visit https://www.oecd.org/rural/rural-development-conference/.

1. Innovative Ways to Deliver
Education and Skills Training
in Rural Areas
Examples of co-development projects from Finland
22.9.2022 Mari Sjöström, @MariSjostrom

2. Education system in Finland – municipality
perspective
2
Source: Ministry of education and culture
• A decentralized education system.
• The municipalities organise services for their residents.
Most of these services are defined by law as being
duties of local government.
• Municipalities statutory duties in education are to
provide
• ECEC for children under school age
• Pre-primary education (one year)
• In 105 of 293 municipalities are also participation in a trial for a
two-year long pre-primary education (2021-2024)
• Basic education (beginning of compulsory education)
• Comprises 9 years of comprehensive school
• Municipalities must finance upper secondary education,
but can decide if to provide:
• general upper secondary education
• vocational education and training
• Municipalities has also an important role (non-statutory
duty):
• Basic education in arts
• Liberal adult education
• Universities of Applied Science

3. Many current phenomenoms in the
society affect municipalities and its
duties within education and culture
• demographic change (ageing
population, declining birth rate etc.)
• change of working life (skills
mismatch etc.)
• sustainable public economy
• digitalisation
• tackling current crisis
These challenges needs to be
recognised and solved because there is
a strong will to maintain availability
and accessibility of education and
lifelong learning in all parts of Finland.

4. 8 education consortium’s
4 limited companies
1 university for applied sciences
4 others organisations
Education as service
project by AFLRA
2020-2021
13 project
areas
44
municipalities

5. 5
From separate
educational
institutions
and units
towards more
flexibel and
efficient use of
facilities
Digital
solutions as
part of public
educational
ecosystem.
Use of other
learning
environments:
Companies,
workplaces
Education as a service: Local and regional educational
ecosystems providing versitale learning opportunities for
students
Student in focus
Providing versitale
education as a service
that enhances learning
Education as a service
• Student in focus instead of
educational institutions.
• Common aim to find solutions
that creates the best possible
educational opportunities for
the students to learn and
study in the region.
• Co-operation between
municipalities and education
providers, decentralisation of
facilities, use of digital
solutions and other learning
environments is seen as part
of creating future learning
communities and sustainable
educational ecosystems.

6. 6
Functional model
• Education providers provide e.g.
joint courses for students
• Even co-operation models for
resourcing (facilities, materials,
teaching staff etc.)
• Agreement based co-operation
• Case Upper-Savonia region: co-
operation between general upper
secondary education and
vocational education and training
that benefits students
Networking model
• Independent educational
actors with ”own” finances
• Formed structures to share
information regulary
• Co-development projects a
possibility for these
networks
• Case Närpiö city and
Federation of Swedish
Municipalities in Ostrobothnia
for Education and Culture
Structural and
administrative co-operation
• Responsibility for education in
the region is transferred from
several education providers to
one provider
• Agreement based co-operation
(joint municipality authorities)
• Case Southern Ostrobothnia
region
Results of the project:
New co-operation
forms between
education providers

7. AFLRA’s New project
Towards comprehensive
school networks -
developing versatile ways for
municipalities to co-operate
2022-2024

8. FUTURE:
How and when is a
“network-like” model
to organize basic
education a beneficial
solution for all parties?
Vision towards 2040
CURRENT STATE OF
MUNICIPALITY BASED
COMPREHENSIVE SCHOOLS
POLARISED DEVELOPMENT
CONTINUES
IN THE FUTURE: REGIONAL NETWORKS OF
SCHOOLS TO SUPPORT MUNICIPALITY BASED
BASIC EDUCATION
CO-OPERATION AND NETWORKS
How can we together
offer the best
teaching and support
for students in
schools?
How can we get enough of
students to existing schools?
How should we act when
student needs become more
diverse and our
neighbourhoods more
differentiated?
Where to get teaching staff
and other experts to the
municipality?
Pedagogical
solutions,
digitalisation
Common school
network
School communities
co-operate,
common learning
environments

9. 9
Municipalities in the project
• All pilot areas have formed locally or regionally goals for co-operation to be worked on
during the project years 2022-2024. The results can be used widely in all parts of Finland.
• Päijät-Häme region: Asikkala, Hartola, Heinola, Hollola, Iitti, Kärkölä, Lahti, Orimattila,
Padasjoki, Sysmä
• Riihimäki region: Hausjärvi, Loppi, Riihimäki
• Tampere and Satakunta region: Ikaalinen, Ylöjärvi, Jämijärvi, Parkano, Hämeenkyrö
• Swedish schools in Finnish municipalities (called language islands in mainland Finland):
Vihti, Nurmijärvi, Hämeenlinna, Kerava, Hyvinkää, Tuusula
• A parallel project to language island project: municipality of Tuusula
• Lapland: Salla municipality and The Teacher Training School of the University of Lapland
• Fell Lapland: Kittilä, Kolari, Muonio
• Savo and Central Finland region: Vesanto, Rautalampi, Keitele, Pielavesi, Suonenjoki, Tervo,
Konnevesi
• South-West region: Kemiönsaari, Parainen
• South-Savo region: Savonlinna, Enonkoski
10 pilot areas
39 municipalities

10. www.localfinland.fi
Mrs Mari Sjöström
mari.sjostrom@kuntaliitto.fi
Tel. +358 50 575 8622
Twitter @MariSjostrom
Thank you.
www.localfinland.fi