Most local authorities arrange after-school activities for schoolchildren
|
|
|
Most of Finland’s local authorities have allocated all of their openings for after-school activities for schoolchildren.
Officials say that nearly all applicants have succeeded in getting into some kind of afternoon activity group.
The Ministry of Education has granted state financial aid to local authorities for extra-curricular activities for young schoolchildren and children getting special education. This autumn the state share of funding is an average EUR 235 per child.
Taking part in the programme were 359 municipalities, accounting for more than 90% of the population.
"In Helsinki the state aid came just in time", says development consultant Sirkka-Liisa Ihalainen of the Helsinki Social Services Department.
She says that without the state money, Helsinki would have had to cut back on its after-school programmes. Currently about 7,000 children in Helsinki take part in after-school activities.
The law allows local authorities to arrange extra-curricular activities themselves, or in cooperation with other municipalities, or to buy the service from organisations, private companies, or church congregations.
In Espoo, after-school activities are mainly run by private entrepreneurs, while in Vantaa, church groups are prominent, and in Jyväskylä the focus is on organisations.
Participation fees are a controversial issue in extracurricular activities. Under the law, the organiser of an after-school club for schoolchildren can charge a monthly fee of up to EUR 60 for each child, if the daily activities last three hours.
In some communities where the daily activities last longer than three hours, the fee is higher. The state aid has not brought down the fees as much as had been hoped.
The cheapest activities are in playgrounds in Helsinki, where it costs EUR 32 a month per child. In Vantaa the monthly fees vary between EUR 75 and EUR 150, and in most communities the fee is about EUR 100.
"For some, the fee is an impediment", notes Riitta Rajala, head of the morning and afternoon activity project at the National Board of Education.
"On the other hand, it is important to develop the content of the activity, so that after-school clubs do not become places to put kids in storage for a few hours."
Helsingin Sanomat
|
| 10.8.2004 - TODAY |
 Most local authorities arrange after-school activities for schoolchildren |
|
