In early childhood education and care (ECEC) and pre-primary education practical children’s nurses working in ECEC centres participate in care and educational duties together with ECEC teachers and other staff. In addition, ECEC centres have kitchen personnel responsible for catering.
In basic education and upper secondary education and training special needs assistants may be employed by a local authority, a school, or a special class for one or more pupils with severe disabilities. The nature, duties and operational priorities of individual special needs assistants vary according to their assignments.
Student welfare officers, in turn, help pupils with problems relating to growth and development or difficulties at school. Typical situations requiring a student welfare officer’s attention include truancy, bullying and problems caused by changing schools or classes. School psychologists deal with learning and adjustment problems at schools. Their duties are divided between treatment and prevention of problems and provision of consultancy for teachers. Psychologists contribute to charting and improving the circumstances of individual pupils experiencing school-related and interpersonal difficulties in co-operation with teachers, parents and pupils themselves. Most school psychologists work for multiple schools.
According to the legislation, each local authority is required to maintain school health care services. For this purpose, schools have school public health nurses and school doctors. School doctors are usually available on certain days each week or month.
School secretaries deal with office duties relating to school operations. Their job description may also include different tasks related to pupil welfare services and staff administration.
The duties of study advisors working at vocational institutions include providing information on education and training and producing related publications, participating in the organisation of student admission procedures and preparing study affairs for decision-making bodies, carrying out different types of surveys and setting up initiatives, providing advice for international students, etc.
Workplace instructors are employees in enterprises, who are responsible for the students completing their compulsory six-month on-the-job learning period in vocational upper secondary education and training.
Staff who provide assistance to the teaching staff and students include, for example, IT support specialists, librarians and school attendants. IT specialists often work part-time at schools. They are responsible for the functionality and safety of IT equipment and web-based operations. School librarians are responsible for running the school library. School attendants or caretakers look after the order and tidiness of school areas and facilities. In many cases, their duties also include simple property maintenance and repairs. Schools also have personnel responsible for cleaning and catering.