How to start a Finnish curriculum school in Southeast Asia
Finnish early years operators have been opening centres across Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam for several years, and the region's fast-growing private school market makes it one of the more active corridors for Finnish pedagogy outside Europe.
- Finnish-inspired early learning centres have already opened in Jakarta, Bangkok and other Southeast Asian cities through local licensed partners.
- Each country runs its own private and international school licensing system, so Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia each need a separate approval process.
- Several Southeast Asian Finnish-pedagogy schools started at early years level and added primary grades once the first cohort was established.
- Local partnership, whether with an existing school group or a new operator, has been the most common route into the region so far.
Map the country by country licensing landscape
There is no regional licence: Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore each run their own ministry of education approval process, with different rules on land, building standards and foreign ownership of schools.
Engaging local legal counsel and an education consultant early is standard practice, since the paperwork and timelines differ by country even when the pedagogy on offer is the same.
Learn from existing Finnish-pedagogy launches
Finnish early learning centres have already opened in Jakarta and Bangkok, and further campuses are planned in Vietnam, generally through licensed local partners rather than a Finnish organisation operating alone. That gives new entrants a working template to adapt rather than a blank page.
See Finnish education in Southeast Asia for the wider regional picture and OPPI affiliation vs franchise model explained for how a partnership-based launch typically works.
Start with early years, build up to primary
Finnish pedagogy's biggest advantage is in the early years and lower primary phase: play-based learning, phenomenon-based projects, and a K-5-first focus on foundational skills rather than early formal testing. Most successful Southeast Asian launches open with an early years centre and expand into primary grades once the model is proven with local families.
Recruiting and training local teaching staff in Finnish, phenomenon-based methods is usually the long pole in the schedule, since imported Finnish teachers alone cannot scale a network. See the OPPI teacher training programme explained.
Frequently asked questions
Which Southeast Asian countries already have Finnish-inspired schools?
Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam all have Finnish-inspired early learning centres open or under construction, with further expansion planned across the region.
Do I need a Finnish partner organisation to open a school?
It is not a legal requirement, but most schools work with an established Finnish curriculum or pedagogy provider for training, materials and quality assurance, since that expertise is hard to build from scratch locally.
Should a new school start with early years or full primary?
Most successful Southeast Asian launches start with early years or the first couple of primary grades and add year groups as the school grows.
Related reading
Bring Finnish pedagogy to your school
OPPI affiliates a selective cohort of schools each year for its K-5 Finnish-pedagogy programme, backed by Education Finland. Tell us about your school and our team will reach out.
Backed by Education Finland. Over 20 schools have already affiliated, including DPS, Radcliffe and Sanctus. Places in each cohort are limited.
Apply to the affiliation cohort →