For many schoolchildren in Helsinki the amount of time spent travelling to and from school depends on the school that their parents choose. The longest commutes are to specialist schools focusing on music, dance, sports, or languages.
Children attending Helsinki's municipal schools and schools under contract to the municipal school system are entitled to compensation for travel; those attending the many private or state schools in Helsinki get no such compensation. Many of those schools attract pupils from outside the city limits.
Helsinki has about 49,100 pupils in comprehensive school: about 8,350 of them are entitled to compensation for their daily commute at a cost of about EUR 950,000 a year.
The Education Department of the city has plans for a number of school mergers. About 40 schools would be affected, and if the measures are implemented, they could take effect from the beginning of 2006.
The Helsinki Education Department has not yet examined how the changes might affect the need for school transport.
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 24.1.2005
