Puumala’s school year costs three times more than Laihia’s

Basic education costs more than €30,000 per pupil each year in Puumala, an archipelago municipality in South Savo, compared with about €10,000 in Laihia, Yle reports. The national average is €12,500.

Puumala’s high costs are mainly linked to its small number of pupils and long school transport routes. The municipality has only 71 comprehensive school pupils, and half of them need transport from different parts of the extensive archipelago.

All of Puumala’s pupils attend the comprehensive school in the municipal centre. Some journeys are long: the distance from the school to Otasalo is 70 kilometres, with the route first passing through southern Hurissalo. The round trip takes the maximum time allowed by law, 2.5 hours a day.

The school transport network is a significant reason why Puumala has the second-highest basic education costs in Finland. Only Utsjoki, Finland’s northernmost municipality, has higher costs.

“We have nothing extra or unnecessary that would explain this difference compared with other municipalities,” said Tuomo Tenhunen, Puumala’s director of wellbeing and culture.

Laihia cuts costs carefully

In Laihia, a municipality near Finland’s west coast, basic education is among the least expensive in the country. The municipality has 922 comprehensive school pupils and a population of 7,500.

There are six primary schools and one lower secondary school in Laihia. Only 15 percent of pupils need school transport, and their journeys are shorter than those in Puumala.

According to education director Markku Laukkonen, the costs are also kept down by strict financial discipline in the municipality, which is known for its frugality.

“Every purchase is considered carefully, whether it concerns food, books or information technology,” Laukkonen said.

After employee negotiations held in the spring, Laihia reduced the number of school assistants and stopped providing lessons that are not compulsory. Mika Koskela, head of Kirkonkylä School, said there was no room for further cuts in basic education.

Fewer children are pushing up education costs

The cost of basic education has risen significantly across Finland. Last year, a school year cost an average of €12,500 per pupil, nearly 5 percent more than the previous year.

The largest expenses are staff salaries and property costs. School transport is also costly. According to Mari Sjöström, a special adviser at the Association of Finnish Municipalities, municipalities spend 250,000 million euros on transport each year.

Finland has more than half a million pupils, of whom 100,000 need transport. “The burden of school transport is clearly greater in rural municipalities than in cities,” Sjöström said.

Municipalities have limited opportunities to reduce costs. The law requires the number of lessons and subjects taught to be the same for all children across Finland. Schools must also be located so that daily travel times do not become too long.

At the same time, pupil numbers are falling. In Laihia, the number of births has declined steadily since 2020. The municipality could eventually seek savings by reducing the number of schools, but Laukkonen said that was not yet under consideration.

Small municipalities have fewer options. Puumala now has only one comprehensive school, where combined classes have already been introduced, meaning that pupils from two grades share one teacher. Reducing the number of schools may also be impossible because it would make pupils’ journeys too long.

Municipal cooperation seen as one solution

Puumala is financially stable, and the cost of basic education does not threaten the municipality’s finances. Tenhunen said the municipality was not wasting money, but was looking for new ways to control costs.

“We will not rush. We are planning cooperation,” Tenhunen said.