Just when we’re out of the presidential election, the next election is already upon us! The European Parliament elections, or EU elections, will take place between May and June. The National Union of Students in Finnish Universities of Applied Sciences (SAMOK) and the national union of university students in Finland (SYL) have set out their electoral objectives for the 2024 EU elections. METKA signs the targets and in two articles we highlight targets that are particularly important for METKA.

This article deals with the objectives related to education and skills. They are:

  • Getting the financing of education right
  • Improving access to education and training
  • Putting an end to unpaid internships

Education is too often seen as a cost, when it should be seen as an investment in the future. Raising the level of education and skills in Finland and across the EU requires financial investment, but this investment will pay for itself. The challenges of today and the future can only be met with a high level of skills.

SAMOK and SYL include among their EU election targets that EU countries should spend at least 2% of GDP on higher education. In Finland, the figure is around 1.06% in 2023 (Ministry of Finance). Significant cuts are also planned for education. State funding for higher education will be reduced at the same time as tuition fees, for example, are increased. For individual students, the cuts will mainly affect social benefits during their studies. Either the student’s debt burden will increase as they will have to take out a loan to cover living costs, or else they will have to work while studying, delaying graduation.

Accessibility of education means that learning must be accessible to all. Groups under-represented in higher education must be supported on their way to study, continuous learning must be made possible throughout the EU and livelihoods must be guaranteed during their studies.

Finland has the lowest tuition fees of all the Nordic countries. If students also receive the maximum amount of housing support and take out the maximum amount of student loans, the total amount will not be worse in comparison. However, housing benefit is linked to household income and you will not receive any if, for example, you live with a working partner or work “too much” from this point of view.  The average student debt burden has more than doubled in less than ten years. There are more student loan borrowers and those who have taken out student loans have more debt than before. In Finland, opportunities for continuous learning have been undermined by measures such as the abolition of adult education support. Decisions at EU level to support continuous learning would also improve access to continuous learning in Finland.

For universities of applied sciences, traineeships form an important part of their studies. Depending on the field, the minimum number of credits is 30, equivalent to one full semester of study. However, traineeships put students in different fields on an unequal footing. Students in the social and health sectors do not receive a single cent for their traineeships, whereas in engineering, for example, traineeships alone can earn between €2,350 and €3,200 a month (salary recommendations for students from the Engineering Federation).

Unpaid traineeships are therefore mainly in female-dominated sectors. Traineeships may also be shift work, which means that paid work alongside studies has to be put on hold. Income is scarce, loans may be higher and students who choose a particular field are likely to graduate with a higher debt burden. In many sectors, unpaid traineeships are not even passed on to students and are only offered when no other placement is available and, for example, graduation is at risk of being delayed as a result. A reasonable wage, commensurate with the price level in the country, should be paid for each traineeship. This would increase equality across the EU and at the same time could increase student mobility for placements abroad. In the next article, we will look further at issues related to intra-EU student mobility.

EU elections are held simultaneously in all EU countries. Advance voting in Finland is from 29 May to 4 June 2024 and abroad from 29 May to 1 June 2024.By voting, you can influence who will represent Finland in the European Parliament for the next five years. In the 2019 EU elections, voter turnout in Finland as a whole was 42.7%. Well under 30% of young people and young adults (aged 18-34) voted. The European Parliament elects 720 MEPs, or MEPs who represent the citizens of the European Union at European level. Finland will elect 15 MEPs to the Parliament.

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This post is also available in Suomi.