Raising private schools' home municipality compensation
Acts amending section 35 of the Act on Central Government Transfers to Local Government for Basic Public Services and section 17 of the Basic Education Act
The home municipality compensation received by private comprehensive schools will rise from 94 per cent to 100 per cent. At the same time, private schools will have a statutory obligation to provide special support for their pupils.
- Status
- Passed with amendments
- Submitted
- 10 Oct 2024
- Latest event
- 17 Dec 2024
- Votes
- 0
- Speeches
- 11
- Confirmed
- 17 Jan 2025
- Statute
- 13/2025
- Source
- eduskunta.fi ↗
What is proposed
The home municipality compensation for private providers of basic education and joint municipal authorities will be raised to the level of municipal schools, that is, to 100 per cent from the current 94 per cent. In return, private education providers will be subject to a statutory obligation to provide special support in accordance with basic education legislation. State schools and university teacher training schools will remain at the 94 per cent compensation level without a corresponding statutory remedial teaching obligation.
What it means
The amendment will enter into force on 1 August 2025. It will affect approximately 15,000 pupils across 63 private education providers in mainland Finland, who will be guaranteed the right to special support and special needs education in their own school without the need to transfer to a municipal school. The total annual cost of the reform is approximately 10.9 million euros (approximately 4.5 million euros in 2025), of which the increase in expenditure of approximately 10.4 million euros incurred by municipalities will be compensated through the central government transfer system.
How Parliament voted
The bill passed without a vote – no MP proposed rejecting or amending it in plenary.
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.
11 speeches · 1 debate
Key points of the debate
The debate addressed raising the home municipality compensation for private schools to a full 100 per cent and the obligation imposed on them to provide special support. The general approach of the proposal was widely considered supportable and necessary for pupil equality. The main disagreement concerned why university teacher training schools and state schools were excluded from the reform.
- Should the increase in home municipality compensation and the obligation to provide special support also be extended to university teacher training schools and state schools?
- National Coalition PartyIn favour
The proposal rectifies the unequal treatment of pupils and provides private local schools with equal financial operating conditions alongside municipal schools.
”Tämä uudistus korjaa peruskoulun oppilaiden eriarvoisen kohtelun rahoituksen osalta, kun kotikuntakorvauksen perusteeton porrastus poistetaan.”
— Sari Sarkomaa - Finns PartyIn favour
Increasing funding and the statutory obligation to provide special support strengthen basic education and pupil equality.
”Opetusministerin esittelemää historian koulutusmyönteisimmän hallituksen esitystä on helppo kannattaa.”
— Ari Koponen - Swedish People's PartyIn favour
The reform removes unjustified differences between different school levels and education providers and guarantees the availability of special support for all pupils.
”Tämä on tärkeä muutos, joka vähentää eriarvoisuutta.”
— Anders Adlercreutz - Social DemocratsIn favour with reservations
Equalising funding and the obligation to provide special support are good measures, but excluding teacher training schools and state schools from the reform places children in an unequal position.
”Siksi kysyisin, arvoisa opetusministeri: miksi harjoittelukoulut on jätetty sataprosenttisen kotikuntakorvauksen ja erityisen tuen järjestämisvelvoitteen ulkopuolelle?”
— Pia Hiltunen - GreensIn favour with reservations
Revising the funding and support obligations for private schools is supportable, but excluding teacher training and state schools from the proposal is inconsistent and detrimental to teacher education.
”Jotta heille se velvoite tähän voitaisiin antaa, he tarvitsisivat myös sen rahoituksen.”
— Inka Hopsu - Left AllianceIn favour with reservations
The proposal's objective regarding support and equality is good, but teacher training schools and state schools should be included in the full compensation and obligations without artificial exclusions.
”Hallitusohjelma ei ole varmaankaan niin pyhä, että tätä asiaa ei voisi tarkastella vielä hieman.”
— Pia Lohikoski
This digest was generated by AI from 11 speeches 13 Sep 2026. Group positions are read from the speeches, not from votes; quotations were checked verbatim against the record.
Keskustelu päättyi. Asia lähetettiin sivistysvaliokuntaan.
Stages of consideration
The bill's path from the preliminary debate to the decision, as recorded by Parliament.
- 10 Oct 2024Eduskuntakäsittelyn vireilletulo · Opetus- ja kulttuuriministeriö
- 23 Oct 2024Lähetekeskustelu · Täysistunto
- 4 Dec 2024Valiokunnan mietintö tai lausunto · sivistysvaliokunta
- 5 Dec 2024Ensimmäinen käsittely · Täysistunto
- 9 Dec 2024Toinen käsittely · Täysistunto
- 16 Dec 2024Eduskunnan vastaus ja kirjelmä
Decisions by law proposal2
- 1Laki kunnan peruspalvelujen valtionosuudesta annetun lain 35 §:n muuttamisestaHyväksytty muutettuna · 13/2025 · 17 Jan 2025
- 2Laki perusopetuslain muuttamisestaHyväksytty muutettuna · 14/2025 · 17 Jan 2025
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.
1.Laki kunnan peruspalvelujen valtionosuudesta annetun lain 35 §:n muuttamisesta
Eduskunnan päätöksen mukaisesti
§
muutetaan kunnan peruspalvelujen valtionosuudesta annetun lain (618/2021) 35 §:n 5 momentti seuraavasti:
35 §Kotikuntakorvauksen määräytyminen
Perusopetuslain 8 §:n mukainen valtion koulu ja yliopistolain (558/2009) 88 §:n mukainen harjoittelukoulu saavat 94 prosenttia 1–4 momentissa tarkoitetuista kotikuntakorvauksista.
§
Tämä laki tulee voimaan päivänä kuuta 20 .
2.Laki perusopetuslain 17 §:n muuttamisesta
Eduskunnan päätöksen mukaisesti muutetaan perusopetuslain (628/1998) 17 §:n 5 momentti, sellaisena kuin se on laissa 642/2010, seuraavasti:
17 §Erityinen tuki
Jos tämän lain 8 §:n mukainen valtion koulu ja yliopistolain (558/2009) 88 §:n mukainen harjoittelukoulu ei järjestä tämän pykälän 1 momentissa tarkoitettua tukea, päätöksen oppilaalle järjestettävästä erityisestä tuesta tekee opetuksen järjestäjän esityksestä oppilaan asuinkunta.
§
Tämä laki tulee voimaan päivänä kuuta 20 .
Main content of the bill (official)
The summary and title were produced with AI on 13 Sep 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.