Oversight of early childhood education and care services

At the Regional State Administrative Agencies, we monitor the quality and realisation of early childhood education and care. We supervise the activities of both municipal and private early childhood education and care providers. We monitor whether the early childhood education and care offered complies with the law. The Act on Early Childhood Education and Care includes provisions on matters such as group size and staffing level, the contents of early childhood education and care and the equal treatment of children. 

Proactive guidance is a key part of our enforcement. The supervisory authorities specified in the Act on Early Childhood Education and Care – meaning the Regional State Administrative Agencies and the National Supervisory Authority for Welfare and Health – must primarily provide guidance and advice for the providers of early childhood education and care according to the law. 

• The goal of the versatile guidance and advice is to ensure that early childhood education and care is of high quality and complies with the regulations.  
• Examples of proactive guidance include the training events we organise and the guides we have drawn up.  
• In addition, we instruct early childhood education and care providers to carry out self-regulation systematically. 

Our enforcement is based on a supervisory programme as well as complaints or other communications we have received.  

• We draw up the supervisory programme in cooperation with the National Supervisory Authority for Welfare and Health. The programme, which we update as needed, directs the focus areas of our enforcement. Further information: Supervisory programme (in Finnish). 
• If you are planning to file a complaint about early childhood education and care, we recommend that you first file an objection with the unit, with the activities of which you are dissatisfied.
• You can find more detailed information on filing a complaint on the page Enforcement and reporting violations.