Support and benefits

You can travel to Riveria by bus. For more information on bus schedules and routes, please see the Joensuun seudun joukkoliikenne and Matkahuolto websites.

Kela’s school transport subsidy covers part of the costs of travelling to and from school. You may be entitled to a school transport subsidy if the distance of your daily travel to school is at least 10 kilometres, and you are studying for a vocational upper secondary qualification or attend preparatory education for programmes leading to an upper secondary qualification (TUVA). The more specific eligibility conditions are available on Kela’s website. For more information, please contact Kela or the student affairs office.

If you are a full-time student and are studying for a vocational upper secondary qualification or attending TUVA training, you are entitled to free school meals. Free meals are available on school days at the educational institution, on study trips, and during training organised at the workplace. If a school meal is not possible on these days, the student is entitled to a meal allowance.

To receive school meals, you need an identity card with a barcode, such as an identity card, passport, KELA card or driving licence.

If you do not have a Finnish personal identity code, you will receive a temporary permit card in your edu.fi email, which you can use until you receive an official card. A picture of your temporary permit card on your phone works, too.

If you study in labour market training or apprenticeship training, you are not entitled to free school meals, but you can eat at school for EUR 4.80–5.20 per meal.

Menus are available on eRiveria website
Special diets riveria-erityisruokavaliolomake.pdf (riverialainen.fi)

Meal allowance

The meal allowance is EUR 4 per day. For students completing a vocational qualification in natural resources, the meal allowance is EUR 6.50 per day. The benefit does not apply to apprenticeship or labour market training.

On-the-job learning: You can apply for meal allowance for the duration of the on-the-job learning period if lunch cannot be arranged and you do not receive salary or daily allowance for the period. Apply for meal allowance afterwards so that your on-the-job learning period can be verified.

Fill in the meal allowance form on Wilma within two weeks after the end of the study period. The form is available on Wilma under the Training organised at a workplace section. For more information on applying for meal allowance, please contact your personal coach or see the form.

Other studies: You can apply for a meal allowance for the school days for which lunch cannot be arranged. Such situations include study trips or the educational institution’s holiday period, during which the canteen is closed. A meal allowance is not paid for distance teaching days. Apply for a meal allowance afterwards so that your on-the-job learning period can be verified. Apply for a meal allowance on Expence.

Education
The education is free of charge. Costs arise from purchasing study materials, work clothes and equipment. A laptop is recommended for all Riveria students, to be used for studying. Students must acquire the laptop themselves.

Living and housing in Finland
In addition to the funds needed for studying, you need money for living. The prerequisite for a residence permit issued by the Finnish Immigration Service is that you have at least EUR 560 available per month (in 2023). This ensures that you will be able to pay your living expenses in Finland, which means housing, food and other expenses.

Insurance
You will also need private insurance that covers your medical and medicine expenses. However, you do not need private insurance if you have a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC), a UK Global Health Insurance Card (GHIC) or a Finnish Kela card.

With the Slice student card, you get many student discounts and benefits in Finland. You can obtain the card when your studies last more than 8 months. The colour of the card is either blue or green, depending on your studies.

The blue card is intended for full-time students who are not paid a daily allowance or salary for the duration of their studies. In addition to the general Slice student benefits, it entitles you to VR and Matkahuolto student discounts.

The green card does not entitle you to discounts on VR or Matkahuolto tickets, but grants you access to all other student benefits in Finland.

The more specific terms and conditions of VR and Matkahuolto discounts are available on their respective websites:

• VR’s student discount terms and conditions
• Matkahuolto’s student discount terms and conditions

Instructions for acquiring a student card:

1. Go to Wilma and give your consent to the transfer of data to Slice for the delivery of your student card. You can give your consent using the personal and contact information form on Wilma. At the same time, confirm that you have familiarised yourself with VR and Matkahuolto’s student discount terms and conditions.
2. Allow for 60 minutes for your data to be transferred to Slice.
3. Go to en/upload/riveria. Upload your photo to the service, fill in the necessary information and order the activation credentials for the card.
4. You will receive an email from Slice with the activation credentials for your student card. The email will be sent to both your Riveria email address and the personal email address registered in Wilma. Please note that the email containing the activation credentials may end up in spam. If you do not receive the email, please also check your spam folder. If you do not receive the email and you cannot find it in the spam folder either, contact the Slice customer service at info@slice.fi. The activation credentials can only be obtained from Slice.
5. Download the Slice.fi app to your phone from your application store.
6. Log in to the Slice app with the activation credentials you received.
7. The card is now ready to be used. Enjoy student life and utilise thousands of student benefits all over Finland!
8. The card will expire when your studies end.

Did you change your phone?

If you change your phone and need to transfer your digital student card to a new device, proceed as follows:

1. First, reset your credentials at: fi/resetoi
2. In the email address field, enter the same email address that you have entered as your personal email address in Wilma. It is either the school email address or your personal email address.
3. You will soon receive a link in your email. Click the link to obtain new activation credentials and use them to transfer the card to another device.