opetustuntien

Opetustunti is a unit of instruction in the Finnish education system. The phrase opetustuntien refers to the total number of such teaching hours and is used when planning, budgeting, and staffing in schools. The concept appears in national core curricula, local curricula issued by municipalities, and collective agreements. It describes how much teaching time is allocated to pupils, students, and subjects during a week, semester, or school year.

A typical opetustunti lasts about 45 minutes in many Finnish schools, but the exact length can vary by level, school, and subject. Some schools schedule longer blocks, and the length of a lesson may differ between basic education and upper secondary education. The overall number of opetustunteja per student often informs workload calculations for teachers and the distribution of classes in timetables.

In practice, the number of opetustunteja is negotiated and monitored by authorities at municipal and school level. It serves as a measurement for resource planning, funding, and compliance with the core curriculum. The term is more common in formal policy and administrative contexts; in everyday speech, people may refer to oppitunteja or lessons instead.

Etymology: "opetustunti" combines teaching (opetus) with hour (tunti). The plural genitive "opetustuntien" is used when discussing quantities, such as "opetustuntien määrä" (the number of teaching hours).