The Finns of Spain|The reason behind the recovery is a difference in interpretation of who was the actual employer of the teaching staff in 2022–2023.
Sunshine Coast Chairman of the Finnish School Foundation Niina Ristolainen is surprised by the decision of the Ministry of Education and Culture (OKM). recover 4.4 million euros state contributions paid to the school in 2022–2023.
According to the decision, the refund must be fully paid by the end of 2028.
According to the ministry, the school has acted contrary to the provisions of the law and the teaching and training permits it has received.
Finnish in 2022, the school received the necessary permits from Finland for its foundation. At the same time, the ministry revoked the education licenses of the support association that was previously responsible for the school’s teaching activities.
Now the ministry considers that the teaching in 2022–2023 was actually organized by a support association, even though it no longer had the required permits. According to the ministry, the Finnish school did not transfer the association’s activities to the foundation as promised.
“The transfer of teaching and training from the association to the foundation has not taken place as described in the foundation’s license applications, as the foundation’s registration with the Spanish authorities was delayed until spring 2024,” OKM’s press release says.
Ristolainen says that according to Spanish legislation, the local registration process could only be started after the organization permits for the foundation had been obtained from Finland.
School and the experts it uses completely disagree with the ministry’s interpretation.
According to the school’s view, the foundation was the de facto employer of the teaching staff during the period in question.
According to Ristolainen, the school has always operated according to the instructions received from the authorities.
The decision is not yet legally binding. According to the school’s view, the matter requires an even more thorough legal investigation. The foundation considers that it has strong grounds for changing the decision.
Ristolainen says that the foundation intends to file a rectification claim on the matter, which will still go to the ministry for further consideration. If necessary, the matter will proceed to the Administrative Court and then possibly to the Supreme Administrative Court.
The ministry has also found out whether the certificates awarded to students in recent years are valid. Ristolainen says that the school received a decision from the Regional Administration Office (avi) regarding the certificates in the summer, according to which the certificates are appropriate, and the complaint does not cause any action.
Avi’s decision is not appealable.
Ristolainen according to the Ministry’s decision does not affect the school’s operations, which continue as normal. The school’s funding is also secured.
The recovery, if realized, would be a heavy blow to the school, whose funding is based almost entirely on state contributions. In addition to them, the school charges a small student fee.
“At that point, in practice, it would mean the end of education for this large Finnish community,” says Ristolainen.
However, Ristolainen does not consider recovery to be realistic. He also says that he understands the ministry’s interest in investigating the matter thoroughly.
Aurinkoranniko Finnish School located in Fuengirola, Spain has been providing primary education since 1991 and upper secondary education since 2007.
The school and high school currently have a total of 345 students, although the number of students varies somewhat from month to month.
#Finns #Spain #Finnish #school #Aurinkoranniko #accept #refund #subsidies
