Permission still sought for permanent Finnish upper secondary school on Costa del Sol

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The support association of the Finnish School in Fuengirola on Spain’s Costa del Sol has filed an application with Finland’s Ministry of Education for permission to organise permanent upper secondary school education in Fuengirola starting in the school year 2010-2011.
     
The association applied three times for a temporary licence to organise upper secondary school education before a favourable decision was finally made in the autumn of 2006.
      The granted temporary high school licence automatically entitles the school to the corresponding state aid as well.
      Upper secondary school education was launched in Fuengirola in the autumn of 2007.
      The temporary licence expires in the summer of 2010.
      “From the outset the upper secondary school education has been a great success, and there will be an obvious need for it in the future as well. That is why we are now applying for a permission that would be valid until further notice”, says the school’s headmaster Juha Helvelahti.
     
According to the headmaster, the school has 175 pupils at the comprehensive school level accompanied by 50 upper secondary level students. The number of teachers is 25, 19 of whom work there full-time.
      The school accepts Finnish pupils also from other schools in the Málaga province.
      According to the filed application, for example pupils from the upper secondary schools in Finland that offer education with additional emphasis in sports could make use of the Fuengirola school’s classes while on a training camp on the Costa del Sol.
      In addition, several sports federations have expressed their interest in the possibility of combining training and education in the south.
      The support association also emphasises the chance of improving one’s language skills while living in a foreign-language environment. In addition to the strong Finnish skills, the pupils will also acquire the knowledge of the English, Swedish, and Spanish languages.
      On the upper secondary level many students also opt for additional French and/or German.
     
In all, there are currently around ten comprehensive schools overseas following the Finnish curriculum. They have been granted the government operating licence, which comes with the corresponding state aid.
      These schools are maintained by private organisations.
      So far the Escuela Finlandesa on the Costa del Sol is the only Finnish school abroad with a licence to provide upper secondary level education.
      A school in Tallinn, Estonia, also offers some upper secondary level contact teaching, but the teaching is organised by a Finnish-based upper secondary school for adults.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Permission for upper secondary education denied to Finnish School on Costa del Sol (14.1.2005)
  Finnish School on Spain´s Costa del Sol wants its own high school (24.8.2004)

Links:
  Escuela Finlandesa (website in Finnish)

Helsingin Sanomat