Objection or complaint in early childhood education and care
If you are dissatisfied with your child’s early childhood education and care (ECEC), first discuss the matter with the staff or the service provider and, if necessary, submit an objection. You will receive a response more quickly to an objection than to a complaint. You also have the right submit a complaint on the matter to the Finnish Supervisory Agency.
If you are dissatisfied with the quality or safety of early childhood education and care services or with the way you have been treated in the scope of these services, the quickest way to resolve the matter is often to speak with ECEC staff or contact the person in charge of the unit. You can also discuss the matter with the unit or the municipal authority responsible for organising the service.
Objection in early childhood education and care
If dialogue does not help in resolving the matter, you can submit an objection. You will receive a response more quickly to an objection than to a complaint. See the general instructions for submitting an objection.
You will receive a response to your objection within a reasonable amount of time. The response must indicate how the objection has been resolved at the unit and what kind of follow-up measures the objection may have led to.
How to submit a complaint in early childhood education and care
If you have submitted an objection, wait for the response before submitting a possible complaint. Submitting an objection will not affect your right to submit a complaint to the Finnish Supervisory Agency.
As a rule, submit all complaints in our e-service. The use of the agency’s e-service requires Suomi.fi e-Identification, for which you can use online banking IDs, a mobile certificate, or another identification token.
When processing a complaint submitted via the e-service, we need the following:
- your contact information
- information on the ECEC client
- the subject of the complaint, i.e. the place where early childhood education and care is provided
- time of the incident
- as detailed an account of the event as possible
- the reasons why you consider the activity or procedure was unlawful, incorrect, or inappropriate
- information on whether the matter has been previously processed as an objection or a complaint or if another authority is currently processing the same matter.
Attach to the complaint:
- a previous objection on the same matter and the response you received (if available)
- other documents that may be necessary for the processing of the matter.
If you are unable to use the e-service, you can also submit a free-form complaint by e-mail or by post to the Finnish Supervisory Agency’s registry. Remember to mention all the information listed above in the complaint.
Frequently asked questions about complaints in early childhood education and care
Send an obligation to the director of the ECEC unit responsible for the activities, the person in charge of the care unit or the municipality’s/joint municipal authority’s senior office holder in early childhood education and care. You can also send an obligation to a municipality’s registry, from where it will be forwarded to the correct recipient.
In some cases, it is most appropriate to process a complaint in early childhood education and care as an objection. In this case, the Finnish Supervisory Agency may transfer the matter and its documents to the ECEC unit or the municipality for processing as an objection. The ECEC unit or municipality must respond to the objection in writing within a reasonable period of time and also submit the response to the Finnish Supervisory Agency. The response must indicate how the objection has been resolved at the unit and what kind of follow-up measures the objection may have led to.
You can submit a complaint, but only a legal representative, i.e. a minor’s guardian, can be provided a decision on the complaint. If a child’s guardian gives you a letter of attorney, we can also provide you with the decision on the complaint.
Contact information
Customer service of the Finnish Supervisory Agency
Ask our customer service by using service form
By e-mail: [email protected]
By calling: +358 295 256 910 (Monday–Friday 9:00–15:00)