Family chooses Helsinki school at centre of school shopping row

A family in eastern Helsinki has chosen Itäkeskus Comprehensive School despite widespread criticism of the school, Yle reports. The debate over Helsinki’s decision to redraw school district boundaries has included claims of school shopping and, according to the family, has at times taken on a racist tone.

Liekki Aromaa-Ravela, 10, began fifth grade at the school on Wednesday. Her parent, Eekku Aromaa, originally chose the school because of its strong language programme. Liekki has studied Chinese since first grade and was able to answer a question about the Chinese word for dragon.

“School shopping” refers to parents trying to choose what they consider a good school for their children. Aromaa said the debate had cast a shadow over the start of the autumn term.

Parents oppose new school districts

Helsinki’s Finnish-language education and training committee decided during the spring and summer to change school district boundaries in eastern Helsinki. As a result, some children from Herttoniemi and Myllypuro will attend Itäkeskus Comprehensive School in coming years instead of their current local schools.

Parents have opposed their children being transferred to Itäkeskus. Last year, 65 percent of the school’s pupils were S2 students, meaning they were studying Finnish as a second language. Among first-graders, the share was 84 percent.

Aromaa said it had been painful to see her child’s friends and teachers discussed in the media. In her view, some of the debate had had a racist undertone.

“When people speak in a strange tone suggesting that children do not learn there, I think it is unfair to this school community and its members,” Aromaa said.

Her own experience of Itäkeskus Comprehensive School has been entirely positive. She believes people’s perceptions are linked more to the neighbourhood than to the school itself.

“This is an area with many city-owned rental homes and where people of many different appearances live. As someone who lives here, I have not known how to judge my neighbours based on what they look like. The same kinds of Helsinki residents live here as elsewhere,” she said.

City says pupil numbers must be balanced

Ville Raatikainen, Helsinki’s director of basic education, said the boundary changes had been prepared since 2024. Preparation with residents began in February.

Raatikainen said the process had gone well and that he was surprised by the scale of the debate when the decision came into effect this autumn.

“It has been somewhat unfortunate, for pupils, guardians and our excellent and skilled staff, that some schools have been labelled on the basis of perceptions,” he said.

According to Raatikainen, the decision was made solely to balance pupil numbers between schools. Myllypuro School is full, while Itäkeskus Comprehensive School is set to be expanded.

Raatikainen said Helsinki had changed school district boundaries before and would need to do so periodically as the city grows. Changes are currently being prepared in the Roihuvuori area for Porolahti Comprehensive School.

School district changes are also being planned in Tampere. In future, one district may include two comprehensive schools, which would make it easier to distribute pupils evenly between schools in the area.

Krista Lahtinen, director of basic education services in Turku, said the city had also had to change school boundaries, for example when new schools were built. She said further changes would certainly be needed.

“As a resident, you perhaps have to recognise that when you move to a large city by Finnish standards, there is a certain risk that things will change,” Lahtinen said.

Researcher questions impact on segregation

Kaisa Eskola, chair of Helsinki’s Finnish-language education and training committee, said the decision was also intended to reduce segregation between neighbourhoods and schools.

Doctoral researcher Oskar Rönnberg said changing school districts alone would not solve the separation between neighbourhoods and schools.