Equating the Abitur examination
Act amending section 17 of the Act on the Organisation of the Matriculation Examination
The Deutsche Internationale Abitur examination will be equated with the Finnish matriculation examination. Those who complete the qualification will receive the same general eligibility for higher education.
- Status
- Passed
- Submitted
- 6 Apr 2017
- Latest event
- 12 May 2017
- Votes
- 0
- Speeches
- 42
- Confirmed
- 24 May 2017
- Statute
- 304/2017
- Source
- eduskunta.fi ↗
What is proposed
The Deutsche Internationale Abitur examination will be added to the act as an examination equivalent to the matriculation examination, granting the holder the same rights as the matriculation examination. The new examination replaces the earlier Reifeprüfung examination, the rights conferred by which will remain in force.
What it means
The change concerns young people studying at the German School Helsinki and secures their eligibility for further studies at universities and universities of applied sciences. The first final examinations under the new qualification will be held in spring 2019, and higher education institutions will decide independently on the scoring of grades in their student admissions.
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.
42 speeches · 2 debates
Key points of the debate
Parliament debated equating the German Deutsche Internationale Abitur examination with the Finnish matriculation examination in terms of eligibility for further studies. The bill received unanimous support in the chamber from all parliamentary groups. In addition to the proposal, the debate touched more broadly on the future of general upper secondary education, student admissions to higher education institutions, and education funding.
- National Coalition PartyIn favour
The National Coalition Party supported the proposal and considered equating international qualifications a natural part of internationalising education and promoting mobility.
”Tässä on kyse ainoastaan siitä, että tuo Deutsche Internationale Abitur -tutkinto tuottaisi jatkossa samat oikeudet kuin ylioppilastutkinnon suorittaminen.”
— Timo Heinonen - Finns PartyIn favour
The Finns Party supported the proposal and saw the flexible recognition of different educational institutions and qualifications as being in the interests of students.
”Tämä hallituksen esitys on hyvä.”
— Ritva Elomaa - Centre PartyIn favour
The Centre Party considered the proposal necessary and emphasised, alongside internationalisation, educational equality and safeguarding the operating conditions of small general upper secondary schools.
”Tämä lakiesitys on erittäin hyvä ja perusteltu.”
— Hannu Hoskonen - Social DemocratsIn favour
The Social Democrats considered the bill good and technical, but stressed the importance of general education and criticised the Government's general education cuts.
”Itse tämä hallituksen esityshän on oikein hyvä.”
— Jukka Gustafsson - Christian DemocratsIn favour
The Christian Democrats considered harmonising the rights conferred by qualifications and developing international educational pathways to be highly commendable.
”Ylioppilastutkintojen yhtenäistäminen oikeuksiltaan, mistä tässä lakiesityksessä on pohjimmiltaan kyse, on oikein ja kannatettavaa.”
— Antero Laukkanen
This digest was generated by AI from 42 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.
Yleiskeskustelu päättyi. Eduskunta hyväksyi hallituksen esitykseen HE 32/2017 vp sisältyvän lakiehdotuksen sisällön mietinnön mukaisena. Lakiehdotuksen ensimmäinen käsittely päättyi.
Stages of consideration
The bill's path from the preliminary debate to the decision, as recorded by Parliament.
- 6 Apr 2017Eduskuntakäsittelyn vireilletulo · Opetus- ja kulttuuriministeriö
- 19 Apr 2017Lähetekeskustelu · Täysistunto
- 2 May 2017Valiokunnan mietintö tai lausunto · sivistysvaliokunta
- 4 May 2017Ensimmäinen käsittely · Täysistunto
- 9 May 2017Toinen käsittely · Täysistunto
- 11 May 2017Eduskunnan vastaus ja kirjelmä
Decisions by law proposal1
- 1Laki ylioppilastutkinnon järjestämisestä annetun lain 17 §:n muuttamisestaHyväksytty · 304/2017 · 24 May 2017
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 ylioppilastutkinnon järjestämisestä annetun lain 17 §:n muuttamisesta
Eduskunnan päätöksen mukaisesti muutetaan ylioppilastutkinnon järjestämisestä annetun lain (672/2005) 17 § seuraavasti:
17 §Eräät ylioppilastutkintoa tasoltaan vastaavat tutkinnot
Lukiolaissa tarkoitetun koulutuksen päätteeksi suoritettu International Baccalaureate -, Reifeprüfung- tai Deutsche Internationale Abitur -tutkinto sekä Eurooppa-koulujen eurooppalainen ylioppilastutkinto tuottavat samat oikeudet kuin lukiolain 18 §:ssä ja tässä laissa tarkoitetun tutkinnon suorittaminen.
§
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.