Question about school starting age

Kesstrel1 · Post by **Kesstrel1** » Wed Jan 14, 2015 3:49 pm

I have read that in Finland children start school "the year they turn 7". Does "year" mean Jan-Dec, or August-August? That is, are two thirds of children 7 when they start?

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Upphew · Post by **Upphew** » Thu Jan 15, 2015 12:06 pm

Kesstrel1 wrote:I have read that in Finland children start school "the year they turn 7". Does "year" mean Jan-Dec, or August-August? That is, are two thirds of children 7 when they start?

Calendar year, so Jan-Dec.

Rip · Post by **Rip** » Fri Jan 16, 2015 9:08 am

What should one actually say is the standard school starting age in Finland now, as the one year preschool became at least sort of like mandatory this year?

FinnGuyHelsinki · Post by **FinnGuyHelsinki** » Fri Jan 16, 2015 9:22 am

It is mandatory, for children turning six during the given calendar year.

Rip · Post by **Rip** » Mon Jan 19, 2015 6:51 am

I said "sort of like" as we have after all "oppivelvollisuus" not "koulupakko" and apparently there is no system to check if the esiopetus given outside the system actually exists.

Kesstrel1 · Post by **Kesstrel1** » Sat Jan 24, 2015 10:32 pm

Thanks very much for responses!

Upphew · Post by **Upphew** » Mon Jan 26, 2015 11:00 am

FinnGuyHelsinki wrote:It is mandatory, for children turning six during the given calendar year.

Is it? I thought it was mandatory to arrange it and parents decide if kids attend: http://www.minedu.fi/OPM/Koulutus/esiopetus/?lang=fi

Rip · Post by **Rip** » Mon Jan 26, 2015 11:32 am

Upphew wrote:
FinnGuyHelsinki wrote:It is mandatory, for children turning six during the given calendar year.
Is it? I thought it was mandatory to arrange it and parents decide if kids attend: http://www.minedu.fi/OPM/Koulutus/esiopetus/?lang=fi

well it is, sort of, at least: http://yle.fi/uutiset/esikoulu_ei_ole_e ... us/7726362

(WIth the "sort of" I am especially referring to the two last chapters)

By the way, the original motivation for this was strongly related to those children of foreign background whose parents did not put them to preschool, even if they would probably most benefit from it.

Upphew · Post by **Upphew** » Wed Jan 28, 2015 9:28 am

Rip wrote:
Upphew wrote:
FinnGuyHelsinki wrote:It is mandatory, for children turning six during the given calendar year.
Is it? I thought it was mandatory to arrange it and parents decide if kids attend: http://www.minedu.fi/OPM/Koulutus/esiopetus/?lang=fi
well it is, sort of, at least: http://yle.fi/uutiset/esikoulu_ei_ole_e ... us/7726362

(WIth the "sort of" I am especially referring to the two last chapters)

By the way, the original motivation for this was strongly related to those children of foreign background whose parents did not put them to preschool, even if they would probably most benefit from it.

I did check a bit more about this later yesterday. Preschool isn't mandatory, but doing it on your own might be as hard as homeschooling.

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