Ministry orders Turku to repay nearly 2.84 million euros

The Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture is seeking to recover 2,837,982 euros, including interest, from the City of Turku over unjustified state funding, Yle reports.

The ministry says Turku received funding for students who were not enrolled in the city’s schools but belonged to another education provider.

The funding concerned English-language International Baccalaureate upper secondary education. The students were enrolled at Turku Normal School, a school operated by the University of Turku, while the City of Turku purchased the IB education as a service from the school.

The ministry said Turku’s current licence to provide upper secondary education covers five special educational tasks but does not include English-language IB education. According to the ministry, funding can only be granted to the education provider.

The issue emerged in January when a Turku city representative asked for further information about a negative decision concerning the city’s application to organise English-language upper secondary education. Ministry Director General Petri Lempinen said the ministry began examining the matter and discovered the arrangement involving the IB students.

The ministry said in March that it was considering recovering the funding.

Turku plans to appeal the decision and seek a reduction in the amount, said Anu Parantainen, the city’s director of services for children and young people.

Parantainen said nearly three million euros was a very large sum that the city could use. She added that Turku had also used its own funds to organise the education with Turku Normal School.

According to Parantainen, the service arrangement had been made in good faith, implemented transparently and operated for more than 20 years. She said those who made the original decisions had not considered it unlawful.