Tampere is committed to good quality of early childhood education and care. They systematically work to promote and support a child’s growth, development, and well-being. Pedagogic activities are employed to empower the child’s learning potential. Early childhood education and care is a combination of childcare, upbringing, and education. In Tampere, early childhood education and care is provided as a group activity in daycare centres, family daycare, as well as open early childhood education, i.e. children’s activity clubs and open family clubs. Total number of staff in early childhood education and care in the city of Tampere is about 2000workers. To this Erasmus + project participants are from:

Etelä Hervanta school and daycare centre. The number of workers in this daycare centre is 50 which includes early childhood education teachers, assistant teachers (early childhood nurses), nursery assistants and special early childhood teachers as well as kindergarten manager and two assistant managers. The number of children is approximately 250. Etelä-Hervanta daycare centre is located in Hervanta which is a segregation area in the city of Tampere. Most of the children in daycare centres in Hervanta are born to parents who are not native Finnish. Hervanta daycare centre also provides evening and weekend daycare. Early childhood teachers who are taking part in this project are 4 teachers. In those groups, the number of children is approximately 84.

Linnainmaa daycare centre and the active club is taking part in the project with one teacher. In the teacher’s group, there are 21 children. The total number of workers in Linnainmaa daycare centre is 35. Linnainmaa’s active club and meeting point for parents and children are free of charge. Linnainmaa area has a lot of municipal rental apartments and social services have a vast number of customers in the area.

Vuores daycare centre is located in a wealthy area in Tampere. The SOS children’s village is located in Vuores and these children are taking part in ECEC in Vuores daycare centre. Two teachers (ECEC) are taking part in this Erasmus + project. In their group area, there are children from the SOS children’s village. The number of children in that group area is 42, and in Vuores daycare centre, the total number of children is approximately 190. The number of workers in Vuores daycare centre is 38.

Early childhood education and care in Finland is guided by the Act on ECEC and the National core curriculum (2022 national norm). The ECEC providers shall prepare the local curricula for ECEC based on the National core curriculum. ECEC providers are mostly municipal providers (84%). In ECEC centres and family day care, an individual early childhood education and care plan is created for every child. The National core curriculum for ECEC is a national norm. Local curricula obligate ECEC personnel in early education centres, family daycare and open activities in ECEC to follow the underlying values, objectives and contents of the Act in ECEC and the core curriculum.

The general principle of ECEC in Finland is that the best interest of the child shall always be the primary consideration. The child has a right to well-being, care and protection, and his/her opinion is considered in decision-making. Equal and equitable treatment of all children as well as protection against discrimination are requirements, in accordance with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Act on ECEC and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

The Forms of ECEC in Finland and in Tampere: Child home care allowance applies when one of the parents or, for example, a relative takes care of the child/children at home and the youngest child is under 3 years. Municipal day care or family day care: all children under school age (>8 months) are entitled to municipal daycare. Private day care allowance is granted when the child’s care provider is a private service supplier approved by the municipal authority Play club activities, in which case the right to the child home care allowance is maintained. Play clubs in Tampere are free of charge. Adult-child ratios: Day care centres one to seven (1/7) for children 3-6 years (full-time). One to four (1/4) for children under 3 years (full/part-time). One to thirteen (1/13) for children 3-6 years (part-time, max 5 hours) Staff Qualifications in Daycare Centre: At least a vocational qualification in the field of social welfare and health care is required One in three of the staff must have a higher education level degree.

In Tampere, 28.2.23 there are 8557 children in ECEC services, 129 children attending play clubs and there are 2028 children taking part in preprimary education. The total number of municipal daycare centre workers is about 2000. There are 76 municipal Kindergartens and 42 Kindergarten managers.

Elli Rasimus. The head of the ECEC Department in Tampere has a long experience in leading ECEC services

Tanja Moisala. Manager of the City ECEC services, expert on ECEC policy design, implementation and evaluation