U.S. English Foundation Research
FINLAND
Language Research
6. Language in everyday life: The use of language in everyday life, e.g. education, broadcasting, and other
SWEDISH
SCHOOLS
The Swedish minority has schools in Swedish from elementary to university level, where Finnish is a compulsory subject. A native Finnish speaker does not generally speak good Swedish despite the fact that it also is a compulsory subject. Finland Swedes have their own public, free and independent education system, as do the Finns. These schools have native speakers of Swedish as teachers and the language of instruction is Swedish. All Finnish citizens have the right to receive education in their mother tongue from kindergarten to university. The parents have the right to choose the language of the education for their children.
The language right in education is based on the principle of personality. Each municipality, independently from its official languages, has to organize schools in the minority language (Swedish or Finnish) when at least 18 pupils ask for them. All bilingual municipalities have schools for both linguistic groups but there are many public Swedish-speaking schools in monolingual Finnish towns where there are enough Finland Swedes to ask for them. On Åland only Swedish-speaking schools are allowed with Swedish language textbooks and teachers.
PUBLIC AUTHORITIES AND SERVICES
Southern Finland is predominantly bilingual with Finnish as the majority language. In that region it may be difficult, if not impossible in some cases, to obtain services in Swedish. Even though civil servants in bilingual municipalities are theoretically obliged to know both national languages, their knowledge of Swedish is often so weak that Finland Swedes prefer to use Finnish. It seems that only where the overwhelming majority of the population is Finland Swedish it is always possible to get service in Swedish (e.g. Österbotten (Vasa/Vaasa region).
Nevertheless, the Language Law is carefully observed in the field of written official texts and laws: all bilingual municipalities publish most official written material in both languages. All the laws on the national level are published in the both languages so that they may be used in the courts and the State Administrative offices.
There are approximately 7 to 10 000 Sami people living in Finland. The Sami Language Law came into force in 1992. Since then the Sami have had the official right to use the Sami language in dealing with authorities in the Sami area. The language is considered to be official in municipalities where at least 7% of the population speaks Sami.
THE PRESS, RADIO AND TELEVISION
There are about 15 Swedish daily newspapers for the Swedish minority. The largest is Hufvuds-tadsbladet, delivered to most Swedish speaking homes. The Finnish Broadcasting Company maintains two Swedish-language channels, renamed Radio Vega and Radio Extrem. Television broadcasts from Sweden, or a selection of them, are available in most parts of Swedish-speaking Finland.
POLITICAL PARTIES
The Swedish speaking population is politically organized in order to safeguard its economic, social and cultural interests at various levels. The Finnish Parliament has 200 members, and in 1999 the Swedish-speaking MP's numbered 16. The Swedish People's Party is the only monolingual party, standing for moderate conservatism-liberalism. At the most recent parliamentary elections the party took 11 seats.
THE SWEDISH ASSEMBLY OF FINLAND
It is commonly called Folktinget, and it is a semi-official body representing the Swedish-speaking population. The Assembly was established in 1919 and it offers a forum for political discussion on issues concerning Swedish speakers. The Assembly's primary task today is to establish meaningful dialogue with the Finnish-speaking population concerning the significance of the second national language of Finland, Swedish.
SAMI
Three Sami languages are spoken in Finland: North Sami, Inari Sami and Skolt Sami. A Sami Parliament in Finland protects the rights of the Sami people in that country by implementing the Sami Language Act of 1992. All three Sami languages are included in the act but none are accorded the same legal status as Finnish and Swedish.
Official government employees are not obliged to know the language, but translation or interpretation is provided in cases where officials do not speak it. The Sami also have the right to receive documents and information in their native language and to use it with authorities. It can also be included as a native language on the official census. The Sami Language Office, set up by the Sami Parliament, ensures that public buildings and road signs are bilingual Finnish/Sami in addition to various announcements by the authorities and notices in newspapers.
The national broadcasters of Finland, Sweden and Norway co-operate in their provision of Sami-language programs for these countries. Broadcasts in this language amounts to approximately 12 hours per week or 4 to 6 hours for each country. Newspapers have been published in the language since the 1870s and publications for schools have been appearing in the language since 1978 when the language first started being used in schools.
RUSSIAN
The language has no official legal status, however a 1992 agreement between Russia and Finland contains a clause where both states guarantee to support the preservation of the identity of people belonging to the Russian minority in Finland and the Finnish minority in Russia.
Russian speaking pupils can get Russian lessons two hours every week in schools as all pupils in Finland whose mother tongue is not Finnish or Swedish are entitled.
ROMA
According to the Finnish Constitutional Act of 1995 the Roma have the right to maintain and to develop their language and culture. In 1977 a Romany-language committee was established within the Language Research Center by decree of a national law.
