Over the past decade, Åland has become a destination for Swedish parents wanting to homeschool their children, as the practice is illegal in Sweden.
The number of homeschooled children in Finland's Åland Islands has increased significantly over the past decade. That's because many families have moved to this autonomous Finnish province from Sweden, where homeschooling is prohibited. Swedish is the main language spoken in Åland, making the transition relatively smooth.
Last year, Åland registered 132 homeschooled children, compared to 11 in 2012.
In Finland, homeschooled children must meet certain standards set by the Finnish curriculum, and their progress is monitored twice a schoolyear by supervisory teachers. These teachers, who are tasked to ensure the kids are meeting a level on par with the lowest passing grade of 5 (on a 4-10 scale) say they sometimes feel threatened by uncooperative parents.
Supervisory teachers threatened
The supervision of Åland's homeschooled kids recently came under one authority. This means some families are now under closer supervision, and they're not always happy about it, leading some to move away.
Half of the dozen supervisory teachers Yle contacted said they had received threats or met with inappropriate behaviour from parents.
One issue that has emerged is some parents seemed to believe that no-strings-attached homeschooling was possible in Åland, which is why they have resisted coming under supervision.
"I get threats and insults via email, during meetings, and at supervision sessions. It's definitely not pleasant," said Eva Ekström-Andersen, a qualified teacher responsible for the supervision of homeschooled children on Åland.
While most parents are cooperative, some families don't want anything to do with society, according to Ekström-Andersen.
Locals have taken an interest in Åland's homeschooled children as the phenomenon has grown.
"One child is too many when it comes to [the risk of] kids not receiving the basic education they are entitled to — it's serious," Annika Hambrudd, Åland's education minister, told Yle.
Authorities on the island have, however, not systematically followed up on how things turned out for the homeschooled children.
"We haven't done any direct follow-up on this, but Åland is a small place, and I've heard things have turned out really well for them. They've applied to the vocational high school, and it's worked out perfectly fine, Hambrudd explained.
Too strict for some
Åland's move to harmonise homeschooled kids has led some families to move away. Four families told Yle that the stepped-up supervision was why they left.
Many of the families interviewed by Yle's Spotlight programme subscribe to the philosophy of "unschooling," or self-driven learning that doesn't follow a structured curriculum with grade-level targets.
"If someone thinks that the law here is too tough to follow, they are free to move away. I don't worry about having made life difficult for anyone, said Ekström-Andersen.
Yle's investigation found some families are avoiding scrutiny by not being domiciled anywhere.
"Right now, we're travelling, and we are considering finding a new home base. In Denmark — Bornholm in particular — it's possible to homeschool differently," the parent told Yle.
While this family is avoiding government oversight, in doing so, also forfeits child benefits and healthcare.
"If we want health insurance, we need to arrange and pay for it ourselves. It requires a bit more creativity to find solutions. But it's definitely possible to register in another country that suits us better, the parent told Yle.
Another family, officially registered as living in an Åland municipality said they're avoiding oversight by saying they've moved back to Sweden, making it possible for them to avoid scrutiny in both countries, at least for now.
In 2021, Åland revised its homeschooling rules, allowing authorities to remove children from learning at home if they were found not to be making sufficient progress.
Other measures clamping down on homeschooling have also been floated, including requiring parents who wish to homeschool to apply for permission from the authorities, where their ability to educate their children would be evaluated. The frequency of assessments could also be increased to more than once per semester under new proposals.
Users with an Yle ID can leave comments on our news stories. You can create your Yle ID via this link. Our guidelines on commenting and moderation are explained here.