Children in Finland spend a year in pre-primary education before starting basic education in school. A day in pre-primary education is 4-hour-long, and it follows the regular school year.
In Helsinki, pre-primary education is provided free of charge in public daycare centres and in some schools.
All pre-primary education groups follow the same curriculum.
Pre-primary education is binding. This means that the child must participate in a year-long activity of pre-primary education or other similar activity that meets the objectives for pre-primary education the year before their compulsory education. Children of pre-primary education age are still entitled to daycare.
In Helsinki the Department of Early Childhood Education is responsible for the pre-primary education provided in Finnish and the Education Division is responsible for the pre-primary education provided in Swedish.