Eight education and training providers have received 13 new authorisations from the Ministry of Education and Culture to provide vocational education and training (VET) in English. The authorisations are not only meant to tackle labour shortages, but also to offer more study and employment opportunities to foreign language speakers.
The decision increases supply of VET in English particularly in the fields of:
- health and social services;
- cleaning and property services;
- accommodation, restaurant and catering services;
- tourism services;
- mechanical engineering and production technology.
The aim is to tackle labour shortages many sectors are facing, and to offer more study and employment opportunities to foreign language speakers. However, education providers must make sure that students achieve a sufficient level in the national languages, Finnish and Swedish, during their studies. Another aim of expanding the supply of VET in English is to reinforce the vitality and competitiveness of regions. The authorisations are not intended for student exchange schemes or education export.
As of January 2023, 23 education providers in Finland have the right to provide 61 VET qualifications in English. This means an expansion of 50% in VET qualifications provided in English compared to the situation at the beginning of autumn 2021.
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Ministry of Education and Culture: Supply of vocational education and training in English extended from beginning of 2023
| Please cite this news item as: ReferNet Finland; Cedefop (2023). Finland: more VET provided in English. National news on VET |