The Turku City Board has discontinued an agreement with the University of Turku on providing teaching services for the International School starting from 1 August 2025. The international IB upper secondary school remains as part of the operations of the University of Turku and the Turun normaalikoulu Teacher Training School.
The starting point for the reform of the International School is the City’s aim to increase the number of pupils from the current 250 to 450.
The Turun normaalikoulu Teacher Training School operating at Varissuo tried to find additional facilities for the International School, but could not find any at Varissuo. The City of Turku found suitable facilities from Untamonkatu at Kupittaa. The City felt that, as the school expands, it is purposeful to transfer the comprehensive school as part of the operations of the City of Turku.
The current agreement also includes the organisation of international upper secondary school teaching, and the University and the City of Turku will make a new agreement on it. The International Baccalaureate Organization has granted the teaching responsibility to the University of Turku and its Teacher Training School.
According to Dean Jukka Husu of the Faculty of Education and Principal Vesa Valkila of Turun normaalikoulu school, the plans of the City of Turku are a loss to the University of Turku when realised. Turku International School is the only international school in Finland that operates within a teacher training school. Finland’s other international schools are usually part of the municipal school network. In addition to Turku, international schools can be found in Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa, Tampere and Oulu.
“In the international arena and marketing, we have benefited from having the International School as part of the University’s Teacher Training School,” says Valkila.
The International School has been the teacher training school for exchange students and also for the international students in class teacher education starting in the autumn.
Turun normaalikoulu school has currently 1,160 pupils and approximately 130 members of staff. Of these, 250 pupils study and 30 teachers teach at the International School. Most of the primary teachers work only in the International School, but most of the subject teachers in the lower secondary school work both in the International School and the Teacher Training School.
“It has also been preliminarily discussed that, in a change situation, the personnel of the International School would transfer as so-called old employees to the City of Turku,” says Valkila.
