Religious education classes in Turku will continue to combine pupils of different faiths, despite a legal warning from the Regional State Administration Agency.
Under Finnish law, municipalities must offer religion-specific instruction in basic education if there are at least three pupils of a given faith in a year group. But in Turku, fifth and seventh graders from various religious backgrounds have been taught in joint classes that include pupils with no religious affiliation.
The Regional State Administration Agency stated that this approach violates the Basic Education Act. Despite the reprimand, Turku’s head of services for children and young people, Anu Parantainen, said there was no time to make alternative arrangements before the new school year.
Parantainen said parents had not provided negative feedback directly to the city. But several have contacted national broadcaster Yle to express dissatisfaction. The National Forum for Cooperation of Religions (USKOT), which represents eight religious groups, is preparing a formal complaint to the agency.
“This remorselessly tramples over minorities,” said Sirpa Okulov, head of USKOT’s religious education division. “I was in touch with the city of Turku years ago and explained that parents are not at all satisfied with this arrangement.”
Okulov, who is Orthodox Christian, argued that minority pupils benefit more from instruction in their own faith tradition. “You don’t just learn religion in these lessons, you also learn about culture,” she said.
In larger cities, such as Tampere and Helsinki, there are ongoing challenges in providing separate classes for each religious group. Tampere’s basic education chief Kristiina Järvelä noted the difficulty of recruiting qualified teachers for minority religions.
“The obligation to teach different religions is really challenging both practically and financially,” said Järvelä. She added that joint classes promote equality and efficient use of resources, despite concerns over content quality and cultural fit.
Helsinki has managed to offer separate religious instruction when there are enough pupils, but sometimes pupils have to attend lessons at other schools, according to education director Ville Raatikainen.
In contrast, Turku defends its joint model as promoting tolerance and multicultural understanding. Okulov disputes this, warning that shared classes might suppress minority perspectives. She participated in a working group for the National Education Agency that reviewed religious education policy.
The group discussed replacing religion classes with joint ethics instruction. Okulov and most members rejected this option. “It sounds nice that everyone studies together, but what exactly are they going to be taught?” she said. “If there is a desire to move to joint subject classes, religion in that case moves to be part of history and civics teaching.”
HT
