How can a child disappear in Finland for years? Homeschooling raises concerns

Finland’s system allows children in homeschooling to effectively disappear from authorities’ oversight for years, according to a discussion on Yle’s A-studio programme.

Elina Pekkarinen, the Children’s Ombudsman, stated that in Finland, it is possible to avoid authorities from pregnancy through to conscription. Families can choose to have minimal interaction with society, she explained.

Education Minister Anders Adlercreutz acknowledged the issue, admitting that the current structure enables such situations. “We have poor tools to address this,” he said.

Pekkarinen noted that Finland’s liberal system has also attracted foreign families seeking to educate their children at home. However, she warned that the situation can be distressing for a child if the family’s lifestyle is highly unconventional. She called for stricter oversight of homeschooling.

The debate surfaced after Yle reported new details about the Karfin family, which has gone missing with their eight children.

In Finland, any parent can switch a child to homeschooling with a simple notification to the municipality. The number of homeschooled children has tripled since 2018, now nearing 1,000. Some are homeschooled for health reasons, others for ideological motives.

Oversight of homeschooling varies by municipality—some assign an investigating teacher, while many have no monitoring at all. Currently, Finland lacks clear regulations for homeschool oversight, prompting an ongoing review. Authorities currently have limited means to intervene in problematic cases.

Despite the concerns, Pekkarinen does not support abandoning homeschooling entirely in Finland.