Learning and well-being support

The legislation on learning support in basic education has changed since 1 August 2025.

The three-tier support model (general support – enhanced support – special support) has been abandoned in basic education. Teaching is organised in a way that takes into account the different needs and conditions of learners. Flexible groupings are used in teaching so that the teaching objectives can be achieved. Another teacher or school guidance counsellor may also be included in the group to support learners.

Pedagogical solutions, i.e. arrangements that support the conditions for learning, support slower and faster learners, for example by differentiating teaching, explaining the language and concepts of the subject being learned, and modifying the environment to be accessible.

Group-specific support measures

Learning support is primarily organized as group-specific support. All students, in every class, are entitled to it.

Support provided in the group includes:

• general support teaching given by a teacher
• remedial teaching in the language of instruction provided by the teacher
• Teaching given by a special education teacher in connection with other teaching.

Group-specific support is implemented flexibly and systematically throughout the academic year. It is not an administrative decision.

Student-specific support measures

In addition to the support organized in the group, the student can receive individual support measures.
When the support provided in the group is not sufficient, it is supplemented with student-specific support measures. These are based on the student's individual needs. Support is provided regularly and over a long period of time.
Student-specific support measures are arranged, taking into account the student's best interests, primarily in the student's own school.

Student-specific support measures in practice:

• special needs teacher teaching partly in small groups and in connection with other teaching
• teaching by a special education teacher or special class teacher in a small group
• special education teacher teaching in a special education class
• interpretation services
• assistant services
• aids

Teaching by a special education teacher or special education teacher in a small group and teaching by a special education teacher in a special education class differ in that the former focuses on one or more subjects, in which case the special education teacher or special education teacher provides more than half of the teaching in that subject. In a special education class, the student receives full-time teaching from a special education teacher in all subjects.

In addition, forms of support may also include:

• Deviation from the basic education curriculum or the objectives of the local curriculum and
• arranging basic education for a student based on a disability, illness or functional limitation.

There are three ways to deviate from the basic education syllabus or curriculum objectives:

1. Studying is planned individually for each student based on a set of objectives, and it enables the student to study faster or slower than their own year group.

Studying by objective unit will replace teaching that is not tied to year groups. The situation of students who are currently studying without being tied to year groups will be assessed during the 2025-2026 academic year. After the assessment, the student will either move to studying by year group or an administrative decision will be made to study by objective unit.

2. Limiting the curriculum means the current individualization of the curriculum of a subject. If a student has a limited curriculum in a subject, he or she only studies part of the content or the content of a lower grade.

The content to be studied and the learning objectives are described in his/her support plan. Verbal assessment is used for assessment. The syllabus defined in the final assessment is marked on the final certificate with a technical *5 marking.

3. A student may be temporarily exempted from studying a subject based on health status. The exemption may last a maximum of four months. The health status is verified by a healthcare professional. In the administrative decision, the temporary exemption is allocated to the necessary subjects.

Deviating from the content or objectives of the curriculum is a measure that interferes with the student's fundamental rights, which is why it is used as a form of support of last resort.

Arranging basic education for a student on the basis of a disability, illness or functional limitation (enters into force on 1 August 2026)

Regarding extended compulsory education, the legal amendments will enter into force on 1 August 2026. In the future, a decision will be made on early compulsory education for children aged 5–6. In basic education, a decision will be made on education for a student with a disability, illness or functional limitation.

Disability refers to, for example, visual or hearing impairment, intellectual disability, severe developmental disorders or widespread learning difficulties.

Illness refers to a serious illness that affects a student's cognitive skills and functioning and thus also their learning and school attendance, often in a broad way.

A long-term illness that does not affect a child's learning ability (for example, diabetes) can be taken into account through other educational arrangements, such as the support of a school counselor.

Functional limitations refer to factors that have a broad impact on daily survival, participation and well-being, which cause barriers to participation or extensive needs for help and support for the student.

The 2025–2026 academic year is a transition period.

Special support decisions made for students before August 1, 2025 are valid and the support decisions will be reviewed during the 2025-2026 academic year to reflect the new legislation.

 

Student support services

The welfare area of ​​Kanta-Häme is responsible for the student care services for pupils and students studying in Riihimäki My Häme. After the welfare area reform came into effect at the beginning of 2023, the responsibility for organizing social, health and rescue services was transferred from the 11 municipalities of Kanta-Häme and municipal associations to the welfare area.

The services will continue as before: student care services will continue to be offered in educational institutions and as a local service. Pupils, students and guardians are generally served by the same familiar professionals. The phone numbers of the staff remain unchanged and you can still reach them with the help of Wilma. Email addresses are now in the format firstname.lastname@omahame.fi.

You can find the most up-to-date information about the welfare area's services in the Kanta-Häme welfare area from the website.

Student care includes taking care of students' physical, psychological and social well-being. Student care promotes the balanced growth and development of pupils and students and ensures equal learning opportunities for all. The goal is to notice problems and address them as early as possible.

The pupil and student care services provided by the welfare area include, for example, school health care, school curator and school psychologist activities, as well as the services of a psychiatric nurse and physiotherapist in middle schools.

You can also get support for learning, well-being and going to school from teachers, school and educational institution coaches, counselors and other school staff.