Free training helps immigrants to find studies and employment in Finland

The purpose of the training is to help immigrants who have completed or are qualified for higher education studies to apply for degree studies or get employed in their own field in Finland. One-year, free training combines Finnish language studies, academic skills and contents from one’s own field and, at the same time, integrates the student into the Finnish society and world of education.
Published
25.9.2023

The JYU.INTEGRA training is a unique Finnish-language study entity that enables students to develop their academic skills and proficiency in Finnish as well as supplement their prior competence in the field of study. One-year full-time training is free of charge and arranged as contact teaching at the Ģֱ. The training is provided by the Centre for Multilingual Academic Communication (Movi).

For immigrants with higher education background

The training is meant for immigrants who have pursued higher education studies or are qualified for them. This means that a person seeking to the training must have either an earlier higher education degree or a degree that corresponds to the matriculation examination.

“The training is suitable for persons who aim to continue or supplement their studies or find employment in their own field but who do not yet have sufficient skills in Finnish,” says Tuija Lehtonen, the coordinator of the education. “The training pays special attention to that all learned skills support academic studies and employment.”

Application for the next training will start soon

JYU.INTEGRA supports immigrants in their efforts to find university studies or jobs that correspond to their field and educational level in Finland. The training can also serve as self-motivated integration training, during which the student can receive unemployment benefits.

“The starting point of the training is the student’s goals and prior skills,” Lehtonen says. “They are taken into account is both Finnish and English studies. For example, the variety of language skills often is vast, which is harnessed for language teaching. It is especially important that students are able to complete courses in their own field and that the content and studying methods of the courses are integrated to language teaching.”

The training is arranged now for the fifth time and has had about one hundred students so far. The students’ progress is monitored systematically for a couple of years after the end of the training, and most of them have found a study place or job in their field of interest within a year after the training. Feedback from students has been very positive.

Application for the following JYU.INTEGRA training opens on Monday, 9 October and closes on Friday, 29 October. More information on the training and application: