The application for early childhood education places that will become available in autumn 2026 is focused on the period 2-22 March 2026. The application applies to new children starting early childhood education or families who want to change their child's early childhood education place!
An early childhood education place for a child must be applied for no later than 4 months before the desired start date. If the need for early childhood education is due to sudden employment or studies, the place must be applied for as soon as possible, but no later than fortnight before the start of early childhood education.
Applying for early childhood education and registering for preschool at the same time with an electronic form, which can be found at the link below.
You can access the early childhood education application here.
The application must indicate the need for the service and the date on which you wish early childhood education to begin.
The following hour scales are in use:
maximum 20h/week (60% of the early childhood education client fee)
less than 35 hours/week (80% of the early childhood education client fee)
35 hours or more (100% of the early childhood education client fee)
The type of activity is selected as a daycare center, group family daycare, or family daycare. You can also add a secondary option if you wish. Please note that shift care is only available at Valkean ruusun daycare.
Shift care refers to early childhood education that takes place outside of weekdays between 6:30 and 17:00 and on weekends/holidays. Families can only use shift care for reasons related to the guardians' studies or employment. Guardians of children who need shift care must submit a written certificate from their employer regarding irregular work and study hours to the shift daycare center, as well as their shift schedule if necessary.
It is good for families to be prepared for the fact that the early childhood education place assigned to their child may not necessarily be in line with their primary wishes.
Decision on an early childhood education place
The family will receive a decision on the early childhood education place approximately two weeks before the start of early childhood education. The early childhood education place must be received via an electronic form. Receiving an early childhood education place
Once the decision has been made, the start date of early childhood education cannot be changed.
You will receive the decision electronically if you have opted in to receive electronic messages on the suomi.fi website. The electronic decision is available on the suomi.fi website as soon as the decision has been sent electronically. Suomi.fi will send you a notification of the new decision by email. Receiving electronic messages from Suomi.fi
If you have not accepted electronic communication from authorities, you will receive the decision by letter within approximately seven (7) business days of the decision being sent.