Applying for early childhood education and care hours

The right to early childhood education begins after the end of the parental allowance period and ends when compulsory education begins. When applying for early childhood education, the guardian chooses a suitable service option for their child.

• 1-15 hours/week, maximum 63 hours/month, payment percentage 40% of the full-time care fee
• 16-24 hours/week, maximum 101 hours/month, payment rate 60% of the full-time care fee
• 25-35 hours/week, maximum 147 hours/month, payment rate 80% of the full-time care fee
• 36 hours per week or more / at least 148 hours per month, payment rate 100%
• Hourly early childhood education complementing preschool under 5 hours/day, fee 60% of full-day care price

The service product can be changed by filling out a service need change application in CGI Vesa. The service product cannot be changed in the middle of the month.

The early childhood education decision will appear in the Vesa service. The family must complete an income statement in Vesa within 14 days of the decision being published. If the income statement is not completed within the deadline, the highest early childhood education fee will be charged.

Care days and times must be booked with Vesa at the latest by 24:00 on the Sunday one week in advance. Care times are booked for the entire week at once and cannot be changed afterwards.

The operating hours of early childhood education are on weekdays from 6:30 AM to 5:00 PM. Early childhood education provided outside these hours is considered shift care. Shift care is offered in the evenings, at night, and on weekends when the need for care is due to both parents’ (or a single parent’s) full-time work or studies.

A child can attend alternating day care whenever the guardians are at work, as well as after a night shift during the guardian’s sleeping time (recommendation: until no later than 3:00 PM).

The child’s daycare schedule is based on the parents’ work shifts:

The child’s care time is the guardian’s working hours plus the time spent commuting.

Shift care is always based on the guardian’s working hours: the one who goes to work later drops the child off for care, and the one who finishes work earlier picks the child up from care. According to the Early Childhood Education Act, it is recommended that a child’s care day should not exceed 10 hours.

Guardians’ days off, vacation days, and sick days do not entitle a child to shift care.

CGI Vesa

Vesa is Tervola’s electronic activity management system for early childhood education.

The system can be accessed via a browser at CGI Vesa, or the app can be downloaded from the Play Store or App Store: CGI Vesa

In the system, guardians can:

• to submit early childhood education applications
• municipal supplement applications
• declare one’s income
• to review decisions concerning their child
• update their family information
• read announcements
• send and read messages
• book childcare times