In many fields of social and healthcare education, the number of applicants has already fallen below the 2022 level – a time when the termination of the adult education allowance was not yet known. The situation is particularly worrying as the number of student places has been increased at the same time to attract more professionals to the sector of social and healthcare services.
For example, the number of student places for nursing degrees in Finnish has been increased by 15% compared to the previous year. This equals 770 more student places than last year. However, fewer students are applying to nursing studies than before, with 648 fewer applicants than last year. This is a decrease of 10% compared to the previous year.
Tehy and many other organisations have repeatedly stressed the importance of the adult education allowance – not just for individuals but also to address the competence shortage in the entire welfare sector. The allowance made it possible for people to enrol in studies, change professions and combine their studies with working life especially in low-paid and female-dominated sectors. This is simply not possible for many without the adult education allowance.
– The government promised to monitor the impacts of discontinuing the adult education allowance. We have been monitoring this at Tehy, and theresult is clear. We demand this matter to be rectified in the government's budget session – or at least that a model be created to replace the terminated adult education allowance, says Millariikka Rytkönen, the President of Tehy.
The organisation of social and healthcare services in wellbeing services counties and municipalities has been hampered in recent years by a serious shortage of nurses. The termination of the adult education allowance is a major reason for why the shortage of competent staff is now undermining the services and will continue to do so even more in the future.
Read more on the subject in the blog article by Tehy’s specialist Kirsi Coco (in Finnish).
Enquiries:
Kirsi Coco, Specialist in Education Policy at Tehy, tel. +358 40 821 50 57, [email protected]