At its meeting on December 3, 2025, the Education Council will discuss a proposal for the Tampere University Language Center’s curriculum for 2027–2030. The Education Council intends to present the structure of communication and language studies to the Academic Board in January 2026. The Academic Board is expected to make a decision on these matters in February 2026. TREY’s statement was sent to the Education Council on November 27, 2025.
Significant lasting changes are proposed to be made to the teaching schedules of the Language Centre of Tampere University. It is proposed that six languages are removed from the language selection of the Language Centre for the 2027–2030 curriculum period. As per the proposal, in addition to Finnish, Swedish, and English, only Spanish, German, French, and Russian would be taught. It is proposed that there will be no courses on Italian, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Latin, or Portuguese.
The change is being justified by citing a lack of resources, and it is presented as a value judgement between increasing resources and decreasing the amount of language teaching. The value-driven discussion is biased. Focusing on language studies purely from the perspective of resources diminishes the broader value of language proficiencies for education, the working life, and our credibility as a university.
In the University’s Strategy, we set a goal to be an internationally esteemed research university and an educator of world-changing experts. We further strengthen this goal in our International Strategy by highlighting the active and influential global activities of the members of our community. In addition, in our International Strategy, we as a university commit to offering a broad selection of foreign language and Finnish courses.
As a student union, we express our deep worry about the realisation of these goals. Deliberately decreasing the opportunities for studying languages is actively against the goals we have set together.
The Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture highlights the importance of a broad language selection in promoting the internationality of Finnish higher education and research (OKM, 2017). The language selection of universities should include, for example, Arabic, Japanese, Chinese, and Portuguese (Pyykkö, 2017; OKM, 2017). Diverse language proficiencies are the key to international research collaboration. A broad language selection also enables international student mobility and building international connections during studies.
Increasingly limited language proficiencies and the declining language reserve are a national problem (Vaarala et al., 2021). Finland is threatened by a lack of language and culture experts in the sectors of diplomacy, media, export, industry, technology, and in positions in the EU and NATO (Kolehmainen et al., 2025). Brazil, Japan, and China, for example, are significant trading partners to Europe (European Commission, 2025). International collaboration requires strong language proficiencies and cultural competences, which do not develop by reducing teaching in languages.
Universities must educate skilled experts for the future. Teaching language and communication skills is an inseparable part of this mission. Language proficiencies are also part of education, and it is the mission of universities to promote independent research and education in science and arts, offer research-based higher education, and educate students to serve their nation and humanity at large (Universities Act, 2009/558).
The limited language selection proposed in the proposal does not further the strengthening of the national language reserve. We believe that limiting the language selection of the Language Centre causes long-term harm to both individual students and more broadly to the university institution and society at large.
We must continue to ensure the capabilities of the Language Centre to offer a broad selection of high-quality teaching in languages that are significant in international science and working life. We urge that the University allocates enough funding to the Language Centre, so that it is able to realise its purpose.
Approved in a meeting of the Executive Board of the Student Union of Tampere University on 27 November 2025.
More information:
Laura Heino: Chair
puheenjohtaja@trey.fi, 050 361 2845
Ville Jäppinen: Specialist in Educational Affairs and International Affairs
ville.jappinen@trey.fi, 050 361 2849
Sources:
European Commission. (2025, November). EU trade by country/region. Trade
relations with countries [Brazil, Japan & China]. Countries and Regions – Trade and Economic Security – European Commission
Kolehmainen, L., Johansson, M., Lähteenmäki, M., Vilkuna, O. & Koistinen, S.
(2025). Vieraiden kielten opiskelun ja osaamisen tulevaisuus Suomessa: Visioraportti. Helda: University of Helsinki Open Repository. http://hdl.handle.net/10138/593795
OKM = The Ministry of Education and Culture, Finland. (2017). Yhteistyössä maailman parasta. Korkeakoulutuksen ja
tutkimuksen kansainvälisyyden edistämisen linjaukset 2017–2025. Opetus- ja kulttuuriministeriön julkaisuja 2017:11. http://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-263-457-3
Pyykkö, R. (2017). Monikielisyys vahvuudeksi: Selvitys Suomen kielivarannon
tilasta ja tasosta. Opetus- ja kulttuuriministeriön julkaisuja 2017:51. http://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-263-535-8
Vaarala, H., Riuttanen, S., Kyckling, E. & Karppinen, S. (2021). Kielivaranto. Nyt!
Monikielisyys vahvuudeksi -selvityksen seuranta. Jyväskylä: University of Jyväskylä, Centre for Applied Language Studies. https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/74416
Universities Act (2009/558). Date of Issue 24 July 2009. http://finlex.fi/2009/558