Initiative to maintain free secondary education in Tuusula

Initiative proposed by Annika Lappalainen and council groups on 27 May 2024:

Group initiative to maintain free secondary education in Tuusula

In the Parliament’s budget negotiations, a proposal was made to limit free secondary education to the end of the year in which the student turns 18. This would scrap the current model of free secondary education before any student who started under it would have time to graduate, for example, from upper secondary school.

The decision would mean that, among other things, the cost of learning materials, university entrance examinations and vocational tools could be passed on to young people themselves to pay for during their studies. In addition to being complex, the model is also unequal: the additional costs of learning materials would particularly affect young people and families who have already been hit by cuts to housing benefits and other social security benefits.

There is a risk that when tuition fees are introduced, studies will be interrupted at a particularly sensitive age while secondary education is still incomplete. This does not serve the goal of raising the level of education in Finland, nor does it reduce the risk of social exclusion, ill-being or mental health crises among young people.

Free secondary education would be a significant attraction and retention factor in Tuusula.

We propose that Tuusula maintain free secondary education in accordance with the current model until the completion of secondary education or until the end of the calendar year in which the student turns 20.

27 May 2024

Tuusula Green Council Group

Tuusula Social Democratic Council Group

Tuusula Left-wing Council Group

Swedish People’s Party in Tusby Municipal Council Group

Tuusulan Puolesta ry council group

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