In his decision, Mikko Sarja, the substitute for a Deputy Ombudsman, assessed the conduct of the Matriculation Examination Board concerning the arrangements of the matriculation examination to ensure the rights of persons with disabilities. He suggests that the Matriculation Examination Board should improve their guidelines to ensure that persons with disabilities can be reasonably accommodated if they need it. 

The substitute for a Deputy Ombudsman believes that the conduct of the Matriculation Examination Board to ensure the accessibility of examinations to as many students as possible deserves recognition. However, he considered the instructions of the committee to be problematic in some respects. According to the substitute for a Deputy Ombudsman, the aim of improving the guidelines should be that the range of measures of reasonable accommodation should not be limited in advance more than what is strictly necessary, given the case-by-case nature and individual assessment that are typical for reasonable accommodation.

The full text of Substitute for a Deputy-Ombudsman Mikko Sarja’s decision no 2356/2019 has been published (in Finnish) on the Parliamentary Ombudsman's website at www.oikeusasiamies.fi.

Further information is available from Senior Legal Advisor Kristiina Kouros, tel. +358 9 432 3396.