Iltalehti asked a selection of parents in the capital region whether or not the situation at present has caused them concern.
Responses were mixed, with some saying the reports of outbreaks in schools, in particular, worry them, while others were happy that primary education was still working with contact teaching.
Iltalehti says that many of its readers have asked why parents of primary school children cannot choose between contact teaching in the classroom and distance learning.
Jaakko Salo, the manager of education policy for the teachers' union OAJ, points out that it is the responsibility of schools--not parents--to decide how teaching is organised. This, he noted is done in cooperation with, and on the advice of infectious disease authorities.
Salo went on to say that distance learning for individual pupils is also not the same as when whole classes switch to online lessons. "Face-to-face teaching as such does not become distance learning just with the addition of a camera," he said.
Iltalehti also wrote that many of its readers have said that they may transfer their children to homeschooling if they are uncomfortable about local infection rates.
Salo noted out that there is a big difference between distance learning and homeschooling.
"That's a pretty radical step by parents. Homeschooling means that the parents take full responsibility for the child's legally-mandated education. The child is then no longer a pupil of the school at all," Salo pointed out.
Voter indecision
The Kuopio-based Savon Sanomat is among the papers reporting a USU-Gallup poll which shows large numbers of voters still uncertain about what party to back in the Finnish local elections coming up in April.
The poll shows that only 33 percent of voters are considering only one party's candidate while 46 percent are still wavering between two or more parties or groupings. Twenty percent told pollsters they do not plan to vote, or cannot yet say what options they are considering.
Well more than half of regular supporters of National Coalition Party in the poll said they will stick with their party, while in contrast, a significant majority of Left Alliance supporters are still undecided.
Jenni Karimäki, a researcher at the Centre for Parliamentary Research at the University of Turku says that the number of swing voters in Finnish elections has been on the rise for a long time and that voters are more reactive in choosing parties to support.
This poll indicates that supporters of opposition parties seem to find it easier to make a choice in municipal elections than do backers of government parties.
According to Karimäki, there is likely to be a lot of drifting voter support among SDP, the Greens and the Left Alliance.
The lowest level of certainty about party choice in this poll was found among low-income voters, only 21 percent of whom were certain about what party they plan to back.
"It seems that low-income voters feel that they have more options than high-income voters. Of course, there are also more low-income people who are still considering whether to vote at all," Karimäki says.
Endangered mussels
When thinking of endangered species, most of us probably have a mental image of an iconic panda, a majestic wolf, or even Finland's rare Saimaa ringed seal.
The farmers' union daily Maaseudun Tulevaisuus looks at measures to protect an revived a less well recognised endangered species--the freshwater pearl mussel (Margaritifera margaritifera).
The report focuses on efforts to improve conditions for these mollusks in the Karvianjoki River in the western coastal region of Satakunta.
Most of the pearl mussels in this river are old individuals, about 70 to 100 years of age. They have been known to live for over 130 years.
The population has been under threat since the 1950s with the introduction of intensive forest and peat harvesting, as well as increased agricultural chemical runoff.
The Karvianjoki River is home to the last large population of pearl mussels in the region, an estimated 2,000 of them.
According to Maaseudun Tulevaisuus, a freshwater habitat programme run by the Southwest Finland Centre for Economic Development has successfully bred the larvae of these mussels in host fish and transferred them back to their home waters. However, in order to revive the population, more water quality improvement is needed.
In January, the Ministry of the Environment completed a river mussel conservation strategy which includes conservation work to rehabilitate streams and rivers, as well increasing research data.
Return of the cold
Back again to the pages of Iltalehti which reminds readers that over the weekend there we signs that the weather would start warming up.
Those hopes have been dashed with a fresh forecast that the thermometer is likely to drop to as low as -30C this week, even in the south of the country.
The paper reports that on Tuesday temperatures should range 5-10 degrees below zero in the south, 8–15 in central regions and 12–20 below in Lapland.
However, within a day or two -30C readings may be seen in many areas, combining with a windchill factor to create bitterly cold conditions.