The Student Union of Tampere University is favourably disposed towards the education and training voucher. We believe that a well-implemented voucher will help those interested in higher education find their field of study. Furthermore, the voucher serves as a way to prevent unwanted gap years and offers support in applying to higher education. We call for close monitoring and active critical evaluation of the voucher’s implementation during the pilot. The impacts of the voucher must also be examined from the perspective of student numbers and the quality of teaching. The primary means of acquiring higher education-level competence will continue to be degree-based studies.
The voucher’s value does not correspond to the fees charged for Open University studies. Open University fees in Tampere are 20 euros per credit for basic and intermediate studies as well as other studies, and 30 euros per credit for advanced studies. Studies in the demonstration admission path, courses supporting learning and studying skills, and introductory courses are free of charge. The voucher must be priced according to the fees charged by universities.
It is important that resources for guidance are included in the voucher, but the proposed five-euro guidance funding is too small of an amount. Universities’ guidance resources are already limited, and they must be allocated primarily to degree students. During the pilot, the true costs of the guidance services must be examined, and the voucher’s guidance funding should be set at this level.
The distribution of guidance responsibility among different levels of education must be assessed. In the proposal, guidance services related to the voucher are strongly indicated as the responsibility of higher education institutions. From a guidance perspective, the voucher can also be viewed as a post-secondary education guidance service. The responsibilities of the voucher must be carefully assessed, particularly from the perspective of the guidance obligations of secondary education, and the division of responsibilities must be clarified.
We believe the voucher’s greatest potential lies in helping vocational education graduates’ transition to higher education. Far fewer students from vocational education apply to universities than those from general upper secondary schools. Vocational education graduates are also underrepresented among students admitted to universities. A well-implemented voucher can support the aspirations of all upper secondary education graduates to higher education institutions. This requires a stable and predictable voucher system, implemented in cooperation between secondary schools and higher education institutions.
Finally, we would like to draw attention to the qualifications for the voucher. The government proposal does not include international upper secondary degrees completed in Finland that grant eligibility for higher education in the required qualifications for the voucher. We propose that the government proposal be clarified so that persons with international upper secondary degrees that qualify for higher education admission, such as the International Baccalaureate (IB), European Baccalaureate (EB), or Deutsches Internationales Abitur (DIA), are entitled to the voucher.
Approved in a meeting of the Executive Board of the Student Union of Tampere University on 9 April 2026.
More Information:
Ville Jäppinen, Specialist in Educational Affairs and International Affairs
ville.jappinen@trey.fi, +35850 361 2849