Folk high schools The Workers’ Academy will continue independently – the merger with Kiljava College was abandoned

Intention to unite the two folk high schools close to the trade union and trade union movement seems to have failed, at least for the time being.

There was no consensus in the negotiations on the establishment of a new educational institution, which is why the current Workers’ Academy and Kiljava College will continue as independent.

HS said in Octoberthat the management of the Board of Directors of the support company, which will soon be 100 years old, would be ready to dissolve or at least merge the Workers’ Academy with Kiljava College, which some members of the Board strongly opposed.

Those worried about the future of the Academy in Kauniainen even talked about the coup and the exploitation of property. The management also had time to commission a study on the merger or a new educational institution, which would also be given a new name.

Workers The owners of the Academy include the Workers ‘Education Association TSL, the SDP and the Workers’ Press Support Association.

Behind Kiljava College is the trade union movement, the Wage Earners’ Training Foundation. Previously, the college was known as the SAK College.

Negotiations were held in February between the Finnish Workers’ Academy Support Company and the Wage and Salary Training Foundation.

“I saw a lot of opportunities in founding a new educational institution, but there was no common financial and administrative will to do so,” says HSL, Chairman of the Board of the Finnish Support Society and Secretary General of TSL. Jouko Muuri.

The problem with the merger was that the Support Society of the Workers’ Academy has significantly higher assets and balance sheet value than the Kiljava College Foundation.

“Negotiations between the parties, this batch will be suspended and the educational institutions will continue to develop their own operations, ”Muuri and the CEO Airi Palosaari inform the members of the Board.

The Workers’ Academy is intended to “brighten its own strategy for the future” and be open to various forms of cooperation.

There are now 75 folk high schools and 82 folk high school campuses in Finland.

The colleges are non-compulsory, Christian, social and specialty colleges.

All colleges receive funding from the state, and most of them are private.