As a Finnish citizen, a Romany person has equal educational rights to the rest of the population. In practice, however, the position of the Romany people is more complex. A series of decrees which came into effect in 95/96 stipulate that in pre-schools, comprehensive schools, upper secondary schools and upper secondary schools for adults, students whose native language is Sami, Romany or a foreign language can be taught in their native language in place of Finnish or Swedish. They can then take either Finnish or Swedish as their second choice. Romany was first taught in the early 1980s at study circles in one locality only. Since 1989; however, the Romany language and culture have been more widespread in comprehensive schools. In 1997 there were about ten Roma teachers in the whole of Finland.
News in Romany is broadcast once a week on the national radio channel.
Teaching is given in 45 different mother tongues in Finland. A special allocation has been made for this purpose in the government budget.
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Leif Jakobsson, Director of the Television with programs for Swedish-speaking Finns (FST), met Elan Closs Stephens, the Chairwoman of Welsh language television S4C at a conference about digital broadcasting in Cardiff (November 2001). Only two months ago, Jakobsson launched the digital channel FST in Finland. One of the most important messages presented at the conference was that digital television could actually become a very important platform for preserving and developing minority cultures in the future.
The audience of this channel (more than 50%) has Finnish as the mother tongue. "In Helsinki, 50% of all Swedish-speaking marriages are in fact bilingual today. If we can provide a television alternative that both language parties can enjoy, this is what gives us extra strength as a channel," said Jakobsson.
FST receives more than 6% of the Finnish Broadcasting Company's funding what resembles to the percentage of the Swedish-speaking population in Finland. This allowed the launch a new FST channel.
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SWEDISH
Professor Marika Tandefeldt from the Swedish School of Economics and Business Administration in Helsinki, in co-operation with the Research Center for the Languages of Finland started a new program for the promotion of the Swedish language in Finland. During this spring a number of seminars were held on various topics related to the maintenance of the Swedish language.
Ms. Tandefeldt said that the worst enemies of the Finland-Swedes are they themselves. It is a well-known fact that many Swedish speakers tend to use Finnish in communication with the authorities, in shops, in restaurants etc. Another typical phenomenon is a habit of Swedish speakers to switch immediately to Finnish when a Finnish-speaking person is present. Thus it is common for a group of ten Finland-Swedes and one Finn to use Finnish.
Today, many Swedish-speaking parents neglect teaching their children the Swedish language what has resulted in a number of "semi-speakers;" children who neither know their own language nor any other language well enough.
Another main target group of the program are sport and leisure organizations. Ms. Tandefeldt deplores the lack of sense for language and language preservation among adults who train children and points out that a huge number of traditionally Swedish-speaking organizations have recently become completely Finnish speaking. Even in Swedish sport clubs there is a habit of Swedish trainers training Swedish children in Finnish, since they know the terminology only in Finnish.
Within the public sector the Swedish language has a very good theoretical position secured by the Constitution. However, reality is less optimistic because a shortage of time and resources often means that many documents are never translated into Swedish and a Swedish speaker can't always interact with the authorities in Swedish.
Concerning the position of the Swedish language in Finland Tandefeldt points out that there are enormous regional differences. There are three different degrees of Swedish speaking communities:
- The Swedish only communities, which are characterized by the strong dominance of Swedish and a considerable number of monoglots.
- Bilingual communities, both Finnish and Swedish speakers know each other's languages and both languages are used extensively.
- Almost completely Finnish communities, which have historical and sizeable Swedish populations, but nowadays are bilingual. In Helsinki this is a rather recent phenomenon. For most of 450 years the city had a Swedish majority, which slowly has decreased in percentage as more Finnish speakers have moved to the capital. Today the city's 36,000 Swedish speakers only account for 6.5 percent of Helsinki's population.
Ms. Tandefeldt says that the program is an effort to raise attention among the Swedish speakers on their own situation and try to make them responsible for their actions. She is aware of the fact that some of its recommendations may be controversial, especially those concerning the criticism of the lack of language abilities among school children. Still, she is convinced that something has to be done in order to stop the Swedish language from deterioration.
Source: Eurolang News, http://www.eurolang.net/
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EDUCATION
SWEDISH
The educational system in the Swedish-speaking parts of Finland is not different from the rest of the country. The teaching of Swedish population at all levels is characterized by the principle of "language shelter." Besides the Finnish school system, a parallel school system exists in Swedish. These schools function entirely in Swedish, teachers are native speakers and all subject are taught in Swedish. For teaching Finnish as a foreign language in such schools the medium of instruction can be either Swedish or Finnish (depending on the group of pupils). In Finnish-language schools Swedish is a compulsory subject (grade 7 to9), taught 2-3 lessons a week.
The Ministry of Education has a separate Department for Swedish Affairs, dealing with the minority languages (Swedish, Sámi and Romani).
