The national School Health Promotion study is once again carried out in March–April. Head of Education Division, Liisa Pohjolainen encourages all respondents to answer the questionnaire. “The study offers valuable information on the well-being of children and adolescents, which helps us develop our operations and services.”
“The coronavirus epidemic has affected the well-being of many children and adolescent in a negative way. With the study, we get researched data on the effects of the emergency conditions.”
The School Health Promotion study is carried out every second year by the Finnish institute for health and welfare (THL).
The study gathers data on the children and adolescents’ well-being, health, schoolwork, studies, participation, ability to get help, and on how well the municipal services answer their needs.
The query has variable sections. In 2021, these include mental well-being and nutrition. Questions related to the coronavirus are also included.
School Health Promotions study is an important resource
School Health Promotion study is an important tool and an indicator, which is used to monitor children and adolescents’ health and well-being in Finland. Not only does the study offer information at national and local levels, but also at individual school and educational institution level.
“The aim is to develop the operations and services based on the results. For example, in the Anti-bullying programme (ABP13), the school health promotion study is one of the key performance indicators for measuring the effectiveness of the anti-bullying work”, Liisa Pohjolainen highlights.
Regional results will become available in the autumn and school-specific results in the end of the year 2021.
Participants and schedule
- pupils in grades 4 and 5 of basic education 1–31 March 2021
- pupils in grades 8 and 9 of basic education 15 March–30 April 2021
- 1st and 2nd year general upper secondary school students 1 March–30 April 2021
- 1st and 2nd year students at vocational institutions* 1 March–30 April 2021
*In vocational institutions, the study is taken by students under the age of 21 who are studying for a vocational upper secondary qualification. The study is aimed at students who have started their studies between 2019 and 2021.
Implementation of the questionnaire
Pupils and students answer the electronic questionnaire anonymously. The questionnaire is answered in a classroom setting, either in contact teaching or in distance learning. THL has provided the schools and educational institutions with materials and instructions. The materials include instructions for responding during special circumstances caused by the COVID-19 epidemic(Link leads to external service).
The questionnaire can be answered in Finnish, Swedish, English, Russian and North Sami. Shorter versions of the questionnaire in simple Finnish and simple Swedish are also available.
Read more about the School Health Promotion study on the THL website(Link leads to external service)