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Published: 10 June 2008

More and more comprehensive school pupils attend special education

In autumn 2007, eight per cent of comprehensive school students, or 46,100 pupils, had been transferred to special education. Although the total number of pupils attending comprehensive school diminished, the number of transfers to special education went up by 1,400 from the previous year. The number has now been growing for more than a decade. Twenty-two per cent of pupils, or 128,600 comprehensive school students, attended part-time special education during the 2006-2007 academic year. The number of pupils attending part-time special education also increased slightly from the previous year. These data derive from Statistics Finland's Education Statistics.

The number of transfers to special education increased most from the previous year among pupils with learning difficulties due to deficient linguistic development. The group that grew most in part-time special education was that of pupils receiving special teaching due to learning difficulties in mathematics.

Special education in increasingly frequently being organised in connection with general education. In autumn 2007, approximately one-half of the pupils transferred to special education had been fully or partially integrated into groups attending general education while one-half received teaching in special groups in comprehensive schools or in special schools. However, the organisation of special education varies clearly by area.

In autumn 2006, a total of 14,900 vocational education students, or six per cent of all vocational education students, received special teaching. One-half of them studied in the field of technology and transport. Final data concerning special vocational education in 2007 will become available in December 2008.

Shares of pupils transferred to special education and receiving part-time special education among all comprehensive school pupils 1995-2007, % ¹⁾

^{1) Comparable data on part-time special education are available for the 2001-2006 period (year 2006 referring to the 2006-2007 academic year). The numbers of pupils transferred to special education and recipients of part-time special education cannot be added together because some of the pupils transferred to special education also receive special teaching part-time.}

Source: Education Statistics. Statistics Finland

Inquiries: Ms Riikka Rautanen +358 9 1734 2375, koulutus.tilastot@tilastokeskus.fi

Director in charge: Mr Jari Tarkoma

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Last updated 10.6.2008