PRE-SCHOOL EDUCATION
Educational institutions are set up on the basis of language - either Swedish or Finnish. Some are bilingual with two separate groups according to the language background of pupils. The kindergarten teacher is a native speaker of Swedish, but usually he/she is also fluent in Finnish. This is typical for more urban bilingual areas in Finland, where a family often lives in a Finnish-speaking environment. Parents want their child to go to a Swedish day care group in order to give the child a chance to perfect his/her Swedish language competence before entering primary school.
In 14 cities the possibility exists for the Finnish-speaking pre-school children to participate in an immersion program where the medium of instruction is Swedish. The target group consists of unilingually Finnish-speaking children, who, through the immersion program, should become functionally bilingual. In 1987, the idea of immersion was for the first time implemented in the Finnish-speaking school system in Vaasa. Therefore all research in this field is now carried out at Vaasa University.
PRIMARY EDUCATION
In Swedish schools in Finland Swedish is the medium of instruction, except for the teaching of a foreign language.
To pupils from bilingual families where Finnish is a dominant language a "strengthened mother tongue Swedish" course is offered in Swedish primary schools. These children are not fluent in Swedish so they have two extra lessons a week, however, usually only in the 1st and 2nd grade. Some 2 percent of pupils in the Finland-Swedish primary schools come from monolingual, Finnish-speaking homes.
In the southern part of Finland every third Swedish primary school and every second lower secondary school offers the course of Finnish taught as a mother tongue (for 2 hours a week). The other pupils learn Finnish as their first foreign language (A language). The teaching of Finnish as a subject starts in the 3rd grade (sometimes even sooner).
In the Finnish schools pupils can choose between Swedish or English as their first foreign language (A language). Most pupils choose English from grade 3 and Swedish from grade 7. The learning of Swedish is obligatory for the Finnish-speaking pupils and vice versa. Only in the Åland Islands pupils choose Finnish (B language) on a voluntary basis.
For the immersion program schools in Finland, the medium of instruction is Swedish for the first three years, then gradually the teaching partly is given in Finnish.
SECONDARY EDUCATION
Lower secondary school
At lower secondary schools the same type of support for language learning can be given as at primary schools.
Swedish is taught as a subject for at least 2-3 hours a week and the teaching covers writing, reading, and oral communication skills. In Finnish-language schools Swedish is taught as a foreign language for 2-3 lessons a week from the 7th grade (sometimes from the 3rd grade - if a pupil chooses it).
Upper secondary school
Upper secondary schools normally take 3 years (16-18/19 years) and students study there in their own pace (from two to four years).
In addition to the obligatory courses, a school can offer voluntary, more in-depth, studies in Swedish (project work on a theme, Finland-Swedish questions, drama, theatre, literature, the Nordic languages, functional grammar or oral communication).
In gymnasiums a course "on strengthened mother tongue Swedish" for bilingual pupils can be taken. The aim of this course is to enable bilingual pupils to achieve the same proficiency level in Swedish as their monolingual Swedish peers.
In Finnish-language upper secondary schools Swedish is taught as a subject (both A and B level courses). Swedish is described in the Finnish-language national curriculum (1994) as a part of the students' general education. Swedish language proficiency gives students a Nordic cultural capital and strengthens their cultural identity.
HIGHER EDUCATION
The major Swedish-language University is Åbo Akademi University. Other Swedish-language university level institutions are the Swedish Business Management School and the School for Social Studies and Welfare at the University of Helsinki. Several other universities are bilingual and have some teaching in Swedish (at the University of Helsinki, at the Technical University, the Theatre Academy, the Music Academy and at the University of Vaasa).
As a rule, Åbo Akademi University requires native-like competence in Swedish from its students. Some 25 percent of the students are predominantly Finnish speaking but they have to pass a test in Swedish, to make sure that they can study through the medium of Swedish.
The academic teaching is given in Swedish from undergraduate to postgraduate level.
In the bilingual universities of Helsinki and Vaasa teaching is carried out in both Swedish and Finnish.
Source: Mercator Education, Regional Dossiers, the Swedish language in education in Finland, http://www1.fa.knaw.nl/mercator/regionale_dossiers/regional_dossier_swedish_in_finland.htm
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BROADCASTING
YLE (a state-owned and publicly financed public service broadcasting company) has two television channels, TV1 and TV2. YLE also operates three nationwide Finnish radio channels and two semi nationwide Swedish radio channels.
In addition, YLE provides other broadcasting services in the capital area (for example Capital FM, which broadcasts mainly in English) and the Sámi radio in the north.
SWEDISH PROGRAMS
YLE transmits Swedish programs on its two domestic television channels (ca. 1,000 hours per year). A new digital full-service television broadcasts ca 2,000 hours per year in Swedish.
