A recent survey shows that the clear majority of Finland's teachers feel that creating foreign-language enclaves in the Finnish society is problematic, mostly because it prevent children with immigrant-background from speaking fluent Finnish.

Teachers have noted that Finnish language skills of pupils from neighbourhoods and schools with a high percentage of immigrants remains low. The reason is: when many students that speak the same language are in the same school, they speak their native language when they are together and don’t learn Finnish well enough. Another related phenomenon is that if a school gathers a large amount of foreign-language students, the Finnish language parents in the neighbourhood may choose to send their children to a different school.

Cultural differences are a recurring problem in schools with a strong immigrant population. According to the survey, 10% of teachers run into cultural and religious issues on a daily basis. Another 1/5 of the respondents say it happens on a weekly basis. Close to 47% say it occurs less than once a month.

Read more