Päivitetty: 14.8.2023

About us

Vakka-Suomi Adult Education Centre organizes liberal adult education, thus offering the residents of the area a wide range of opportunities for learning and self-motivated personal development. Our institution’s work is based on respecting the adult learner’s standpoint as well as the choices he or she makes, and we aim at creating people opportunities for lifelong learning both for work and for life in general. Supporting local culture and preserving local cultural heritage are important guidelines in all our work.

Our institution organizes:

  • Target-oriented, versatile, non-formal adult education
  • Basic education in the arts: handicrafts, drama and visual arts
  • Web-based learning

In addition, and depending on the area, emphasis may also be on other subjects, e.g. languages, ICT and social studies. Other important educational tasks for us are improving the basic skills required by the present-day information society and developing general citizenship skills of the adult population. During the academic year 2023-2024 our themes are international and multicultural Vakka-Suomi, responsibility, sustainability, humanity, environment and nature.

Teaching and other activities

Each year more than 800 courses are organized by Vakka-Suomi Adult Education Centre. We offer about 17,000 hours of teaching and classes are held in 100 different locations. About 200 people are employed annually by Vakka-Suomi Adult Education Centre. The vast majority of them are part-time teachers. Only about ten people work full-time for the institution. More than 5,000 people sign up for one or more courses each year and the total number of participants on our courses and lectures is approximately 11,000.

Courses open to everybody:

  • History and society
  • Nature and environment
  • Handicrafts
  • Physical education and well-being
  • Visual arts
  • Languages
  • Music
  • Performing arts and dance
  • Information and communications technology

For more information on our Finnish courses, contact language teacher Päivi Ruusuvuori, tel. +358 44 585 3100, paivi.ruusuvuori(at)vakkaopisto.fi

Administration and finance

Vakka-Suomi Adult Education Centre was established in 2007 when two older centres with a long history and tradition, Laitila-Pyhäranta Adult Education Centre and Uusikaupunki Adult Education Centre, were united. The Centre of Uusikaupunki was founded already a hundred years ago, in 1919. Our institution functions in the whole Vakka-Suomi region which has about 31,000 inhabitants.

The centre is maintained by a municipal consortia formed by the six municipalities within the region.

  • Laitila
  • Uusikaupunki
  • Pyhäranta
  • Taivassalo
  • Kustavi
  • Vehmaa

The town of Laitila is responsible for the administration and finance of Vakka-Suomi Adult Education Centre. Each municipality has its own representatives in the institution’s administrative board. Our annual expenditure is approximately 1,49 M€ of which 42% is covered by statutory government transfer, about 38% by the six municipalities themselves and the remaining 20% by course fees and custom-made courses.