Fast Track to Employment project accelerates immigrants’ employment in social and health care
Immigrants living in the Tampere Region will be offered the possibility to familiarise themselves with the social and health care field. They can also complete basic studies of the Degree Programme in Nursing at Tampere University of Applied Sciences.
Coaching will be implemented as a part of the project.
“During the coaching, immigrants will study nursing and complete practical training in social and health care organisations. They will also be offered student counselling and Finnish language studies,” Project Manager and TAMK’s Principal Lecturer Sirpa Salin tells.
The coaching is designed for immigrants who do not yet have an education or work experience in social or health care but who are interested in working in the field. They may have an education in their country of origin but they are not necessarily qualified in Finland. The admission requirement is an upper secondary education. Applicants may already have social or health care competence, for example a nursing degree abroad but they may not work in the field in Finland because they do not have sufficient language skills or because they are unqualified in Finland.
Path to degree studies
According to Salin, immigrants’ and especially immigrant women’s labour market position is weak in Finland, regardless of their education and language skills.
“Immigrants are needed in the field of nursing but they need to have good Finnish language skills due to patient safety.”
Immigrants are coached in Finnish working culture and career planning.
Students can thereafter complete path studies in the open university of applied sciences. After the path studies, they can apply for degree studies through separate application. They can also apply for the Degree Programme in Nursing through joint application.
First group begins in August
TAMK’s project partners are SASKY Municipal Education and Training Consortium and Spring House.
“SASKY brings the upper secondary vocational education’s viewpoint, possibility to complete the practical nursing qualification and its working life connections into the project. SASKY has strong pedagogical competence, close working life connections and years of experience in development of the wellbeing field,” Salin states.
According to Salin, Spring House offers the project its expertise in promotion of immigrants’ employment.
“Spring House has developed immigrants’ integration services for a long time. Spring House innovates new ways of approaching holistic integration of adult immigrants,” Salin tells.
“The project calls for sensitivity because we are dealing with two groups in vulnerable position, namely immigrants and elderly people. I however believe that we will have good applicants who want to work in the field.”
The first coaching group will begin in August 2022. The application period is underway in cooperation with the City of Tampere.
The project is funded by the European Social Fund. The project takes place on 1 November 2021 – 31 August 2023.
Project website: https://projects.tuni.fi/sujuvastisoteen/in-english/
Further information:
Sirpa Salin, Project Manager, Principal Lecturer, Gerontological Nursing, Docent, TAMK’s School of Social Services and Health Care, sirpa.salin [at] tuni.fi (sirpa[dot]salin[at]tuni[dot]fi), +358 50 591 4540
Text: Arja Hautala
Photo: Emmi Suominen
