March Turned to April with Significant Matters at Hand

Visits to Daycares and Schools

In March, I continued my visits to daycares and schools. I met many city employees, as well as children and young people.

In March, I also met with the principals of NATO schools and visited a daycare and a school with them. They were very interested in the Finnish education system.

The best part of the visits is seeing different daycares and schools and getting to know their operations on-site. It’s also important to hear their thoughts, insights, and ideas on current issues. My work is strengthened by listening to the voices and perspectives from the field. There’s no need to guess how, for instance, job satisfaction, leadership, and inclusion can be improved.

Discussions with children and young people are also really important and meaningful because I get to hear their views and thoughts broadly.

Major Decisions in the Board

The Education and Training Board approved on Tuesday, March 26, 2024, the needs assessment for the renovation of new daycare facilities at Maurinkatu 1a.

During the needs assessment, we exchanged a lot of messages and had discussions with parents. A key concern for parents is understandably the closure of a nearby and familiar daycare.

In the Kruununhaka and Katajanokka areas, the challenge has been that there are not enough daycare places for all the children in the area. The children of Daycare Vironniemi have been in temporary facilities for years. Additionally, there is a lack of Swedish-speaking places.

According to the decision made on March 26, the daycare facilities at Maurinkatu 1a will primarily replace the temporary facilities currently in use by Daycare Vironniemi on Svante Olsson’s Park Alley. We must vacate the current temporary facilities by December 2024 due to the renovation of Kaisaniemi Park.

Suitable daycare facilities have been sought in the area for a long time. The newly found facilities can now be converted into a daycare, thereby providing Daycare Vironniemi with permanent premises in the area. This also ensures high-quality early childhood education as a local service for other children in the area. The daycare will eventually have places for 224 children.

Based on the discussions held and additional clarifications, we, along with the members of the sector and the board, already concluded at this stage that Daycare Vironniemi will continue under its own name. In addition, Daycares Masto and Wilhola will remain in their current locations to ensure that the service network in the area meets the sector’s service promise.

According to my accepted counter-proposal, parents, children, and staff must be involved in planning the facilities, yard, and outdoor activities.

I believe that through good cooperation and planning, we can create child-centered, functional, and safe spaces for the children in the area.

The decision was not easy, but it aligns with our core idea as social democrats that high-quality early childhood education is a local service.

Are We Leaders in Education in Helsinki, or Should We Learn from Others?

In March, I organized a seminar focused on the future of education at the Helsinki City Hall. Among the speakers were OAJ’s Chairperson Katarina Murto and the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education and Culture, Anita Lehikoinen. The seminar was moderated by Saku Tuominen.

The voice of young people was represented at the event by Kide Rinne from Kallio High School and Aisha Mahmood, the second vice-chairperson of the Youth Council. The discussion on the perspectives of education and training was brought forth by sector director Satu Järvenkallas, and the future cooperation in basic education was opened by the Ministry of Education and Culture’s special expert Venla Bernelius.

In addition to speeches, the seminar included a panel discussion featuring Katarina Murto and Anita Lehikoinen alongside me. The discussion covered the real purpose of schools, the need to build trust, and areas for development.

It is essential to have a genuine discussion about education. Too often, we get stuck in a certain corner. Society often creates a negative image of schools, which does not help children, young people, or staff believe in the future.

At the event, I felt that the common vision was clearly expressed: children and young people must be listened to in the development of schools and education. The young people themselves highlighted this well; they want to be involved in this work.

The discussion also raised the issue of educational equity for all children. This is an important matter that we social democrats have been actively promoting in Helsinki and have kept in discussions.

Multidisciplinary Collaboration Yields Results

In early March, I visited Stadin AO’s operations on Kullervonkatu, particularly its excellent new educational brewery.

We were given a truly wonderful tour where we got to see various teaching spaces and meet students. We also learned about the beer production process created by the students and its extensive process, which ultimately results in the beer ending up in a bottle and soon in the Restaurant Kokki on Prinsessatie. Students from various fields, including marketing, communication, laboratory work, and logistics, participate in different phases of the process.

I must say that all members of the mayoral team received beers with our own labels. Yes, we have excellent examples of multidisciplinary cooperation here in Helsinki!