Advocacy themes
SAMOK’s advocacy work
The quality of higher education is an important theme both for students' skills development and for society. In order to develop high-quality education, the legislation for both universities of applied sciences and universities obliges higher education institutions to participate regularly in evaluations. This evaluation is carried out as an independent audit, which examines how the higher education institution maintains and develops the quality of its activities. In Finland, evaluations are the responsibility of the Finnish Education Evaluation Centre, FINEEC (Karvi) for short.
The evaluations carried out by FINEEC identify strengths, good practices and areas for development in the activities of higher education institutions. This is done by involving the institution's staff, students and stakeholders, for example through interviews. In the audits of individual universities of applied sciences, student union elected officials and staff often take part on the students' side.
SAMOK is actively involved in the quality work of universities of applied sciences through FINEEC. We are represented in FINEEC's working groups, where we raise issues important to students related to the audits of higher education institutions. In addition, student representatives for audit teams are recruited through us. In this work, we emphasise students' perspectives.
More information on the auditing of higher education institutions and FINEEC's activities is available on their website.
Our advisor on the subject:
The funding of universities of applied sciences comes largely from the state. Therefore, state funding and other steering affect the activities of universities of applied sciences. State funding is allocated to both universities of applied sciences and universities as a single lump sum on the basis of a so-called funding model. These funding models differ from each other, and their purpose is to strengthen the quality, impact and productivity of higher education institutions' activities.
SAMOK influences the funding model of universities of applied sciences so that the students' perspective would be better reflected in it. It is important to us that the quality of teaching as well as students' well-being and feedback are reflected in the funding model.
The core funding distributed through the model is allocated to higher education institutions as a single lump sum. The institutions themselves decide on the internal allocation of funding based on their own strategic choices. The state funding for universities of applied sciences is EUR 954 million (2023) and for universities EUR 1,999 million (2023).
In addition to core funding, universities of applied sciences receive funding from other sources. This is called external funding, and universities of applied sciences receive it from, among others, foundations, companies, the European Union and Business Finland. In addition, higher education institutions receive strategy-based funding. More information on the funding model and what it consists of can be found on the Finnish Government's website.
Universities of applied sciences are also steered by other means, such as information guidance. This framework emphasises the autonomy and social responsibility of higher education institutions. Individual universities of applied sciences allocate their funding as they wish and develop their activities in the direction they consider best.
Our advisor on the subject:
Student mobility: exchange studies and internships abroad
SAMOK advocates for UAS students’ opportunities for internationalisation, so that more and more students would have the opportunity to gain international competence during a mobility period abroad. The number of mobility periods among UAS students has decreased significantly in recent years, already before the COVID-19 pandemic.
In particular, strict deadlines for completing a degree, the difficulty of including a mobility period in the degree, and the life situations of students with families are reasons that make it harder to go on a mobility period abroad. At the same time, financial reasons are one of the most important reasons why students do not go on a mobility period. We work to increase student mobility by informing decision-makers and civil servants about the measures we see as solutions to this challenge. Read more about our measures to increase mobility here.
In addition to mobility periods, SAMOK promotes opportunities for internationalisation at home, as well as defining the learning objectives and content of international competence at the national level.
International students in Finland
SAMOK safeguards the interests of international students studying in Finland by advocating in particular for faster entry into the country, integration into society and the community, and employment in Finland. In 2022, legislative reforms made it easier for international students to enter Finland and stay in the country during their studies, but challenges remain.
In particular, identification at a Finnish diplomatic mission, which is part of the residence permit process, has caused problems as the services have been heavily congested. In addition to entry, international students do not integrate very well into our society, and it is harder for them to find an internship or a job compared to local students. Among other things, we work to solve these challenges by meeting decision-makers and presenting our views in various working groups and meetings.
International and EU advocacy (EU, ESU and NOM)
SAMOK exerts influence at the European level by being active in the umbrella organisation European Students’ Union and by cooperating with national student organisations in other European countries. Cooperation is particularly close with the other Nordic countries and the Baltic countries, and the national student organisations of these countries belong to the NOM network (Nordisk Ordförande Möte), which meets twice a year.
The most important European-level institutions whose education policy SAMOK influences are the European Union and the Bologna Process (European Higher Education Area). In the EU, SAMOK particularly influences the Commission’s education policy initiatives, such as the European Education Area (EEA) and the European university alliances (European Universities). In its international advocacy work, SAMOK meets EU decision-makers and takes part in the EU discussion in various working groups in Finland and in international forums.
