Is there a teacher shortage in Finland?
Finland's classroom teachers remain a genuinely high-status, well-qualified profession, but reports point to a real and growing shortage of qualified early childhood educators in particular, worth understanding rather than glossing over.
- Finland's six largest cities (Helsinki, Espoo, Tampere, Vantaa, Oulu and Turku) have reported a shortage of over 2,600 qualified early childhood education and care (ECEC) professionals, projecting a need for around 9,000 more by 2030.
- The shortage is linked partly to rising qualification requirements: by 2030, two-thirds of ECEC centre staff must hold a relevant higher education degree, up from earlier levels.
- Finland's government has responded with funding, including around 10 million euros for a 2025 to 2026 pilot combining work and study in early childhood education, and about 41 million euros for new higher-education places in shortage subjects.
- This is distinct from Finland's comprehensive school teaching profession (grades 1 to 9), which is not reporting the same scale of shortage and remains highly selective to enter.
Where the shortage is concentrated
The clearest, best-documented shortage in Finland is in early childhood education and care, not in comprehensive school (peruskoulu) classroom teaching. Reports describe a fall in the number of qualified ECEC teachers in the Uusimaa region (which includes Helsinki) of more than 7 percent between 2015 and 2022, alongside the largest cities collectively reporting thousands of unfilled qualified posts.
Why it is happening
Part of the pressure is self-inflicted by design: Finland is deliberately raising the bar for who can work in early years settings, requiring more staff to hold higher education qualifications by 2030. Raising a bar faster than the supply of qualified graduates can be trained tends to create exactly this kind of gap, and it sits alongside broader European workforce pressures in education described in reports such as the OECD's Education at a Glance.
What this means, and does not mean, for the wider system
It would be inaccurate to read a genuine ECEC staffing gap as evidence that Finland's famously well-qualified comprehensive school teachers are in similarly short supply, or that teacher training pathways generally are struggling; the pressure is concentrated in one sub-sector under a specific new qualification rule. Finland's own response, targeted funding and new higher education places rather than lowering standards, is itself consistent with a system that treats teacher qualification as something to protect rather than dilute.
Frequently asked questions
Does this shortage affect Finland's PISA results or reputation?
There is no direct evidence linking the ECEC staffing gap to comprehensive school outcomes, since the two are separate parts of the system with separate qualification routes.
Is Finland lowering its teacher qualification standards to fix the shortage?
No. The response described in government funding announcements is to create more higher-education training places and pilot schemes that combine paid work with study, rather than to relax the qualification requirement itself.
Are comprehensive school teacher training programmes also short of applicants?
Reporting on this shortage focuses specifically on early childhood education and care roles; primary and lower secondary teacher training in Finland remains a competitive, sought-after path to enter.
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