Education

Education

In Finland, a compulsory education starts at the age of seven. In other words, on the same exact year when the child turns seven, they start the 1st grade of primary school.

For children living in Kittilä, there are five elementary schools: Lukkari, Alakylä, Kaukonen, Sirkka and Raattama. Each of them have grades from 1 to 6, so the children usually attend elementary school from age 7 to 13.

There is one junior high school (grades 7-9) in Kittilä and it is located in Kittilä center. After junior high school, students have successfully completed their compulsory education around the age of 15, and can choose whether they want to continue studying or not. Municipality of Kittilä has one high school in Kittilä center, and after 3 (or sometimes 4) years of studying most high school students receive a matriculation examination diploma.

Besides high school, another option for studying after junior high school is to attend vocational school, but the municipality does not operate it.

Number of students in each school during school year 2022-2023:

As in day care units, the number of students increase also in schools during the winter season. However, the exact data about this increase is not available at the moment.

School transportation

There is a local school system in Kittilä, meaning that most children attend the school that is located nearest to their home. While many students live within walking or cycling distance from school, many students rely on free school transportation in order to get to school and back home. However, it is possible to attend another school by request, but in this case, potential transportation costs have to be paid by families.

All preschoolers and 1-3 graders who live more than 3km from the school are eligible for using free school transportation. For 4-6 graders and high school students, the km-limit is five. It is possible for high school students to apply for school transport subsidy from KELA (Social Insurance Institution of Finland) and use it for transportation if the distance between home and school is at least 7km.

In addition to these specific km-limits, there is a possibility to apply for transportation based on the evaluation of how dangerous it is for a student to get to school. For example, if the student has to cross a big road with heavy traffic, or has to walk a long way in the road that has no streetlights, it might be possible to become eligible for free transportation.

In Kittilä, the total number of students using free transportation is 375 (in 31.5.2023; preschoolers excluded):

There are eight transport providers and they operate different routes around Kittilä. Each morning there is one connection from home to each school. After school, there are two connections back home for 1-6 graders, and one for highschoolers.

Currently the longest transportation route is 86,4km (one-way).