Students at Risk Finland
Together with the National Union of University Students in Finland (SYL), SAMOK has founded the organisation Students at Risk Finland, whose purpose is to offer students who act as human rights defenders, and who are denied the right to education or other human rights in their home country because of their societal activities, the opportunity to continue their studies at a Finnish higher education institution. Read more here.
Our advisor on the subject:
Work for equal education needs an update for the 2020s
During this government term, Finland must prepare a long-term programme covering the entire educational path to promote educational equality. The programme must also set out ambitious, clear and measurable objectives. The concept has proven successful internationally: in Ireland, for example, access to education is a strategic choice, and similar plans have been drawn up and implemented (in English) since as early as 2005.
The programme should set five objectives:
It has long been known, that the educational choices of young people in Finland are strongly gendered, and gender-based segregation takes place especially in the transition from basic education to vocational upper secondary education and general upper secondary school. At present, 58 per cent of new general upper secondary students are women, and in some regions the share of women among those who have accepted a place in general upper secondary school is already well over 60 per cent. In addition, choices of field of study are significantly gendered. In practice, fields are passed down from father to son and from mother to daughter. This is particularly visible in universities of applied sciences: for example, of students in the field of technology and transport, over 85% are men, whereas in the field of social services, health and sports, 85% of students are women.
People with an immigrant background are more strongly selected than the rest of the population in terms of whether they continue from basic education to upper secondary education at all. In addition, students with a Finnish background complete general upper secondary education and vocational education faster than those with a foreign background. Immigrants’ educational choices are also particularly gendered. Immigrants are channelled into training following integration training and into training that replaces integration training, often on the basis of what training is available, rather than into training that is appropriate in terms of their actual training needs and their own skills and educational background. Another problem is, that immigrants are steered into studies based on cultural preconceptions, regardless of the individual’s own wishes.
Family background has a significant impact on the educational paths of people in Finland. Everywhere in Finland, a student’s socioeconomic background is a strong predictor of the choice of study place: socioeconomic background strongly explains the distribution of students between university of applied sciences education and university education. SES background is also linked to many other aspects of educational equality: for example, the choice of upper secondary education is particularly gendered in the lower socioeconomic classes. In addition, parents’ educational background is one of the clearest factors influencing the choice of education. One in four men studying at a higher education institution is studying in the same field as his father.
Completion of education varies according to both gender and ethnic background. Women most often drop out of vocational education, whereas men drop out of universities of applied sciences. In addition, students with a Finnish background complete general upper secondary education and vocational education faster than students with a foreign background. Within three and a half years, 81 per cent of students with a Finnish background had completed general upper secondary education, while the completion rate for students with a foreign background was 66 per cent. Within three and a half years, 69 per cent of students with a Finnish background and 60 per cent of students with a foreign background completed vocational education.
In Finland, the measurement and monitoring of educational equality appears, with regard to higher education, to be unsystematic, even though the state administration considers equality in education an important goal. No established methods for measuring educational equality seem to have emerged, which has certainly contributed to making it difficult to start monitoring.
Solution-oriented, results-driven, impactful
The plan requires clear, sufficiently ambitious and measurable objectives. Ireland, for example, could serve as a model, as it has set clear numerical targets for increasing access to education for under-represented groups. The achievement of the objectives must be reviewed regularly in interim evaluations, which would be carried out by an independent body such as the Finnish Education Evaluation Centre FINEEC.
The plan’s proposed measures must take into account three cross-cutting themes:
1. defined population groups at which the measure is specifically targeted,
2. the points along the educational path at which it is effective to address biases in educational choices,
3. in addition to educational choices, the differentiation in skill levels that precedes them must also be taken into account.
The measures could largely be implemented with project funding from the Ministry of Education and Culture, in the same way as the current key projects.
Possible measures could include, for example:
- Increasing funding for positive discrimination in basic education and developing the evaluation of comprehensive schools to make it more consistent nationally.
- A key project to improve completion rates in higher education, creating new tools for student guidance and supporting the resumption of interrupted studies.
- Developing the education preparing for higher education studies that universities of applied sciences organise for immigrants, extending it to university studies as well, and investigating whether education preparing for higher education studies could be turned into functioning pathways to degree studies.
- More strategic cooperation between regional businesses and schools to dismantle stereotypical perceptions of occupations.
