Choosing a secondary school for children placed in a children’s home

The Ombudswoman was approached by a girl placed in institutional education (a children’s home). She claimed that the home was forcing her to enrol in a secondary school she did not want to attend. Attending the secondary school also entailed living in a boarding house, which was far from the children’s home and the girl would thus not be able to attend the same school as her sister who had already reached the age of majority.

The Ombudswoman found errors in the procedure of the children’s home (i.e. its director) because it completely neglected to actively communicate with the girl’s mother, at variance with the law. The scope of the mother’s parental responsibility had not been officially reduced and she maintained contact with the girl. There were also doubts about the degree to which the facility discussed the choice of the secondary school with the girl herself. Moreover, the director did not tell the girl that she had also been admitted to the school which she wanted to attend.

This case was not only significant for the girl who – after the Ombudsman’s intervention – was properly consulted in matters of her education and got the chance to choose the secondary school according her own wishes. After the Ombudsman issued the inquiry report, the director of the children’s home sent a letter to the parents of all the children placed in the home where he offered them a closer co-operation with the facility’s individual workers. The letter was also included in the facility’s internal rules as an amendment.