SDP’s Eloranta: Inequality in language education must be fixed

Social Democratic MP and member of the Education and Culture Committee, Eeva-Johanna Eloranta, has submitted a written question concerning regional disparities in language education and the narrowing range of language options available to schoolchildren in Finland. Eloranta is calling on the government to reform the national language programme and to ensure equal opportunities for all pupils, in order to strengthen Finland’s language competence.

“In recent decades, Finnish schoolchildren have studied fewer languages. This trend is alarming—not only for individual opportunities, but also for the nation’s competitiveness and international expertise,” Eloranta states.

The current basic education language programme dates back to 1968, and according to Eloranta, it no longer meets the needs of today’s globalized world. Although some reforms have been introduced in recent years—such as starting language instruction earlier and adding an extra hour for the B1 language—many municipalities still offer a limited range of languages. In particular, pupils in smaller municipalities often do not have the chance to choose a third language, even if they are interested.

“The regional disparity in language education creates significant inequality. It is unfair that a child’s opportunity to learn languages depends on where they live. We must ensure that every child and young person has the right to diverse language education,” Eloranta emphasizes.

Eloranta proposes that pupils in basic education should have the opportunity to study three different languages. This could be implemented by making it mandatory for all municipalities to offer either A2 or B2 language instruction. Pupils could then choose which language they want to study and when they want to begin.

“The students are motivated, the teachers are ready, and policymakers have positive attitudes towards language learning. Now we need political will. It’s time to strengthen our language capacity and ensure that language learning is not a privilege, but a right for every pupil,” Eloranta concludes.