In Finland, savings targets are searched for with a dense comb, when the government's income and expenditure are wanted to be balanced. In the future, political decision-makers who complain in parliamentary elections will draw lines between necessary and less important expenses.
In the 2023 budget, the state has set aside 182 million euros for free educational work. It means studying for non-degree goals mainly in civic and folk universities. The Ministry of Finance considers that it would be possible to reduce the state's appropriations for free educational work by around 50–90 million euros. The reason given is that the students are mostly middle-class people with good incomes who can afford to pay for their studies and hobbies themselves.
The Settlement Union and the settlement movement formed by its local associations are together the largest private provider of free educational work in our country. We have 13 civic colleges, three folk colleges and one art school for young people in need of special support across the country. Of course, we also have well-paid people studying in salaried positions, but our students also include many others, such as almost 12,000 pensioners and almost 2,000 unemployed in 2022.
Settlement movement has solid, more than a hundred years of expertise in urban and community social work. We know that the most effective way to prevent marginalization and incompetence is to trust that people have a need to learn, develop, and grow. That is, to be civilized.
We also know that civilization has to be taken to places where people don't know how to go get it themselves, or don't know that learning and Civilization belong to them too. The civilizing work searching for settlements finds thousands of precisely such people every year. New arrivals learning the Finnish language, people struggling with mental health challenges, people released from prison, unemployed, homeless, people with developmental disabilities, as well as children, young people, students, senior citizens and many, many others. Learning new things, finding one's own talents and making them visible strengthen the person themselves, increase inclusion, reduce loneliness and prevent marginalization.
Settlement universities do this educational work because we believe in an equal society. However, it is financially heavy. Only a few municipalities financially support settlement colleges. On the other hand, almost all municipal colleges receive support from their home municipalities in addition to the state's shares.
Free educational work is socially significant work. Finland, which is falling into categories, suffering from a labor shortage, being segregated and unequal, should not let free educational work decay. When looking for savings targets, it is wise to think about things beyond one election term.
Pentti Lemmetyinen
Managing director
Settlement Union
Pilvi Mansikkamäki
Headmaster
Ahjolan Settlement, civic college