YLE also operates two radio channels, both broadcasting fully in Swedish that cover the coastal areas where most Swedish speakers live (a mix of the two channels is broadcast also over the main parts of inland Finland).
The public broadcasting service in the Åland Islands is called Ålands Radio och TV Ab. This company operates a public service radio channel and produces some television programs as well. It also provides for the retransmission of three television channels: SVT1 and SVT2 from Sweden and Finlands TV, which is a mix of YLE TV1 and TV2 (mainly the Swedish-language programs). Some radio programs from Finland and Sweden are also retransmitted. The commercial channel TV4 is available on cable.
SÁMI PROGRAMS
In northern Finland, YLE operates a radio channel broadcasting in Sámi (40 hours weekly, ca. 2,000 hours per year). These broadcasts are partly produced in cooperation with the Sámi radios in Norway and Sweden.
Since January 2002, Sámi-language news is also broadcast on television (10 minutes (6:00-6:10pm), five days per week (Monday to Friday)). This broadcasting can be watched in northern Finland (covering an area somewhat larger than the Sámi homeland). However, this broadcast is available also nationwide on the digital 24-hour news service (at 8:15pm and 11:10pm).
PROGRAMS IN OTHER LANGUAGES
Concerning the other languages, programs in Russian are limited only to the radio. YLE broadcasts a three-minute news program in Russian on its main news channel Radio Suomi. In addition, other 50 minutes per day in Russian transmitted on the FM band in southern and eastern Finland consist mainly of talk shows and relays of the BBC's news in Russian. There is also a 90-minute daily broadcast on the AM band, covering the southern parts of Finland.
Since 1999 a private, commercially financed, Russian radio network, Radio Sputnik, has existed. With its six transmitters, it covers the southern coastal area from the Russian border to Helsinki and the parts of eastern Finland.
A 10-minute weekly broadcast by YLE in the Roma language is the only program in this language.
Source: Minority-language Related Broadcasting and Legislation in the OSCE, Program in Comparative Media Law and Policy (PCMLP), Center for Socio-Legal Studies, Wolfson College, Oxford University & Institute for Information Law (IViR) (http://www.ivir.nl/index-english.html), Universiteit van Amsterdam (Study commissioned by the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities), April 2003, edited by T. McGonagle (IViR), B. Davis Noll & M. Price (PCMLP), http://www.ivir.nl/publications/mcgonagle/Minority-language%20broadcasting.pdf
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SWEDISH MAY BECOME A VOLUNTARY SUBJECT IN THE FINNISH MATRICULATION EXAM
According to one of the main Finnish newspapers, Helsingin Sanomat, the Minister of Education, Mrs. Tuula Haatainen, with support of the Prime Minister, Matti Vanhanen, suggested that Swedish should be a voluntary subject in the Finnish Matriculation exam, taken at the end of secondary school.
This idea; however, led to an intensive debate among Swedish-speaking Finns. They fear this revision undermines the position of Swedish, as it will no longer be an obligatory part of the Matriculation examination. In addition, Swedish speakers believe that it will become more difficult to justify learning Swedish in general.
WHY MAKE THE SWEDISH EXAM VOLUNTARY?
A base for this change was an experiment commenced in 1995, in several Finnish upper secondary schools. In these schools only the Mother Tongue test is obligatory and further students can choose from three other test: Mathematics, General Studies and second official language or foreign language.
Minister Haatainen defends the revision by the claim that at present the Matriculation exam is overly language-oriented, and thus more choice would be given to those who are better at Math and General Studies. According to her, upper secondary schools with their well-rounded education will remain and the status of Swedish will not be affected, as it will still be obligatory. Many language teachers believe that the voluntary nature of different subjects for the Matriculation exam will probably increase pupils' motivation towards studying. At present still 88 percent of candidates on an average take the Swedish exam as part of Matriculation.
SWEDISH-SPEAKING FINN'S CONCERNS
The Swedish national party "Ruotsalainen kansanpuolue" (RKP) demanded more time to prepare the new law, so the Prime Minister promised that drafting will continue over Easter. RKP would like to strengthen the position of Swedish in schools. They propose that teaching of Swedish at secondary schools should start earlier than at the age of 13 (as it is now).
Mr. Hans Rosenlund, an executive manager of the Swedish-speaking Finns Assembly, (Finlandssvensk Samling) fears that if the proposed revision comes into force, there is a risk that the students will not study Swedish as much as before and the Swedish language competence will become lower. He recommends that if the number of students taking the Swedish test decreased to less than 80 percent then the law should be revised. He also believes that it should be obligatory for Swedish to be a part of the Matriculation exam in bilingual municipalities as another option, although this choice includes a risk of endangering the equality of people.
Maj-Britt Höglund, a freelance journalist and former editor-in-chief of the Swedish language newspaper "Vasabladet", is afraid that the greater amount of voluntary subjects in the Matriculation exam will lead to both the segregation of knowledge1 and regional segregation2 of Swedish and Finnish-speaking people in Finland.
Source: Eurolang News, Helsinki, April 6, 2004, by Annika Juurriko, http://www.eurolang.net/news.asp?id=4501
1 Since it is not obligatory to take, for example, the language test in the Matriculation exam, pupils will not take it seriously and thus, will not learn it properly.
2 The Swedish-speakers in the west coast area of Finland, as they do not speak Finnish, may become more separated from the rest of the country.
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CARD SERIES "MY FAMILY"
In January 2004, the Finnish League for Human Rights published the card series called "My Family", presenting Finland's different ethnic minorities and the Sámi as an indigenous people. The purpose of the card series is to increase the awareness of schoolchildren of different minorities and to promote the creation of an equal and tolerant society.
This series, financed by the Ministry of Education, presents sixteen ethnic groups living in Finland (e.g. the Roma and the Sámi). Each card includes a drawing made by a child belonging to a particular ethnic minority that represents his or her family as well as it gives basic information about this minority (the number of these people in Finland, their major religion, language, traditions and customs, dressing etc).
A FILM CENTER FOR INDIGENOUS PEOPLE
At the beginning of 2004 the Culture Department of the State Provincial Office of Lappi allocated a sum of EUR 186,000 to establish the Film Center for Indigenous People in Inari. This project has been launched by the Sámi Parliament and it is financed by the European Social Fund (96 percent) and the Government's education service funds. It should be carried out in 2004/2005.
The objective of the project is to chart the different sources of financing and ways of running the Film Center, in cooperation with the schools in the Sámi Homeland to develop educational methods for teaching the Sámi language in the media and to establish a foundation as an umbrella organization for Sámi filmmakers. The project's essential function is to find financiers and partners for the Film Center and to organize a media-related training for teachers and cultural employees in the Sámi Homeland.
RUSSIAN MEDIA
As regards the Russian media in Finland, certain positive developments may be observed. As of March 2001, YLE has broadcast 50 minutes in Russian every day. There is a 45-minute Russian news program on the radio every night (the reception area covering southern Finland). The program is re-broadcast later on the same night. In addition, an abridged version of the program is broadcast on FM-frequency every day for audiences in the cities of Helsinki, Turku, Lahti and Kuopio.
In addition to the programs produced by YLE itself, the company also transmits programs in Russian produced by the BBC World Service (in London and Moscow) and "Golos Rossii" (in Moscow). The majority of these programs can be received digitally in Helsinki and in the Uusimaa province.
The Russian-speaking population also has their own radio station, "Radio Sputnik". The station broadcasts in Russian 24 hours a day and can be received in southeastern and southern Finland.
In August 2002, the Government granted a license for analogue radio broadcasts to "Radio Satellite Finland Ltd". The license covers certain cities and certain frequencies (the frequencies are in the region between Helsinki and Lappeenranta). In accordance with the terms of the license, the broadcasts must be primarily in Russian and should include news and current affairs programs. The license is valid until the end of 2006. In 2004, Radio Satellite Finland was given a discretionary government transfer of EUR 4,000.
The Ministry of Education has also supported publications in Russian, including a regular newspaper, "Spektr", and a literature periodical, "LiteraruS". "Spektr" was first published four years ago and currently it comes out eleven times a year with a volume of 20,000 copies. The newspaper is distributed free of charge in seventy places1.
Besides "Spektr", other Russian periodicals are published, "Novye Rubeži" in Helsinki and "Russkij Svet" in Tampere (by the Russian Club).
Since 1993 the Finnish-Russian publication "Pietarin kauppatie"/"Severnyi torgovyi put" has been published. It appears twelve times a year with a circulation of about 70,000 copies.
SÁMI FORENAMES AND SURNAMES
Generally the use of Sámi forenames and surnames is allowed. However, there are some practical problems relating to the Sámi alphabet. No established solution has been devised yet to transliterate the Sámi alphabet in official technical applications. For example, the names that include letters of the Sámi alphabet cannot be entered in a personal Social Insurance Card or a driver's license.
SWEDISH INSTRUCTION IN UNIVERSITIES AND POLYTECHNICS
The Finnish system of higher education consists of two kinds of educational establishments, universities and polytechnics. The basic mission of universities is to carry out scientific research and provide higher education based on it. All Finnish universities are state-run, financed especially (70 percent) by the government.
Although Finnish is the language of instructions and examinations at the university level, the following universities use Swedish as their official language:
The following universities use both languages:
According to Section 28 of the Universities Act (645/1997), the Åbo Akademi University has to take into account in its activities that Finland in a bilingual country. This university has to satisfy the educational and research needs of the Swedish-speaking population.
