The Education and Training Committee will convene on August 13, 2025 

The Education and Training Committee will convene on November 26, 2025 at the City Hall at 5:00 p.m. The meeting will discuss, among other things, the Education and Training Committee's third interim report for 2025, which includes some appropriation changes to be proposed to the City Council. 

The meeting will also discuss the Education and Training Committee's budget for 2026, which, after approval by the committee, will be submitted to the City Board and City Council for approval. The budget also includes the planning years, and it is worth noting that the planning years 2027-2028 are not binding. 

The need for reorganisation and resourcing of basic education activities will be assessed and implemented in accordance with the service network report confirmed in 2023. In addition, a new long-term service network report will be prepared at the beginning of 2026, the measures of which will continue the reorganisation of activities in accordance with the previous service network report. The planning aims to direct teaching resources and learning and schooling support correctly to the units where it is appropriate to organise the activities. It is essential to ensure sufficient resources for learning and schooling support and guidance. The closure of Kirkkojärvi School will be implemented in 2026 based on the current service network report. The decrease in operating costs resulting from the closure of the school has been taken into account in the preparation of the 2026 budget and in the planning years 2027-2028. 

The city's financial situation also requires careful planning of operating budgets in education and youth services in 2026-2028. In order to achieve a better balance in the planning years, the sector must conduct a significant review of the scope of operations. In the planning years 2027-2028, the service network must be streamlined and at least two school units must be abandoned and the operations of these units must be combined with other school units. In addition, the sizes of teaching groups must be critically examined, taking into account the support needed by students in accordance with the Basic Education Act. The number of teaching groups must also take into account the decreasing number of students and their impact on the number of groups. The above-mentioned measures are intended to achieve a cumulative cost impact of 2.500.000 euros on operating budgets for the planning years. In addition, the organization of afternoon activities in educational services must be assessed in the coming years.

In addition, the Education and Training Committee will decide on the meeting schedule for 2026, the updating of chapters 6.13 and 7.9 of the local basic education curriculum, the updating of the Hamina basic education guidance plan, and the unit-specific supplemented education provider study care plans for the academic year 2025-2026. The committee will note the youth services action plan 2026 and the results of the Hamina school health survey 2025 for information. The Education and Training Committee will make a proposal to the City Board and further to the City Council on the closure of Kirkkojärvi School as of 1 August 2026.