According to the city strategy, the city must improve working conditions and staff availability in early childhood education and care. The Education Division has taken many measures, but staff well-being, retention and attraction have deteriorated due to severe staff shortages.

The Education Division has taken many steps to improve student well-being and increase their sense of community. However, the services of student welfare psychologists are not easily accessible, and there is a waiting list for further treatment.

Secondary schools have increased the support available in order to remedy the loss of learning caused by distance education; however, allocating the support in the future requires reliable data.

Student counselling and the rate of studies completion have been developed in a diverse manner, but based on the survey of the personnel, there is not enough counselling available to students.

In line with its objective, the funding for positive discrimination (PD) has compensated for area-based differences in well-being in comprehensive schools caused by the urban structure. The appropriation is considered to be important and its criteria oriented in the right direction.

The environmental policy objectives set by the City Council in 2012 have not been fully achieved in the City of Helsinki’s procurement. Although environmental criteria have been set in several procurements with significant environmental impact in the past, more extensive development has only begun in recent years with the Carbon-neutral Helsinki 2035 action plan.

Preventive communal student welfare has been promoted in accordance with the Student Welfare Act, but the pupils’ right to receive psychologist and welfare officer services in student welfare was not realised within the statutory deadline.

Good experiences have been gained with the measures taken to reduce inequalities between children and young people and prevent their social exclusion, but the permanence of the effects is uncertain.

Young people’s influence and participation can best be supported at school. This requires closer cooperation between the Education Division and the Culture and Leisure Division.

The results obtained on enhancing the use of space and changing the measures used for this purpose have varied in different services of the City. However, taking the views of customers and staff into account has been found to be important in facility alterations.

The objectives set for early childhood education and care (ECEC) in the City Strategy were achieved for the most part, but the staff shortage may undermine the achievement of the objectives in the future.

The integration of families with children has been promoted in the Education Division, but the division must increase the development of the skills of its own staff with regard to integration.

Basic education currently has sufficient and functional digital environments, systems and equipment, but they must be developed and replaced. The digital and pedagogical skills of teachers have not improved as planned, and there is a lack of sufficient monitoring data on the development of pupils’ skills.

With the introduction of the new management system and City division model, the controllability of the City organisation has improved. However, control and direction have become more fragmented, and there is a lack of clarity regarding who directs what.