Helsingin Sanomat explains how Philippine nurse Apple Colanggo came to Finland with high hopes, only to find that her Finnish was not enough.
In Helsinki in the summer of 2024, Colanggo failed the qualifying examination for registered nurses. The reason was not clinical competence but insufficient Finnish.
Before moving, she had studied the language for seven months remotely while working in Saudi Arabia. The training brought her to the required A2.2 level. But once in Finland, she found that real-life Finnish — spoken quickly and in professional contexts — was far more demanding than the lessons suggested.
According to Floro Cubelo, a lecturer at Oulu University of Applied Sciences, recruitment agencies and employers should assume greater responsibility for the language training of foreign nurses.
A new tax
Finland is set to see a new tax on 1 April after parliament approved a new electricity security-of-supply levy, reports Kauppalehti.
The charge on electricity will rise from 0.013 cents to 0.085 cents per kilowatt-hour. The increase will apply to both household and industrial electricity customers.
The business daily reports that the decision follows government budget negotiations over the state's 2026 finances, in which a greater share of the security-of-supply funding burden was shifted to electricity.
The impact for consumers will most likely be modest, KL explains. An electrically heated home might see its annual power bill rise by approximately 10 euros, while the increase for a typical apartment resident would amount to roughly two euros per year.
Spring interlude
Unseasonably warm weather continues across Finland. According to the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI), Monday will be largely dry nationwide, with sunshine especially in western and central parts of the country, reports Iltalehti.
Temperatures in western Finland could climb close to 10 degrees Celsius, well above the seasonal norm, according to FMI meteorologist Tuukka Keränen.
On Tuesday, clouds are expected to thicken, bringing drizzle in many areas and light snowfall in the north. Temperatures are also expected to fall on Tuesday, with daytime highs across the country closer to five degrees Celsius.
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