The week is starting out in summer-like conditions. Monday and Friday are set to be the sunniest nationwide, reports main Finnish daily Helsingin Sanomat. In southern Finland on Monday the mercury will rise above 20 degrees Celsius, with no rain in sight. Temperatures will continue to climb as the weekend approaches, surpassing the 'heat threshold' mark of 25C.
Teen work opportunities
The economic upswing is good news for young people looking for summer work, reports business daily Kauppalehti, citing a survey by labour confederation SAK. Some 74 percent of the organisation’s 18 trade unions say they are hiring seasonal workers this summer. The figure is up by some ten percentage points from two years ago.
More Swedish-speakers in Helsinki
The number of Swedish-speaking residents is rising in Helsinki, according to the Swedish-language daily Hufvudstadsbladet. Today some 2,000 more Swedish-speaking Finns call the capital home than a decade ago. The exclusive Ullanlinna district, with its colourful Art Nouveau apartment blocks and romantic villas, has the highest proportion of Swedish-speaking Finns, with 11 percent of inhabitants there registered as Swedish-speakers. The historic neighbourhoods of Punavuori, Kamppi and Töölö are also home to a relatively high percentage of Swedish-speakers, while the newly-built modern district of Jätkäsaari on the southern peninsula has seen the fastest growth in Swedish-speaking residents, attracting some 550 of them over the past five years.
Around 5.3 percent of Finns speak Swedish as their mother tongue, according to government statistics.
Grades no more
With the school year coming to a close, regional daily Aamulehti reports that pupils in Tampere will from now on receive numerical report cards at the end of the fifth year of primary school. The change follows the core curriculum reform that came into effect in 2016. Younger students receive open-ended feedback. Matti Annala, principal at the Tammela school in Tampere, says the growing trend of verbal feedback minimises the risk of students being labelled based on grades and encourages kids to become 'team players' as they can give as well as receive feedback on their learning outcomes.