Based on special provisions, the University of Helsinki may reserve a quota for Swedish-speaking students in case a corresponding field cannot be studied at other universities.
According to Section 10 of the Polytechnics Act (255/1995), the language of instruction in polytechnics shall be either Finnish or Swedish. There are also bilingual polytechnics in which both Finnish and Swedish are used as languages of instruction. In Finland there are eight Swedish polytechnics, four Swedish-only and four bilingual ones (Finnish and Swedish).
THE SÁMI LANGUAGE IN HIGHER EDUCATION
The Sámi language and culture can be studied at three universities in Finland:
- The University of Oulu (the Department of Finnish, Sámi and Logopedics SUOSALO) has the main responsibility for the teaching of Sámi in Finland. The University has one professor of the Sámi language and offers a quota for Sámi speakers in teacher-training programs.
- At the University of Helsinki, students can take Sámi as a minor subject at the Department of Finno-Ugrian Studies. The purpose of the multidisciplinary Sámi Studies Program is to provide basic knowledge and qualifications required in various tasks relating to Sámi issues. The program consists of 20 credit units.
- At the University of Lapland, Sámi-speakers can study to become class teachers, and Sámi can be taken as a minor subject. The University has one lecturer of the Sámi language. Furthermore, several departments maintain a quota for Sámi-speaking students.
The only Sámi University, "Sámi Allaskuvla", located in Kautokeino (Norway) was established in 1989. This university uses Sámi as the principal language of instructions and provides a teacher training in the Sámi language. Students from the neighboring countries (Finland, Russia and Sweden) are admitted to study there as well.
RUSSIAN EDUCATION
The size of the Russian-speaking population and its concentration in southern Finland provide a favorable environment for the development of Russian schools. However, many Russian parents choose to place their children in Finnish schools to assure their better employment opportunities.
Basic education in Russian is given in a few schools, such as the Finnish-Russian school in Helsinki that was founded several decades ago and is maintained by the State. Russian is used there as a school subject and partly as the language of instructions. The school was originally designed for Finnish children but currently both Finnish and Russian-speaking pupils are admitted.
Source: Mercator News, January 2005, Report submitted by Finland pursuant to Article 25, paragraph 1 of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (received on December 10, 2004), www.coe.int
1 In the autumn 2002, "Spektr" was mailed free of charge to all Russian-speaking households in Finland (about 18,000 addresses). Thanks to the campaign, the number of subscriptions grew threefold.
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SÁMI MEDIA
The Sámi Radio (Sámi Radio), which has operated since 1947, broadcasted more than 2,000 hours in 2003 in the three different Sámi languages, North Sámi, Inari Sámi and Skolt Sámi. Some of the programs are co-produced with Norwegian and Swedish Sámi Radios.
North Sámi broadcasting constitutes a substantial part of the Sámi language broadcasting (approximately ten hours per day). Some Skolt Sámi and Inari Sámi programs are also broadcast on a regular basis. Special attention is paid to the programs targeted at young people, culture and music with Sámi lyrics. Sámi children’s programs were launched in the summer 2002 (25 minutes a week).
As from the beginning of 2002, YLE, in co-production with the Nordic (Swedish, Norwegian and Finnish) Broadcasting Companies, started to broadcast daily TV news in Sámi. These are transmitted to the Finnish Sámi in the analogue TV1 network, the national digital YLE 24 (news and current affairs channel) and also on the Internet.
Sámi television programs that are broadcast on a regular basis do not include separate programs for children even though these would significantly contribute to the promotion and use of the Sámi language.
There is no daily Sámi newspaper in Finland yet. Although the present legislation is favorable to its start, in practice the issue depends mainly on the Sámi people’s initiative and available resources.
Source: The Second Periodic Report on the Application of the Framework Convention on the Protection of National Minorities, received on December 10, 2004, http://dev.eurac.edu:8085/mugs2/do/blob.pdf?type=pdf&serial=1109603490781
SÁMI EDUCATION
The right of Sámi to education in their own language is safeguarded mainly by the provisions of the Basic Education Act (628/1999), the General Upper Secondary Schools Act (629/1998) and the Vocational Education and Training Act (630/1999).
Pre-school education in the Sámi Homeland usually takes place in conjunction with basic school education. In accordance with the Basic Education Act, Sámi can be used as the language of instruction and Sámi-speaking children should be taught mainly in Sámi. Since qualified teachers are still few in number it is difficult to fulfill this obligation.
According to the Basic Education Act and the General Upper Secondary Schools Act, Sámi as a mother tongue is on an equal footing with the two national languages, Finnish and Swedish. In upper secondary schools, Sámi can be the language of instruction, but an education provider is not obliged to arrange instruction in Sámi. It is not possible to take the entire school leaving examination in Sámi (either North Sámi or Inari Sámi).
