Welcome to the Adult Education Center in Vörå

The spring term course catalog will be released in week 50. Registration opens on Monday, December 16 at 9:00 AM, both online and by phone. Online registration can be done at www.vora.fi/kursanmalan, while phone registration is available at 06-382 1673, Monday to Thursday from 9 AM to 2 PM.

The office will be closed for the holidays from December 20, 2024, to January 6, 2025.

Registrations for all courses are binding, committing you to pay the course fees for the courses you sign up for. Generally, you cannot try out a course. Registrations are personal and cannot be transferred to someone else. Unpaid fees from earlier years prevent new registrations. If you cancel your participation, it’s free if done at least one week before the course starts. If you cancel later, we will charge a cancellation fee of €15. If you cancel your registration after the course has started, the full course fee will be charged. If injury or illness prevents you from attending the course, you should submit a medical certificate. No course fee will be charged in that case.

Registration for full-year courses applies to both the autumn and spring terms. If you wish to participate only during the autumn, you should cancel your place for the spring term well in advance of the start of the term. Courses are billed per term.

Cancellation can be done online or by contacting the institute's office. Do not cancel with the teacher.

You can pay for your course at the time of registration. Please note that if you are eligible for any discount, you should not pay for the course in advance, as the discounts will be applied at the office, and we will invoice you for the course. If you have paid for a course and it is canceled, we will contact you to refund the amount.

We invoice course fees a few weeks after the course starts, and the fees remain the same regardless of when you start the course. Additional material costs may apply for certain courses and will be indicated in the course description. Charged course fees are non-refundable. The fees can be collected without court order or decision in the manner determined by the Act on the Enforcement of Taxes and Charges (706/2007) in accordance with the Act on Liberal Adult Education.

All participants under 18 years old receive a 25% discount on school-year courses. The discount is applied at the office.

Nykarleby-Vörå JHL 406 grants its members a €20 discount on one course. Apply for the benefit during registration.

Course fees can be paid with ePassi, TYKY, or SMARTUM exercise and culture vouchers/online payments. Indicate the payment method during registration and pay for the course within three weeks from the start date, after which the course will be invoiced as usual. Send the physical vouchers along with your name and the course number. If using online vouchers, submit the payment receipt to the office. An invoiced course cannot be credited with benefit vouchers. Note that the benefit vouchers are personal and cannot be used to pay for family members' courses. We cannot accept payment cards.

The Board of Education has granted the institute a subsidy for study vouchers. These are used to provide a 50% discount on all course prices for unemployed individuals upon proof and to allow discounted rates on certain selected courses (these are marked in the catalog). Retirees can also apply for a 25% discount on one course per school year per person, while the study vouchers last.

Kaikukortti cardholders have the opportunity to participate free of charge in exercise and dance courses, nature and wellness courses, as well as lectures, by presenting the card at the office. Course registration should be done by phone in these cases.

Vänkortet holders can have their personal assistant join the course for free. Registration should be done at the office.

Most courses require at least 7 registered participants, so be sure to sign up in good time, at least a week before the course starts, to secure a spot and ensure the course is held.

The Community Institute (MI) does not send out reminders about course starts. Courses begin according to the date listed in the course registration. MI will contact you via SMS only if there are changes to the course or if it is canceled. MI reserves the right to make changes to the courses. We will also notify you if you were on a waiting list and have received a course spot.

If a teacher or lecturer falls ill, we will try to find a substitute or replacement if possible. For lectures and short courses, we will attempt to find new suitable dates. If this is not successful, participants will be notified by SMS. MI does not guarantee that a canceled lesson will be replaced.

The course level objectives for language classes are indicative and correspond to the levels of the general language exam:

• Basic Level 1-2
• Intermediate Level 3-4

• Advanced Level 5-6

The European Framework for Languages has the following equivalent designations:

• Beginner User A1-A2
• Independent User B1-B2
• Proficient User C1-C2

Guiding Documents for Language Level and Course Descriptions

Developed by language teachers in community and civic institutes from Vörå to Kristinestad

The purpose of the guide is to
a) standardize the level and course descriptions across languages
b) facilitate course planning at the various Swedish and bilingual institutes in the region.

A more uniform study program also makes it easier and more convenient for participants to attend courses across municipal borders. Read more.

General Language Exam

Vasa Arbis administers exams at basic and intermediate levels in Finnish, Swedish, English, German, French, Russian, Italian, and Spanish. To obtain Finnish citizenship, at least an intermediate level is required. Examination fees are 135 € for the basic level, 155 € for the intermediate level.

