Finnish municipalities join forces as pupil numbers fall
Tuesday 3rd November 2026 on 13:01 in
Finland
Five municipalities in northern Central Finland are seeking new ways to work together on basic education as the number of children declines, Yle reports. The aim is to safeguard high-quality teaching and equal learning opportunities for all pupils.
Karstula, Kannonkoski, Kinnula, Kivijärvi and Kyyjärvi, known locally as the 5K municipalities, are taking part in a national development project involving 36 regions and 174 municipalities. The two-year project has 5.7 million euros in funding and brings together municipalities, the Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities, the Finnish National Agency for Education and the Ministry of Education and Culture. Its goal is to develop lasting models for cooperation in basic education.
Karstula’s director of education and adult education centre principal, Kirsti Keihäsvuori, said falling pupil numbers risk undermining equality in education. Joint teaching posts could, for example, give pupils more language options. Cooperation could also help teachers, some of whom currently fill out their working days by teaching additional subjects.
Mira Kalalahti, an associate professor at the University of Jyväskylä’s Finnish Institute for Educational Research, said rural municipalities are concerned about recruiting qualified teachers. The need for special education teachers has also become more pressing following a change to the law on learning support.
Kalalahti said it made sense to develop cooperation models locally, rather than seek one approach for every school. Conditions vary widely, she said, and local-level discussions can identify concerns and situations that need to be anticipated.
Kyyjärvi’s director of wellbeing, Hanna Kaunisto, said local decision-makers and lawmakers need to base decisions on the realities facing municipalities. Potential areas for cooperation include shared curricula, teacher recruitment and competitive tendering of contracts.
A University of Jyväskylä review of cooperation in basic education found that decisions are guided by pupils’ interests, not only by financial considerations. Kalalahti said keeping pupils’ interests at the forefront was a sound basis for decision-making.