In basic, upper secondary and vocational education and training, subsidies cover nearly all employment expenses. According to the 2002 Government Decree (1117/2002), the subsidies are conditional upon a group size of a minimum of three students per an education provider. The previous minimum group size requirement was five students. The change was made to safeguard the position of Sámi in the Sámi Homeland. Sámi pupils living outside the Sámi Homeland are offered a chance to participate in basic education in their own language in Rovaniemi and Oulu.
Source: The Second Periodic Report on the Application of the Framework Convention on the Protection of National Minorities, received on December 10, 2004, http://dev.eurac.edu:8085/mugs2/do/blob.pdf?type=pdf&serial=1109603490781
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DEBATE ABOUT BILINGUAL EUROPEAN ELECTION POSTERS
The Swedish Assembly of Finland, Folktinget, succeeded in reaching an agreement with the European Parliament over the use of bilingual posters in European elections.
In June 2004, the European Parliament's information office in Finland printed information posters about the European Parliament elections only in Finnish. The Swedish Assembly addressed a complaint to the European Ombudsman, Mr Diamandoros, because under Finnish law all election materials should be printed bilingually (in Finnish and Swedish).
The first reply of the European Parliament, where the percentage of the Swedish-speaking population living in Finland was highlighted, was not in line with the Finnish Constitution, which prescribes an equal position of the two national languages. Folktinget could not accept such attitude and emphasized that since equality between the languages is required in national elections, there is no reason for abandoning this custom in elections to the European Parliament.
Finally Mr Diamandoros admitted that the actions of the Parliament were in conflict with the Finnish Constitution and with Article 21 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights that forbids any language-based discrimination. He therefore suggested an amicable solution where the European Parliament acknowledged: firstly that the proportion of the Finnish population which speaks Swedish is not relevant to the status of the language as official in the EU, or to its status under the Finnish Constitution, and secondly that it would have been appropriate to publish the election posters in question both in Swedish and Finnish.
Source: Eurolang News, Helsinki, September 29, 2005 by Anna Jungner, http://www.eurolang.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2465&Itemid=1&lang=en
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Updated (February 2007)
LANGUAGE NEST FOR CHILDREN IN THE TOWN OF VUOTSO
Parents of children in the town of Vuotso are demanding a North Sámi language nest to start operating in Sodankylä County in the fall of 2007. The area belongs to the so-called "language change area" where, after World War II, Sámi speakers shifted to speaking Finnish, leaving only a few children speaking Sámi as their mother tongue.
Furthermore, it is the only county in Finnish Sámi land where no Sámi language daycare or language nest activity is currently offered. Parents from the town of Vuotso thus feel that it is time to start working to save the language from disappearing altogether in this area and they have asked the county to set up a language nest for their children.
The parents think that a part of 26,000 Euro from government's funding for Sámi language services could be used to start up the nest. Moreover, the county could receive specific funding for social services, such as daycare in Sámi, from the Finnish government. However, until now, it has not taken advantage of this possibility despite the community's legal entitlement to Sámi language provision. The authorities have responded positively. Maritta Norberg, the head of daycare services in Sodankylä County, reckons that the language nest is likely to start operating this spring instead of fall 2007.
A working group has been set up to work out how the language nest could be organized in Vuotso town. It consists of parents and representatives of the Sámi Parliament, SámiSoster, Sodankylä county and the Sodankylä county's Smi association.
Source: Eurolang News, February 22 and 26, 2007 by Kateriina Kilpi http://www.eurolang.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2827&Itemid=1&lang=en
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Updated (April 2007)
SÁMI YOUTH FESTIVAL
On 22 March 2007, the Sámi Youth Cultural Festival took place in the town of Utsjoki. This annual event brings together children from sixteen schools where Sámi is the language of instruction or where it is studied as a second language.
This year's theme was music and cartoons, both in the Sámi language.
One positive aspect of the festival, beyond the opportunity for the young artists to gain experience in performing arts, is that it reinforces their cultural identity as well as their linguistic skills.
Source: Eurolang News, April 2, 2007 by Katriina Kilpi
www.eurolang.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2858&Itemid=1&lang=en
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Updated (May 2007)
VIRTUAL SCHOOL PROJECT LAUNCHED TO TEACH THE SÁMI LANGUAGE OUTSIDE THE SÁMI'S HOMELAND
Over the past few years, the Sámi parliament has repeatedly called on the Government to take action to protect the Sámi language learning rights of students not living in the Sámi homeland. Besides a lack of teachers, Sámi teaching outside the homeland is made even more difficult as there are no laws protecting this right.
However, small groups have already been formed in Tampere, the Oulu area, Rovaniemi and Sodankylä, where there have been teachers available for Sámi teaching. In areas where a Sámi-speaking teacher is not available the Virtual School Project is trying to reach more children by Internet.
