Inte­gra­tion into Finnish soci­ety through edu­ca­tion – Study oppor­tu­ni­ties in Oulu

This report by Gol­riz Gho­nouei dis­tills the rich insights shared by speak­ers dur­ing a recent event held by Oulu Skills Cen­tre and Inter­na­tion­al House Oulu, focus­ing on a diverse range of edu­ca­tion­al oppor­tu­ni­ties in Oulu. The Study oppor­tu­ni­ties in Oulu event aimed to guide par­tic­i­pants in lan­guage learn­ing, part-time and short-term stud­ies, uni­ver­si­ty pro­grams, and spe­cial­ized ini­tia­tives for immi­grant par­ents.

This detailed explo­ration of edu­ca­tion­al oppor­tu­ni­ties in Oulu offered prac­ti­cal insights and advice for indi­vid­u­als seek­ing to enhance their skills and inte­grate into Finnish soci­ety. The speak­ers’ empha­sis on resources, guid­ance ser­vices, and prac­ti­cal steps pro­vid­ed a valu­able roadmap for aspir­ing learn­ers in Oulu’s mul­ti­cul­tur­al envi­ron­ment.

Study Finnish

Riik­ka-Mai­ja Garde­meis­ter, a Finnish teacher from Vil­la Vic­tor’s Mul­ti­cul­tur­al Cen­tre, under­scored the essen­tial role of study­ing Finnish in facil­i­tat­ing suc­cess­ful inte­gra­tion. Her pre­sen­ta­tion delved into the ben­e­fits of learn­ing Finnish, empha­siz­ing how it enhances job prospects, even in Eng­lish-speak­ing work­places. She high­light­ed the non-stop nature of Vil­la Vic­tor’s free Finnish cours­es, which allow indi­vid­u­als to start any­time.

“Study­ing Finnish is essen­tial for indi­vid­u­als seek­ing to inte­grate into Finnish soci­ety, whether for study or work.“

Addi­tion­al infor­ma­tion:

• Vil­la Vic­tor
• finnishcourses.fi/

Nav­i­gat­ing Edu­ca­tion­al Oppor­tu­ni­ties

Katri Koso­nen (left), rep­re­sent­ing OAMK SIMHE, pro­vid­ed valu­able insights into edu­ca­tion­al pos­si­bil­i­ties at the Oulu Uni­ver­si­ty of Applied Sci­ences. Her pre­sen­ta­tion cov­ered the uni­ver­si­ty’s loca­tion, its sig­nif­i­cance in the edu­ca­tion­al land­scape, and spe­cial­ized sup­port for immi­grants. Katri detailed SIMHE’s role in assist­ing immi­grants in under­stand­ing the Finnish edu­ca­tion sys­tem, offer­ing free per­son­al guid­ance, and facil­i­tat­ing the appli­ca­tion process. Katri also pre­sent­ed a com­pre­hen­sive flow­chart to guide prospec­tive stu­dents in apply­ing for degree pro­grams, includ­ing the Open Uni­ver­si­ty line.

“SIMHE stands as a sup­port­ive insti­tu­tion, not only offer­ing edu­ca­tion­al oppor­tu­ni­ties but also pro­vid­ing essen­tial guid­ance for immi­grants seek­ing to enhance their skills and inte­grate into the Finnish edu­ca­tion sys­tem.“

Addi­tion­al infor­ma­tion

• oamk.fi/en/study-at-oamk/open-university/

Oppor­tu­ni­ties offered by the uni­ver­si­ty

David Delahunty, from the Uni­ver­si­ty of Oulu’s Aca­d­e­m­ic Affairs, offered an exten­sive overview of the diverse pro­grams avail­able. He stressed the impor­tance of thor­ough prepa­ra­tion for the appli­ca­tion process, includ­ing dis­tinct cri­te­ria and lan­guage require­ments for var­i­ous pro­grams. David dis­cussed the uni­ver­si­ty’s robust sup­port sys­tem, lan­guage learn­ing oppor­tu­ni­ties, con­tin­u­ous learn­ing plat­form “Joy,” and addi­tion­al offer­ings like Cafe Lin­gua and Sum­mer Uni­ver­si­ty. Prospec­tive doc­tor­al stu­dents received valu­able insights into the sig­nif­i­cance of find­ing suit­able super­vi­sors and fund­ing options.

“For those aspir­ing to pur­sue doc­tor­al stud­ies, hav­ing a mas­ter’s degree is a pre­req­ui­site.”

Addi­tion­al infor­ma­tion:

• Studyinfo.fi
• Oulu.fi

Empow­er­ing immi­grant par­ents

Yulia Louckx from OSAO Kot­va illu­mi­nat­ed a unique ini­tia­tive tai­lored for immi­grant par­ents on parental leave. Yulia encour­aged indi­vid­u­als on parental leave to ben­e­fit from Kotva’s ser­vices, empha­siz­ing lan­guage pro­fi­cien­cy for var­i­ous pro­grams.

“Kot­va pro­gram oper­ates in Finnish, with Eng­lish, Russ­ian, and Dutch lan­guage sup­port avail­able as need­ed.”

Study­ing Part-Time and Short-Term Stud­ies

Ella Sep­pä­nen from Business­Oulu Employ­ment Ser­vices pro­vid­ed a detailed break­down of study oppor­tu­ni­ties for unem­ployed indi­vid­u­als. Empha­siz­ing the need for thor­ough con­sul­ta­tion with des­ig­nat­ed con­tact per­sons, Ella clar­i­fied the dis­tinc­tions between full-time and part-time stud­ies, address­ing their impact on unem­ploy­ment ben­e­fits. Her pre­sen­ta­tion extend­ed to short-term stud­ies, empha­siz­ing their use­ful­ness for enhanc­ing voca­tion­al com­pe­tence and coor­di­nat­ing with the con­tact per­son to explore these options.

“If you are con­sid­er­ing part-time or short-term stud­ies dur­ing unem­ploy­ment, your des­ig­nat­ed con­tact per­son at Employ­ment Ser­vices is a go-to resource.”

Text: Gol­riz Gho­nouei