13.12.2022

Åbo Akademi University abandons plans for teacher training in Sweden

Åbo Akademi University will not go ahead with the plans for its own class teacher training in Strängnäs, Sweden. This was decided by the Faculty Board of the Faculty of Education and Welfare Studies at its meeting on 13 December 2022.

“The proposal to start an education in Sweden has received some public attention, but I would like to emphasise that it has been a project in the planning phase. The Faculty Board has now unanimously decided that it is not appropriate to invest more resources in a protracted start-up phase, and we are therefore concluding the planning work,” says Michaela Pörn, Dean of the Faculty of Education and Welfare Studies.

The Faculty Board stated that there are too many uncertainties surrounding the project. These include uncertainty about the possibility for Swedish students to receive student aid. Above all, the faculty now wants to concentrate resources on developing research and strengthening the existing teacher training programmes in Vaasa to ensure that enough class teachers graduate to meet the needs of Finnish schools. The Faculty also needs to reserve resources for the comprehensive national initiative to develop digital higher education, Digivision.