In the past ten years four of the eight village schools at the elementary school level have been shut down in Enontekiö in Finnish Lapland for economic reasons, and because of the decreasing number of pupils.
There is one secondary comprehensive school and one upper secondary school in Enontekiö, both in Hetta. In addition there is a comprehensive school comprising both the primary and secondary levels in Kilpisjärvi.
Ten years ago there were nearly 300 comprehensive school pupils in Enontekiö. Now the number has gone down to 243. In the primary grades there are an average of ten pupils per grade level.
The average distance that the 113 pupils dependent on transport must travel is 35 kilometres. In the province of Finnish Lapland, 25.8% of pupils require special transport to get to school. In Enontekiö the figure is 46.5%.
In Enontekiö, annual costs of school transport are about EUR 185,000.
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 24.1.2005
