The Jyväskylä University teacher training track announced this week is designed for students who do not speak Finnish or Swedish, combining early childhood education with structured language learning in a single bachelor’s degree. The new programme is set to start in autumn 2027 in Jyväskylä, central Finland, with 25 places in its first cohort, as the university and the Finnish government look for new ways to ease shortages in early childhood education.
A bachelor’s degree that starts in English
The three-year programme will begin with teaching mainly in English, while Finnish is gradually increased during the studies. The point is not to add language classes on top of the degree, but to integrate language learning into coursework, group projects and internships, so that students build professional vocabulary and routines while studying early childhood pedagogy.
The model is described by the university as “functional bilingual education”: communication and language learning are embedded into the programme, with the explicit aim of reaching the proficiency needed for work in Finland’s early childhood sector.
Why Finland is experimenting with bilingual teacher training
Finland has faced recurring staff shortages in early childhood education and care, a challenge that affects both municipal services and private providers. The University of Jyväskylä says the new track is also meant to support the employment of international students and strengthen their ties to Finland.
The programme has received €300,000 in development funding from the Ministry of Education and Culture (Opetus- ja kulttuuriministeriö), and is being developed with Jamk University of Applied Sciences as a partner.
The language hurdle: from daycare to pre-primary education
In Finland, early childhood education teachers can work both in daycare settings and in pre-primary schooling (esikoulu), which is the year before comprehensive school begins. This is where the programme’s core promise meets one of its hardest constraints: language expectations in Finnish public services are high, and teachers in pre-primary settings are often expected to have near-native Finnish.
The programme’s director, Peppi Taalas, has acknowledged that the requirements are demanding and that it is still uncertain how much Finnish students will be able to acquire during the degree. The track’s design is therefore a test of whether intensive, embedded language learning can produce graduates who meet professional standards—especially in roles involving close cooperation with children, parents and multidisciplinary teams.
What happens next: applications in spring 2027
Applications are expected to open in spring 2027, with the first students starting in autumn 2027. If the model proves workable, it could become a reference point for other Finnish institutions trying to reconcile two goals that often collide: maintaining high professional standards in education, while widening access to regulated professions for non-Finnish-speaking residents.
