Students urged to apply for transport subsidy before autumn

The national social insurance institution-Kela on Monday urged the students to submit the application to their school well before the beginning of the autumn term to avoid delays in processing, said Kela in a press release.

School transport subsidy is available by application, and a separate application is required for each academic year.

Kela grants school transport subsidy to students in secondary education, which includes for instance upper secondary schools and vocational education.

The entitlement criteria for school transport subsidy are different depending on whether the student is entitled to free education under the Act on Compulsory Education.

Students entitled to free education can get school transport subsidy if their journey from home to school is at least seven kilometres.

Students who are not entitled to free education must have a one-way journey of at least ten kilometres from home to school.

In addition, the student must travel to the educational institution or workplace at least 10 days per calendar month in order to be eligible for the subsidy.

Students are advised to submit their applications to the school.

The school will check the information in the application. Applications cannot be submitted online via Kela’s e-service OmaKela.

When Kela has reviewed the application, a decision about the subsidy will be sent to the student’s home address. The decision and information on the granted school transport subsidy are also available in OmaKela.