Meanwhile, the Finnish Sámi parliament and the Educational Centre of the Sámi Area have put out a survey on the number of interested children and youth living outside the Sámi homeland who wish to learn Sámi as a first or second language.
To begin virtual Sámi teaching, a group of a minimum of three students is needed. According to the Sámi parliament, the project is cost effective, as the schools will only have to pay for maintaining the virtual connection, the license payments of the required software, and monitoring the teaching.
The Sámi parliament considers the prevailing situation unconstitutional as over 50 percent of all Sámi children and youth is left without Sámi language teaching because they do not live in the respective area. In fact, the prevailing legislation equates Sámi children with immigrant children when it comes to receiving education in their mother tongue.
To tackle the most pressing issues of Sámi education, the Sámi parliament approved proposal on Educational Policy and presented it to the Finnish Ministry of Education in December 2006. The proposal, entitled "Development of educational policy status and the education of the Sámi", called for the Finnish Ministry of Education to immediately appoint a working group to explore the educational policy status of the Sámi. Further, it called for a long-term development plan for Sámi education.
They also tackled other issues in regard to education: the need for special and additional training for Sámi teachers, a unified curriculum for the whole Finnish Sámiland, a comprehensive assessment of Sámi education to gain data on the effectiveness of methods used and the success of Sámi children, and more resources to produce educational materials for Sámi schools.
Finally, the report underlined the importance of shifting the influence and decision-making power to the Sámi parliament for the education of its own people. The Sámi parliament also proposed an annual assembly with the Ministry of Education and for this occasion, the Sámi parliament would draft a report about the status and the need for development of Sámi education.
Except the Sámi parliament, parents outside the Sámi homeland have also become more active in their demand for Sámi language daycare and Sámi language teaching. Their goal is to have Sámi as a main language in daycare centers and for the children to be able to continue speaking it all the way through school. For instance, in the last few months, some daycare centers in Helsinki have already started a North Sámi language nest.
Source: Eurolang News, May 2, 2007 by Katriina Kilpi http://www.eurolang.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2868&Itemid=1&lang=en
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Updated (June 2007)
BILINGUAL CHILDREN ARE CONFIDENT ABOUT THEIR MINORITY IDENTITY
A small research program conducted in Finland may indicate that children from bilingual families are proud of their minority background.
Of the 900 children in the study, the majority attended a Swedish-language school in a primarily Finnish-speaking area of Helsinki and came from families where both Swedish and Finnish are spoken at home. Most of these children nevertheless described themselves as Swedish-speaking.
Furthermore, research results revealed an interesting fact - although a child speaks Finnish with his or her mother or father, among siblings the spoken language is Swedish. The older the children are, the more Swedish they use. Many youngsters of secondary school age said that their Swedish was better than their Finnish.
According to the research, whether one of their parents was Swedish-speaking it did not affect the development of a child's language identity.
Source: Eurolang News, June 4, 2007 by Katriina Kilpi http://www.eurolang.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2891&Itemid=1&lang=en
A PETITION FOR SÁMI NEWS
The Finnish national broadcasting company (YLE) has stopped transmitting Sámi TV-news on YLE 24 (a digital TV channel), where it used to shown daily from 9.40 p.m. to 11.14 p.m., with Finnish subtitles.
Instead, it has been moved to the FST5 channel, which is targeted specifically at the Swedish-speaking minority in Finland. According to program director, Päivi Kärkkäinen, the decision to place the Sámi news on FST5 is due to the "small target audience".
Consequently, it is now broadcast only after the Swedish programs finish, at differing times after midnight, which makes watching the news almost impossible for Sámi viewers.
Sámi activists have started an on-line petition to the YLE to find a better slot for the Sámi news.
Source: Eurolang News, June 16, 2007 by Katriina Kilpi http://www.eurolang.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2902&Itemid=1&lang=en
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Updated (November 2007)
SÁMI LANGUAGE NEST HAS BEEN OPENED IN VUOTSO
A long-awaited Sámi language 'nest' was set up in Vuotso town in Finnish Sámiland this autumn. Now, only a few children attend it due to lack of teachers. Nevertheless, there is a lot of interest in it.
The funding for the language nest comes from the county of Sodankylä and is safeguarded until next summer. The county is, however, planning to turn to the Sámi Parliament for financial support for the following years.
Vuotso is located at the southern end of the S&accute;mi homeland and is in an area where language change from Sámi to Finnish has been quite rapid. The local Sámi association (Soadegili sámiid searvi) has been spearheading actions to help revive the Sámi language for the past 20 years. In recent years, in addition to language, Sámi handicrafts, traditional clothing, traditional Sámi singing and Sámi music have become more popular.
Source: Eurolang News, November 4, 2007 by Katriina Kilpi http://www.eurolang.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2978&Itemid=1&lang=en
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