The Lapinjärvi Educational Center is a schooling facility located in

Lapinjärvi Lapinjärvi (; ) is a municipality in Finland, located in the southern interior of the country. Lapinjärvi is situated in the eastern part of the Uusimaa region. The population of Lapinjärvi is approximately , while the sub-region has a pop ...

in southern

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

. The main purpose of the Educational Center is training for

civilian service Alternative civilian service, also called alternative services, civilian service, non-military service, and substitute service, is a form of national service performed in lieu of military conscription for various reasons, such as conscientious o ...

(). Finnish civilian service law requires a compulsory general training period at the start of the service. Civilian service training periods are held 11 times per year and are four weeks long. As well as civilian service, the Educational Center can be used for other schooling. Institutions wishing to hold schooling periods can rent parts of the Educational Center for the duration of the period. The center is sometimes called "Lapinjärvi legion" () in Finnish slang.

Location

Lapinjärvi is located in the eastern part of southern Finland, near the cities of

Loviisa Loviisa (; ; formerly Degerby) is a town in Finland, located on the southern coast of the country. Loviisa is situated in the eastern part of the Uusimaa region. The population of Loviisa is approximately , while the Loviisa sub-region, sub-regi ...

and

Kotka Kotka (; ) is a town in Finland, located on the southeastern coast of the country at the mouth of the Kymi River. The population of Kotka is approximately , while the Kotka-Hamina sub-region, sub-region has a population of approximately . It is th ...

. It is roughly 90 km away from

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

and 107 km away from the

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

n border. The Educational Center is not actually located in the main Lapinjärvi residential area but instead roughly 5 km west from it.

History

The oldest part of the Educational Center area is the Sjökulla mansion, built in 1886 although its history dates back to the 14th century under Swedish rule. The mansion itself is not used for schooling but is preserved as a historical monument. Between the 14th and 20th centuries, the mansion has frequently switched owners. In 1896, the mansion and its auxiliary buildings served as a schooling facility for farmers. The farming school was closed down in 1911. The current schooling facility buildings were originally built in 1936–1938. From 1934 to 1937 the facility served as a temporary workplace for young unemployed men who wanted to try their hand at getting employed or re-employed. In 1937, the facility became a rehabilitation center for alcoholics. This continued until 1939, when the

Winter War The Winter War was a war between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet invasion of Finland on 30 November 1939, three months after the outbreak of World War II, and ended three and a half months later with the Moscow Peac ...

forced it to become a base for a military mobile infantry group. After the war ended in 1940, the facility was restored as an alcoholism rehabilitation center, which continued until 1986. In 1990, the facility became a reception and temporary habitation center for foreign immigrants. The center was closed in 1995. The facility finally became a civilian service training and general-purpose schooling facility in 1997, when the civilian service training was moved from

Vaasa Vaasa (; , ), formerly (1855-1917) known as Nikolaistad (; ),Lapinjärvi Lapinjärvi (; ) is a municipality in Finland, located in the southern interior of the country. Lapinjärvi is situated in the eastern part of the Uusimaa region. The population of Lapinjärvi is approximately , while the sub-region has a pop ...

. In 2000, one more building was built as a dormitory for civilian service trainees.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lapinjarvi Educational Center Education in Uusimaa Schools in Finland