Special support with upper secondary education choices for young women whose mother tongue is not Finnish or Swedish, and diversifying the educational and career prospects of boys and young men by more clearly breaking down stereotypical models of masculinity as part of basic education. - Developing the marketing of higher education institutions to make it more inclusive and more supportive of diversity.
- Developing the effective use of indicators, data collection and research on educational equality.
Programme for educational equality: steps towards a fairer society
A polarising society, inequality and exclusion are great challenges of our time. Educational equality is one of the most efficient and effective ways to solve these challenges. For this reason, society must guarantee everyone of all ages equal opportunities to acquire the skills and education required to succeed in the labour market and life in general. In order for Finnish education to be truly the best in the world, everyone, regardless of background, must be ensure access to education to their full potential.
One of the most important questions during this government term is how we ensure that people have a genuine opportunity to get an education as far as their own resources and motivation permit. That is why the Government must prepare a strategic, ambitious programme for educational equality covering the entire educational path. This will help ensure that Finland will continue to be a model country for educational equality in the 2030s.
Our advisor on the subject:
A safe home is the foundation of a good life, which is why SAMOK also strives in its work to ensure that every student has the opportunity for affordable housing in a safe environment with good connections to the higher education campus. Around a quarter of students live in student housing. Reasons for living outside student housing include, for example, family relationships, an insufficient number of apartments and a previously acquired owner-occupied home.
SAMOK promotes the development of student housing by cooperating with organisations focusing on student housing, such as Suomen opiskelija-asunnot SOA ry, and through the Sillanrakentajat network, which focuses on housing. In addition, SAMOK influences housing costs and the volume of housing production through meetings with decision-makers and through working groups. SAMOK also cooperates closely with student unions by supporting local advocacy work.
Our advisor on the subject:
Maintaining student wellbeing and study ability is a key theme in SAMOK’s advocacy work, as student wellbeing has deteriorated and performance requirements have increased. The mental health crisis particularly affects higher education students, and burnout has become more common.
Students must receive timely support so that their studies run smoothly and the worsening of challenges or the interruption of studies can be avoided. This requires sufficient preventive services and accessible healthcare. SAMOK advocates for these issues in meetings with decision-makers and in various working groups, as well as in cooperation with other organisations such as the National Union of University Students in Finland (SYL) and Nyyti ry.
SAMOK’s goal is for every student to receive individual support in completing their studies. This includes, for example, individual support arrangements, flexible ways of completing studies, and sufficient study counselling, student welfare officer and study psychologist services.
Healthcare for higher education students is provided by the FSHS, the Finnish Student Health Service. SAMOK works closely with the FSHS and acts as a link between students and the foundation. SAMOK also strives to promote sufficient funding and resources for the FSHS so that access to care is not delayed and the range of services meets students’ needs as well as possible.
In addition to support and healthcare services, a safe community increases wellbeing and study ability. SAMOK promotes a sense of community by strengthening equality and accessibility in higher education institutions and by training and guiding student unions.
FSHS
The FSHS, the Finnish Student Health Service, provides health and medical care, health check-ups, mental health services and oral healthcare for higher education students, and supports and promotes research on student health. The FSHS also carries out OTE, i.e. study community work, which aims to make it easy for students to make choices that promote health and wellbeing in their study environment.
The FSHS’s digital and remote services are available to students regardless of where they study. The assessment of the need for care, i.e. determining which healthcare services the student needs, always takes place first through the FSHS by phone or online.
All higher education students who have registered as attending for the semester and have paid the healthcare fee are entitled to FSHS services. This also includes international degree students. International exchange students and those studying at an open university of applied sciences are not covered by FSHS services.
Since the beginning of 2021, healthcare for higher education students has been funded mainly by the state, whose share of the funding is 77%. The healthcare fee paid by students covers 23%. Since spring 2021, every higher education student who is completing a bachelor’s or master’s degree and has registered as attending pays the healthcare fee to Kela each semester. You can find more information on Kela’s website.
Our advisor on the subject:
A sufficient livelihood is a prerequisite for students’ wellbeing. Sufficient income can ensure that students are able to focus on their studies and graduate within time limits.
The majority of students make use of the student financial aid system during their studies. Its current form, student financial aid consists of student grants and student loans. In addition, students are entitled to housing allowance. The amount of the financial aid has been insufficient for a long time, and the cuts made in 2017 further lowered the level of student financial aid. In 2017, the number of months that students could receive financial aid was reduced, the share of the study grant was cut and emphasis on loans was increased. At present, students who rely on student financial aid live at the poverty line.
