Reducing administrative burden in early childhood education and care
Act repealing section 22 and section 70, subsection 2, paragraph 5 of the Early Childhood Education and Care Act
Municipalities and private early childhood education and care providers will no longer be required to draw up local early childhood education and care plans or to report staff continuing education to the national data repository. The reform aims to reduce the administrative burden of early childhood education and care and save working time.
- Status
- Passed
- Submitted
- 23 Sep 2024
- Latest event
- 22 Nov 2024
- Votes
- 1
- Speeches
- 10
- Confirmed
- 5 Dec 2024
- Statute
- 700/2024
- Source
- eduskunta.fi ↗
What is proposed
The obligations to draw up a local (municipality- or provider-specific) early childhood education and care plan and to record information on staff continuing education in the Varda database will be repealed from the Early Childhood Education and Care Act.
What it means
The act will enter into force on 1 January 2025. The change will reduce administrative work for municipalities and private service providers and generate estimated annual savings of 2.2 million euros, of which the central government's share is 540,000 euros. Municipalities may continue to draw up local plans on a voluntary basis, and an individual early childhood education and care plan for each child will remain mandatory. Employers' obligation to provide continuing education will remain unchanged, but national registry data on it will no longer be compiled for authorities and researchers.
How Parliament voted
2nd reading · 12 Nov 2024Parliament passed the act by 92–68.
Government yes, opposition no. 39 MPs were absent. Minutes ↗
Filled dot = yes, ring = no, grey = absent. Point at a dot to see the MP. Seats follow the current seating plan (updated 18 Sep 2026). 5 MPs who voted are not in the current seating plan.
A passed act does not enter into force immediately: the President of the Republic confirms it, and it enters into force on the date set in the act. This act was confirmed on 5 Dec 2024.
Debate in the chamber
What was argued and where each group stood, followed by MPs' speeches verbatim from the parliamentary record. Speeches are shown in their original language.
10 speeches · 6 speakers · 2 debates
Key points of the debate
The debate addressed the abolition of local early childhood education and care plans and the reporting obligation for staff continuing education. A government party considered the reform a necessary easing of the administrative burden and deregulation. The opposition opposed the proposal, emphasising the importance of the plans for the quality of early childhood education and care and the broad expert opposition to the change.
- Will abolishing local plans weaken the quality and equality of early childhood education and care?
- Will dismantling planning and reporting obligations bring real savings to municipalities?
- How will abolishing the reporting of continuing education affect staff competence development and monitoring?
- Finns PartyIn favour
The group supports the proposal as the dismantling of unnecessary regulation and norms, and considers that a centralised planning obligation does not improve everyday quality in early childhood education and care.
”Mutta palaan siihen, että jostakin sääntelystä täytyy olla valmiita luopumaan.”
— Onni Rostila - Social DemocratsAgainst
The group opposes abolishing the planning obligation, considering local planning essential for the quality and leadership of early childhood education and care, and notes that almost all experts opposed the proposal.
”Eli minusta tämä esitys olisi näissä norminpurkutalkoissa voinut jäädä kyllä tekemättä.”
— Tuula Haatainen - GreensAgainst
The group opposes the bill because local plans are an essential tool for quality management and pedagogy, and repealing the reporting obligation does not promote the development of staff competence.
”Laadun hallinnan kannalta tämä suunnitelma on keskeinen väline, aivan kuten peruskoulutuksen opetussuunnitelman kokonaisuus on peruskouluille.”
— Inka Hopsu - Left AllianceAgainst
The group considers that the proposal weakens the quality of early childhood education and care and children's rights for non-existent savings, and points out that experts opposed waiving the obligations.
”Oikeistohallituksen julkilausuttu tavoite on purkaa normeja, mutta tässä puretaan nyt lapsen oikeuksia.”
— Pia Lohikoski
This digest was generated by AI from 10 speeches 13 Sep 2026. Group positions are read from the speeches, not from votes; quotations were checked verbatim against the record.
Yleiskeskustelu päättyi. Eduskunta hyväksyi hallituksen esitykseen HE 111/2024 vp sisältyvän lakiehdotuksen sisällön mietinnön mukaisena. Lakiehdotuksen ensimmäinen käsittely päättyi.
Keskustelu päättyi ja asian käsittely keskeytettiin.
Stages of consideration
The bill's path from the preliminary debate to the decision, as recorded by Parliament.
- 23 Sep 2024Eduskuntakäsittelyn vireilletulo · Opetus- ja kulttuuriministeriö
- 27 Sep 2024Lähetekeskustelu · Täysistunto
- 23 Oct 2024Valiokunnan mietintö tai lausunto · sivistysvaliokunta
- 5 Nov 2024Ensimmäinen käsittely · Täysistunto
- 13 Nov 2024Toinen käsittely · Täysistunto
- 15 Nov 2024Eduskunnan vastaus ja kirjelmä
Decisions by law proposal1
- 1Laki varhaiskasvatuslain 22 §:n ja 70 §:n 2 momentin 5 kohdan kumoamisestaHyväksytty · 700/2024 · 5 Dec 2024
Proposed law text
The law proposals in the bill as the Government presented them. The final act may differ after committee consideration.
The law text is shown in Finnish or Swedish from Parliament's official documents; it is not translated into English.
Laki varhaiskasvatuslain 22 §:n ja 70 §:n 2 momentin 5 kohdan kumoamisesta
Eduskunnan päätöksen mukaisesti säädetään:
1 §
Tällä lailla kumotaan varhaiskasvatuslain (540/2018) 22 § ja 70 §:n 2 momentin 5 kohta.
2 §
Tämä laki tulee voimaan päivänä kuuta 20 .
Main content of the bill (official)
The summary and title were produced with AI on 25 Aug 2026. They are not official documents – check the details in the original bill. The title and summaries are machine translations of the Finnish AI summaries. Speeches and quotations are always shown in their original language.