Applying for and terminating a place at an early childhood education centre

Applications for an early childhood education and care placement should be submitted at least four months before the care is needed, or as soon as the need for care is known.  Proof of sudden employment or the start of studies must be submitted in writing. The application can only be submitted by the child’s guardian(s).

Completing the application requires strong identification with Suomi.fi credentials. If you do not have a Finnish social security number, please contact our service coordination. For security reasons, please do not include your social security number in the email.

The same online application can be used to apply for both a municipal ECEC placement and a private ECEC service voucher.

If your family lives outside Vaasa, you can still apply for early childhood education in the city. Applications for private daycare for children in a municipality other than your own will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis. In this case, please contact Service Manager Maria Karvonen by e-mail at maria.karvonen@vaasa.fi or by phone at 050 325 4821.

The application is valid for one year from the date of submission. Guardians will receive an ECEC placement offer approximately 2–3 weeks before the intended start date. The information in the application is saved in the ECEC client information system.

General information about the application

The Early Childhood Education Application is a function that allows guardians to apply for a place in either municipal or private early childhood education. Guardians can access the service in the Edlevo App, either on mobile or via a web browser. Learn more about how to start using the Edlevo App.

All incoming applications are processed by the Early Childhood Education Coordination Services.

Steps in the application

When you go to the Edlevo menu, you will find the Early Childhood Education Application button. By tapping the button, you will be directed to a view where you first need to select the child for whom you wish to complete the application. Once you have selected the child, the “Make a new application” button becomes active.

Municipality

In this section, you will find information related to the application. You must also accept the authorisation in order to proceed by tapping the “Next” button.

Contact information

In this section, you need to fill in the contact details:

The child´s address

Your own contact details

Street address

Mobile phone number

Email address

Child’s information

Here you can provide additional information, such as food allergies.

Preferred early childhood education place and start date

Preferred start date

Desired Scope of Service, i.e. how much care the child will need

You can then indicate your preferences for the place. For this, you must specify:

The area in which you are applying for a place

You may also apply generally for an ‘area’, in which case it is not mandatory to select a specific unit.

The unit or family day care provider where you would like your child to have a place.

You can add preferences via the +Add preference button. If you do not wish to add more, you can continue by tapping “Next”.

If you have entered several preferences, a “Remove last preference” button will appear on the screen, allowing you to remove the most recent entry.

Attachments

You can add attachments to the application, such as a certificate of student status.

Additional information

In this section, you can provide other relevant information for the child’s application. This may relate, for example, to upcoming employment, family situation, or other changes that have a significant impact on the child’s need for early childhood education.

Note! Do not include highly sensitive personal information in this section.

Summary

In the Summary section, guardians can review the application before submitting it to the municipality. The most important information is displayed here. By tapping “Previous”, you can go back and edit the information. When you are satisfied with the application, tap “Send application”.

The submitted application will be visible in the Edlevo App, showing its current status in the process. The possible statuses are:

Waiting for municipal processing

Incomplete (the processor requests additional information via email or through the Edlevo App)

Approved

Rejected (the application has been rejected)

You can also delete an active application by tapping the application row and then the Delete (bin icon) button. The app will ask you to confirm the deletion

The decision on the location is made about three weeks before care begins

The family is contacted about three to four weeks before the desired start of early childhood education and their need for early childhood education is reconfirmed.

A decision on the place will be given approximately three weeks before the start of early childhood education and care. Once the decision has been issued, the start date cannot be changed.

An application for an early childhood education place is valid for one year.

Applications for the Swedish language immersion programme are open to children from Vaasa whose mother tongue is Finnish. You can apply for a language immersion programme in January–February each year.

Sudden and unforeseen need for an early childhood education place

If the need for early childhood education and care is urgent, unforeseeable, and due to employment, studies, or training, you should apply as soon as possible.

The application must, however, be completed at least two weeks before the expected start of early childhood education and care. Please make sure that you have written proof of sudden employment or the start of your studies. The family is also advised to be prepared for the possibility that, due to the challenges posed by the schedule, the early childhood education and care place allocated to the child may not be located at the daycare centre they marked as the first preference.

Videoinstruction:

To get English text, click on this box and select the language.

To terminate a child’s early childhood education and care placement, a written notice (form below) must be sent by the guardians to the child’s early childhood education and care centre or the termination is possible to do in the Edelvo app. The notice must be given at least 14 days before the early childhood education and care period is to end. Choose the child’s last day of care as the date of termination.

Watch the instructional video on terminating an early childhood education place.

You can print out the termination of a place form here.

Temporarily suspension of a place

Parents may give up an early childhood education and care place in a day care centre for a limited period if they wish to do so, provided that the child has been in that early childhood education and care place for at least four months.
The child may return to the same early childhood education and care place after the period of suspension. The suspension period should last at least four months and not more than one year.

The start and duration of the temporary suspension shall be agreed in advance with the manager of the daycare centre. No fee is charged for the period of suspension.

You can print out the temporary suspension form here.

During this period, children under 3 years of age are entitled to a home care allowance (“kotihoidon tuki”) and children under school age are entitled to a sibling increase in the basic rate of home care allowance. If the suspension ends after September, the family will not be entitled to a free July the following summer.

Your child’s need for early childhood education and care, including the number of hours, is determined at the start of early childhood education and care.
If there is a change in the needs, for example, if your child needs more or fewer hours of early childhood education and care, the necessary changes will be agreed directly with the manager of the daycare centre or the family daycare provider.

Any changes should be discussed well in advance, at least one month before the requested change. The child should attend the early childhood centre for at least five months after the change.