In its work, SAMOK seeks to promote raising the level of student financial aid and abandoning the emphasis on student loans through visible and active advocacy work in meetings with decision-makers and various working groups. SAMOK cooperates actively with, for example, the Social Insurance Institution of Finland Kela and other student organisations to promote a sufficient level of student financial aid.
Influencing students’ livelihoods focuses not only on student financial aid, as the diverse student population also includes students who rely on other benefit systems. In addition to student financial aid and housing allowance, SAMOK also takes into account other forms of funding for students’ studies, such as labour market subsidies, social assistance, benefits for students with families, adult education allowance and sickness allowance.
Our advisor on the subject:
Student unions have statutory duties, but despite this, the student unions of universities of applied sciences currently have no publicly secured source of income with which to acquire resources for carrying out their statutory duties.
Carrying out these duties has been left dependent on membership fee income and any other income. Such other income may come, for example, from cooperation agreements concluded with the university of applied sciences or various companies, or from organising profitable events. However, this income is uncertain, and acquiring it takes resources away from carrying out statutory duties, such as arranging lawful administration, acting as a link between members, preparing students for active citizenship and appointing student representatives to the administration of the university of applied sciences and the FSHS.
In addition, student unions have taken on other established tasks in line with the spirit of the Universities of Applied Sciences Act, such as participating in the higher education institution’s various development groups, the work of student representatives in working groups and bodies, and conveying students’ views and experiences through other channels to actors within the higher education institution and to various stakeholders such as municipal decision-makers and different organisations. Supporting individual students in various situations is also a central part of student unions’ activities.
A situation in which the resources for student union activities are not secured has been unsustainable from the start, but it became particularly bad when the Act on National Registers of Studies and Degrees was enacted in 2017. Since then, students have had the right to disclose information about their own student status to various external parties themselves via the Virta study information service. Information on who is enrolled at a higher education institution no longer passes only between the institution and the student union; various companies are also entitled to request this information with the student’s authorisation.
Commercial operators receive students’ information from the Virta service and can grant the student a student identifier, often a virtual card, which the student can present to obtain various discounts. Before 2017, information on who is a student could only be obtained by asking the higher education institution, and student unions were in practice the only actor that requested this information in order to grant students a student identifier, i.e. a student card.
The main source of income for student unions has long been students’ membership fees. Since the 2017 legislative amendment, this source of income has been under threat, as obtaining a student identifier no longer motivates students to become members of the student union in the same way, now that the identifier can also be obtained free of charge from other operators.
Commercial operators earn their income from companies offering discounts, which pay for advertising space on the operator’s platform. In this case, the student receives the student identifier free of charge, unlike from the student union. The student union, on the other hand, needs income from memberships to carry out its statutory duties and other activities that have become established for student unions in the higher education community. For students, however, the student identifier has often been the only tangible benefit of student union membership, as the other benefits are abstract. The possibility of offering free student identifiers introduced by the legislative amendment has significantly weakened student unions’ ability to recruit members, especially in areas where the student identifier market is more active. The increased difficulty of recruiting members has been directly reflected in student unions’ financial situations and their ability to carry out their duties.
SAMOK has proposed that the statutory activities of student unions be secured through public core funding, which would allow at least the most essential functions within the higher education community to be carried out. Public core funding has also been proposed by rapporteur Tapio Varmola in his report published in spring 2022.
SAMOK is seeking a model in which the funding would improve the current financial situation of student unions and would be clear, long-term and based on the performance of statutory duties. SAMOK has developed various calculation models on the basis of which core funding could be granted. Even a relatively small sum could significantly stabilise the activities of student unions.
Especially since 2021, SAMOK has raised this problematic situation and various solutions in various meetings, statements and blogs.
Our advisor on the subject:
The National Union of Students in Finnish Universities of Applied Sciences SAMOK and the National Union of University Students in Finland SYL established the Students at Risk association on 27 March 2023. The aim of the association is to offer the opportunity to continue their studies at a Finnish higher education institution to students acting as human rights advocates who are denied the right to education or other human rights due to their own social activities in their home country. The association promotes academic freedom in the international student movement and supports the priorities of Finland’s human rights policy.
Read more about the founding here.
You can find out more about Students at Risk Finland on their website.
