Work in progress

Tampere was founded  on 1 October 1779 by King Gustav III of Sweden. Tampere is located on the banks of Tammerkoski rapids, between two lakes, Näsijärvi and Pyhäjärvi. It is the third largest city in Finland and the largest inland centre in the Nordic countries.  

Currently there are 238 140 inhabitants in Tampere (year 2019), and close to half a million inhabitants in Tampere Region, which comprises Tampere and its neighbouring municipalities.

Tampere’s population density is 448 per square kilometre. Tampere is one of the three most rapidly developing regions in Finland. It is a centre of leading-edge technology, research, education, culture, sports and business.

Compulsory education is mainly provided by the City of Tampere. The City of Tampere also maintains several general upper secondary schools, a vocational institution and an adult education centre.

Preschool education and basic education

Preschool education is organized by the municipal authority and is intended for all children under school age one year before basic education and it is organized mostly in schools. Preschool education is mandatory and free of charge for all children,

Basic education in Tampere is provided mainly in city-maintained comprehensive schools. Compulsory education consists of basic education, i.e. completing grades 1-9. The City of Tampere also provides instruction both for pupils who need special support and for multilingual pupils. It is possible to complete comprehensive school education in other languages than Finnish. 

Core curricula

The national core curriculum is the most important document for school work. It forms the basis for all instruction and educational work as well as the development and evaluation of the school.

The core curriculum supports the teachers in their planning work, instruction and evaluation. It is also a source of information, for instance, for the parents or guardians as well as the decision-makers of the municipality.

The core curriculum is both an administrative and pedagogical document: it is drawn up to define what and how instruction is given and how the work is done. There are separate curricula for pre-school education, basic education, and general upper secondary education.

Well-being of children and young people

• All people must have equal access to high-quality education and training and every pupil and student has the right to educational support and special needs education is generally provided in conjunction with mainstream education.
• Pupil welfare promotes the well-being of the pupil by work that is done by all members of the school community. All of the schools that provide basic education have their own pupil welfare teams that meet at regular intervals. In their meetings the team discusses matters that concern the well-being of a pupil or a whole class. The student welfare team also coordinates and develops the school's work in order to promote the pupils' well-being and to take their special needs into consideration in everyday school work.
• A pupil welfare team consists of the head teacher or a person authorised by the head teacher, a special teacher, a school nurse, a guidance counsellor (in grades 7-9), the class teacher, or the teacher involved, depending on the matter in question. The team is complemented, if possible, by a school psychologist, a school social worker or a school doctor.
• School nurses meet the pupils, as a rule, every year and carry out an individual health check-up and a health care plan.
• A more comprehensive health check-up including a check-up by a school doctor is conducted on 1st, 5th and 8th grades.
• Morning and afternoon activities (before and after school activities) are designed for pupils in grades 1–2. All pupils in special education from pre-primary to grade 9 are offered afternoon club activities that are specially designed for them.
• Licence to move -program increasing physical activity and decreasing sedentary time among school-aged children 

Visit our web-pages:

• Day care and education
• Tampere on YouTube

Contact person

Kristiina Järvelä, Director of Early Childhood and Basic Education,  Education and learning services City of Tampere

+35 8408004678

Norrköping is a town in constant transformation. The city has a population of 143 171 inhabitants in December 2019, that is constantly growing and which makes it Sweden's ninth largest municipality. In the past, Norrköping was an industrial town, but today creative, knowledge-driven enterprises are taking off, a process driven by Campus Norrköping, a part of Linköping University. About 27% of its Inhabitants have a foreign background. The level of education is increasing every year and the share of people with higher educational attainment 2019 is 3 percentage units higher than five years ago.

Sweden has a decentralised educational system steered by curricula defined at central level. Education is mandatory for children between ages 6 and 15 meaning that the municipalities in Sweden are responsible for organising education within preschool, compulsory school, upper secondary school, adult education and leisure time centers.The Department of Education of the Municipality of Norrköping (Utbildningskontoret), is the local authority responsible for the implementation of national policies and directives for the public school system for early childhood education and care, compulsory education, upper secondary and adult education and leisure activities for school children. The administrative staff supports all educational institutions in everything from business management, finance, investigations, to ICT strategies, development of staff and internationalization.

In all we run

• 114 municipal preschools (>6900 children 1-5, 1190 full-time employees)
• 8 family centers (open preschool activities)
• 58 municipal compulsory schools (>12875 pupils, 1074 full-time employees)
• 4 municipal upper secondary schools (3327 pupils, 301 full-time employees)
• 15 after-school recreation/leisure centres (78 full-time employees)
• 1 intercultural language unit (providing mother tongue education in 27 different languages for the linguistic and cultural needs of pupils with a background other than Swedish)
• 1 Counselling/education guidance centre (9 full-time employees)
• 1 Health and Welfare centre (3 M D:s,40 school nurses, 13 psychologists, 14 special teachers, 1 logoped and 6 coordinators)

We also supervise

• 28 independent preschools and parents’ cooperatives (760 children, 146 full-time employees)
• 11 independent compulsory schools (2 819 pupils, 197 full-time employees)
• 7 independent upper secondary schools (1 820 pupils, 137 full-time employees)

Core values

1-20 year perspective

The educational journey of our children must be seen in a holistic manner from pre-school to upper secondary school. This means that whenever we encounter the child on his or her path we have to make sure we pass on necessary information.

Together

Strong collegial relationship among school teachers is considered as an essential component of school effectiveness and teacher enhancement.

Successful teaching

Here is where we put our focus and where the educational goals for each individual start. It is through successful teaching we can inspire and motivate our students to learn. It is in the teaching we embrace feedback, follow-up, differentiate and adapt.

High expectations

High expectation is applied both for our own role in making a difference but also of each each child and pupil and their abilities to succeed.

Leadership

Leadership is needed through the entire organization implying that all co-workers feel responsible and in charge of their tasks, both as leaders in the classroom and in the collegial settings.

Contact person

Mikael Hultberg, Director of Primary Education, K-6, Department of Education of the Municipality of Norrköping

+46 11153372