Nikkarila household management school

Founded in 1905, Nikkarila household management school was sometimes called the deaf women’s academy. The school became possible when Sofia and Angelique Bovallius, sisters who lived in Pieksämäki, bequeathed their estate for the purpose at the end of the 19th century.

The work to build the school began in 1903. The main building, which was surrounded by fields and a garden, housed a training dairy and barn and a weaving room. The first ten students arrived in 1905 and by 1945, 377 girls had attended the school.

In addition to tuition, the school offered free room and board. The school lasted for two years, and during that time the students studied practical household work, such as cooking, making cheese and butter, baking, spinning, weaving, keeping cattle and gardening.

The first students found work as servants, housemaids, hen keepers, weavers and assistants for cattle keepers. For decades, the Nikkarila school played a major role in education for deaf women, particularly because there was very little training arranged by the public sector.

Later, Nikkarila opened its doors to hearing students and changed its name to Bovallius-opisto (Bovallius college).  In 1984, the board of vocational education took over the college. The school changed its name to Bovallius-ammattiopisto (Bovallius vocational college)in 2002 when it began to admit students with dysphasia, other language disorders and developmental disorders. In 2018, Bovallius-ammattiopisto became part of Ammattiopisto Spesia (Spesia vocational college).