Tuomo Tarvas

An early intervention for learning difficulties usually provides pupils with a solid foundation to continue their studies after comprehensive school. However, language or learning difficulties may impede one´s learning and conceal a number of talents. In terms of immigrant pupils, municipalities offer tenth grade classes, remedial teaching and preparatory courses.

Real talents can be hidden behind insufficient language skills. They can be brought forward when a pupil is encouraged to speak Finnish and learn the language better.

This has been discovered at Hiidenkivi School in Helsinki which has approximately 60–70 immigrant pupils yearly. Their number is small, compared to the rest of the schools in the city. In a school of about 800 pupils, every grade ranging from the first to the ninth is represented, but pupils in the seventh, eighth and ninth grades are in a clear majority.

According to vice-principal and special class teacher Leena Väisänen, insufficient language skills can give an erroneous impression of a pupil´s abilities and diminish his or her self-esteem. Some pupils with an immigrant background were born in Finland and have been raised here and have an impeccable knowledge of Finnish, but those whose skills are poorer, may try and conceal their insufficiency by making jokes or avoiding talking in class.

– If a pupil who is intelligent but has no language skills enters the upper grades directly, he goes into this strange space of delay. He understands physics as well as the other pupils, but has no words or concepts to express himself, which is a painful situation, Väisänen points out.

Language problems are solved in classes of Finnish as a second language, for instance. If necessary, a teacher of Finnish as a second language is asked for help as an assistant teacher. Yet, efforts are made not to consider immigrant pupils as a separate group. Instead, they are endeavoured to be integrated into the teaching groups during the preparatory year.

Hiidenkivi School invests in the educational guidance of immigrant pupils slightly more than on the average. Leena Väisänen and career counsellor Elina Salmi emphasise that pupils don´t get good marks or a school-leaving report more easily just because they are immigrants.

– If I happen to see that things don´t go well with some pupils in the eighth grade because they have an immigrant background, I usually start talking about preparatory training then. An early intervention helps, Salmi says.

The average learning results are good

The majority of immigrants acquire adequate skills to continue their studies, Leena Nissilä, senior advisor and head of the professional unit of the National Board of Education, relates. Compared to the main population, pupils with an immigrant background are left without a comprehensive school leaving certificate a little more often.

– Children who have gone to school in Finland usually reach very good skills to continue their studies. There is a problem group of pupils, aged 13-16, who enter the country towards the end of basic teaching and who have acquired a poor educational background in their native country, Nissilä goes on to add.

Ms Nissilä isn´t of the opinion that they would turn a blind eye to the immigrants´ slower progress. She reminds that poor marks may be due to their inadequate language skills, poor success at school in the past or social causes. In addition, traumatic experiences in their home country may deteriorate their success at school.

If their school leaving certificate has been poor, career counsellors actively encourage them to attend tenth grade classes. The reputation of the tenth grade class isn´t very good among Finns, but in certain cultures attitudes may be even stricter.

– The position of a special needs pupil can mean being “condemned", Nissilä feels sorry.

The upper secondary school doesn´t suit every pupil

According to Leena Nissilä, the number of immigrant students at the upper secondary school has been slightly reduced over the years. One reason for this may be the demanding requirements of the Finnish upper secondary school system. In 2005 there were 1,890 immigrant youngsters in Finnish upper secondary schools, which equals to 1,6 percent of all the pupils. Parents want their children to get a high education and high-ranking jobs, but their expectations can be too high.

– At the initial stage when immigrants started arriving in Finland it was quite easy to enter the upper secondary school, but the drop out rates used to be bigger than nowadays. We are now beginning to realise that the requirements of the Finnish upper secondary school are rigid for even the main population. Without upper secondary education, students can still get a good education and be employed in good jobs, she stresses.

Leena Nissilä refers to vocational training which, in fact, can be a better solution for some students. The number of immigrants has markedly increased in vocational schools after the turn of the millennium.

– We haven´t got enough blue-collar workers in Finland, Nissilä puts in.

Unlike comprehensive schools, upper secondary schools don´t receive raised state subsidies for immigrant students.

– This would have to be taken into consideration if we really want to increase the number of students entering and completing the upper secondary school successfully, Leena Nissilä says.

Municipalities are provided with special state-funded grants, based on student numbers, to organise the teaching of immigrant pupils. A municipality can get state money to fund the teaching of Finnish as a second language or remedial instruction for a period of four years.

– Only a few students go to a Finnish upper secondary school if they have lived in the country for four years after their arrival. That´s why the support is targeted at basic teaching, Nissilä says.

Tenth grade classes and preparation for immigrant students

Three schools in Helsinki organise tenth grade teaching with a focus on immigrants. The tenth grade class in Itäkeskus is directed at students wishing to enter the upper secondary school while the Jakomäki upper level comprehensive school collaborates with a vocational school specialising in restaurant and catering programmes. Eira Adult Institute teaches youngsters who haven´t attended basic studies in their home country and who are overage to go to a day comprehensive school. Helsinki has a total of 391 places in the tenth grade classes.

– After preparatory teaching, pupils have the chance to go on with their studies and get support and be taught Finnish as a second language. Individual career counselling is very important, teaching consultant Katri Kuukka of the Education Department of the City of Helsinki points out.

In Turku special support measures have been concentrated on schools with the biggest numbers of immigrants. There are two tenth grade classes in the city. A school psychologist and a guidance counsellor are employed by Varissuo School, which has one of the biggest numbers of immigrant pupils. A raised state-funded subsidy for immigrant pupils has contributed to their employment.

– Through support measures teaching groups can be made smaller, says Johanna Järvinen, co-ordinator of multicultural teaching of the Turku Education Service Centre.