You can find test days and registration periods for the different languages here.

Additional information is available from the language teacher.

MI students are not insured by the organizer. Therefore, we recommend that course participants have their own insurance in effect in case of injury or accident. Participation is always at your own risk.

MI documents its activities with photos/videos from courses, lectures, and other events. Photos may be used for marketing in the course catalog, on social media, or on the institute's website. Teachers of each course always inform adults if documentation is taking place, allowing participants to request not to be photographed.

For documenting minor course participants, parental consent is required, so a specific form is distributed in time for signing.

You can request a course certificate from the office if you have attended at least 75 percent of the course duration and paid the course fee. The certificate is free of charge for ongoing academic year courses or semester courses. Certificates from previous academic years incur a fee of €5.

We are happy to organize contract training! Municipalities, companies, organizations, associations, or other interested parties can purchase training and continuing education from the community institute. Contact the office for more details and quotes.

We welcome your feedback to help us improve and enhance all our courses, and we want to know what you think of them. We also appreciate course requests for both courses and lectures.

Competency-Based Courses
Some of our courses are competency-based, which means you can earn credits for them. These courses are marked with a symbol in the catalog. If you wish to earn credits for the course, we need your consent at the start of the course, as course performances are entered into the national Koski system in eGrunder.

Since August 1, 2021, it has been possible to enter studies within liberal education into the national data resource Koski. Koski is a nationwide data repository maintained by the Finnish National Agency for Education, containing information on study performances and qualifications. At the same time, training within liberal education that is to be implemented according to the Compulsory Education Act 1214/2020 began. Additionally, it is also possible to register courses with a free orientation in the Koski data resource.

The foundation of a competency-based approach and its development within liberal education is that the goals for courses and training are presented in a competency-based manner, meaning that the learning objectives and assessment criteria are clear from the descriptions. In this format, the descriptions of the studies can be entered into eGrunder, a service of the Finnish National Agency for Education. Assessment of competency is a service offered to clients within liberal education and in courses with a free orientation, based on the voluntary involvement of both the educational provider and the individual. The student's competency should be assessed according to the assessment criteria. To save information in the nationwide data resource Koski, the student's consent is always required.

A defining feature of competency-based education is the course and training descriptions where learning objectives, assessment criteria, and possibly also how the student demonstrates their competency are outlined. By implementing education in a competency-based manner, focus shifts from teaching and its content to learning outcomes and competency.

In the learning objectives, it is clearly and concretely described what the students should know after completing the education. Learning objectives provide a sustainable foundation for criterion-based assessment of learning outcomes. The scope of education is not determined by the extent of teaching, but by the amount of instruction and guidance the student needs to acquire the competency. The central idea is to strategically value previously acquired competencies. Competency-based education highlights students as subjects in the learning and assessment processes (Finnish National Agency for Education, 2015).

In competency-based education, the rights of the student are emphasized. The student has equal right to receive versatile teaching as well as to acquire it through suitable methods. Through the assessment of competency, it is ensured that the student's competency meets the learning objectives. The teacher's task includes considering the student's best interest. A competency-based approach and individual solutions pose a challenge for both the teacher and the student.

A competency-based curriculum supports competency-based thinking and methods. In a competency-based curriculum, learning objectives and the extent of study units or courses in credits are established. The curriculum should indicate the content and extent of the guided instruction organized by the educational institution.

One credit corresponds to an average workload of approximately 27 hours for the student. In practice, the workload required to complete a credit can vary significantly, depending on the student's capabilities. According to the Act on Liberal Education, teaching hour, student day, and student week are the units used as the basis for financing. Credits do not replace these concepts but are only used to indicate the extent of the content in education, that is, the workload required to complete the education.

A prerequisite for registering study performances in liberal education in Koski is that the education has a competency-based description. Practically, this description is made by entering the local curriculum or course plan into the Finnish National Agency for Education's service eGrunder. The competency-based description includes not only the extent but also learning objectives and assessment criteria for a passing level. If an assessment scale is used in the education, the description must clarify which grade in the assessment scale corresponds to the description of competency.
Performance records registered in the Koski data resource can be viewed and shared by the student free of charge via the My Studyinfo service. The student can also request a paper certificate of the study performances saved in the Koski data resource. Generally, a paper certificate is not given for courses at adult education centers. If the student wishes to obtain a paper certificate for a completed course, it can be sent in accordance with the institute's general practices for certificates, possibly for a fee.

Vörå Adult Education Center's curriculum, as well as the courses and descriptions for which credits can be earned, can be found in the eGrunder service.