The first cohort of foreign students from the Finest Future initiative is now getting ready to graduate high school after entrepreneur Peter Vesterbacka started the programme in 2020.
The programme has drawn its fair share of criticism over the years, most recently from Minister of Education Anna-Maja Henriksson (SPP), who said the project had several problems.
Since leaving his role as marketing chief Rovio in 2016, Vesterbacka has been a serial entrepreneur.
He launched the foreign students initiative aiming to bring thousands of foreign high school students to Finland, in hopes of eventually filling gaps in the country's labour market.
However, Henriksson said it was problematic that underage students were arriving in Finland without support networks.
"They are 15 to 16 years old when they arrive in Finland. There are significant risks involved when they arrive in Finland without their guardians or families. In the absence of guardians, there is no clear point of responsibility in Finland to look after them if problems arise," Henriksson said in an email to Yle.
She also said it was not sustainable that Finnish taxpayers should "practically pay for the high school education of thousands of foreign students".
According to a calculation by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 15,000 foreign high school students in Finland — Vesterbacka's goal — would carry a 337.5-million-euro price tag for the education system.
"It is certainly worth considering whether high school should in the future require students from outside the EU to pay for tuition," Henriksson said.
Petri Lempinen, who heads upper secondary schooling at the education ministry, shared Henriksson's view.
The relationship between the ministry and Vesterbacka seems to have been difficult for some time. According to Vesterbacka, the ministry "hates" entrepreneurship, while the ministry seems to be tired of the entrepreneur's often heated feedback.
Lempinen agreed to comment briefly on the issue.
"The ministry does not promote the entry of someone from any country into Finland for high school education funded by Finnish taxpayers," Lempinen said.
Operating in a grey area
In December 2022, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs compiled a report on the Finest Future project. The ministry noted that the project is not considered illegal in any way, but the ministry did say that it operates in a legal grey area.
One of these grey areas is that the decision on student selection should always be made by the educational institution, not by a private company.
Henriksson also pointed out that it is always worth looking at the big picture for each student.
"First and foremost, the students' legal protection and well-being must be considered, but at the same time the sustainability of public finances and the students' chances of remaining in Finland after completing their upper secondary education must also be taken into account," Henriksson told Yle.
Edited to clarify that Peter Vesterbacka was a former executive at the mobile gaming firm Rovio, not a founder.
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