Govt supports €5.5m to higher Edu Insts for Ukrainian refugees

The Ministry of Education and Culture has decided to support higher education institutions in their efforts to provide more study opportunities for beneficiaries of temporary protection, said an official press release on Thursday.

The funds will be used to finance the provision of English-language education and to increase preparatory education for higher education for immigrants in universities of applied sciences.

“It is our responsibility to help those in distress, and education also plays a role in this work. Finland wants to support the reconstruction of Ukraine by means of professional skills,” said Minister of Science and Culture Petri Honkonen.

The resources will also help develop and increase the supply of culturally bilingual degree programmes. In these programmes, language instruction is an integral part of the core studies. This makes it possible for graduates to find a job in Finland at the language proficiency level that their profession requires.

The funding is part of the action plan to support Ukrainian higher education students and researchers.

The opportunities that are being developed and expanded by means of the projects will become a more permanent feature for higher education institutions in Finland as part of the provision of foreign-language programmes and of preparatory education for immigrants.

At the same time, this also reinforces the Government’s objectives of increasing the number of international higher education students, responding to skills shortages and raising the level of education.

Expanding and developing the provision of foreign-language education supports the individual study paths of beneficiaries of temporary protection.

Students may continue higher education studies that they started in their home country or enrol for higher education studies in Finland by completing modules that can be used as accreditation for a degree in either Finland or Ukraine.

Higher education studies prepare and support the reconstruction of Ukraine and respond to the shortage of skilled people in Finland. Some projects also include collaboration with the world of work.

The Ministry is financing altogether 21 projects across Finland. The funding decisions take into account factors such as the educational profiles of different higher education institutions, the educational needs of beneficiaries of temporary protection and the needs of different regions and industrial sectors in Finland.