Education in Norway
Education and the development of skills have high political priority. The
objective is an education system that combines the highest academic standards
with breadth, i.e. that includes the largest possible proportion of the
population. This will yield a high general educational standard and thus improve
the quality of life of the whole population. It is also one of the main
conditions for increased productivity and for ensuring the progress of the
Norwegian welfare society. One of the basic principles of Norwegian educational
policy is that all children and young people have an equal right to education
and training irrespective of domicile, sex, social or cultural background and
physical ability. All state education is free.
Reforms have dominated the educational sector in recent years. A goal of
these reforms is the emergence of a flexible educational system which provides a
wide scope of competency and prepares for a society undergoing constant change.
A parallel objective is to maintain a decentralized school system.
- The cost of education in Norway amounts to 7.6 per cent of the gross
domestic product, while the OECD average is 4.9 per cent (1995).
- Out of a population of 4.3 million, almost 900,000 are undergoing some form
of education or training, and annually upwards of an additional million take
adult education courses.
- During the 1995-96 school year there were about 470,000 pupils at primary
and lower secondary school and almost 177,000 at upper secondary level,
including vocational training.
- About 80 per cent of the population aged 25 to 64 are educated beyond the
lower secondary level. Some 53 per cent have graduated from upper secondary
school, while 27 per cent have a college or university education. The
educational level of the population has risen considerably in recent years.
- About 170,000 are studying at colleges and universities and the number of
such students has risen by 70 per cent from 1988 to 1995.
- An additional 8,500 Norwegians are studying abroad with support from the
State Educational Loan Fund.
- There are about 5,000 foreign students in Norway.
Reforms
Comprehensive reforms in structure and content are being implemented at all
levels of the Norwegian education system. In addition to increasing the range of
options available and improving the quality, these reforms are intended to
create a more integrated and better coordinated system. From the autumn of 1994,
all youth between the ages of 16 and 19 were given the right to three years of
upper secondary education (Reform 94). This education normally provides
vocational skills or qualifies students for college or university studies.
A nation-wide network ("Network Norway") has been established
linking the various institutions of higher education together. A revision of
teacher training and a coordination and revision of legislation regarding
education are under way. A national plan of action for further, post-qualifying
and adult education is being prepared simultaneously.
Compulsory education for six-year-olds, (first grade began previously at age
7) is starting from the 1997-98 school year. At the same time, primary and lower
secondary school is being extended by one year to ten years (Reform 97). A new
curriculum for the ten-year school is being prepared. A special curriculum for
Sami pupils (L97) is also under way.
The general part of the curriculum for primary and lower secondary school,
upper secondary school and adult education was implemented from 1993. A national
system of evaluation is being developed. It will be comprised of various
elements including the evaluation of schools and pupils.
Information technology is a priority area and subject of a plan of action
for 1996-99 worked out by the Ministry of Education, Research and Church
Affairs.
Management and operation
The Government and the Storting decide on the objectives and establish the
framework for Norwegian education. The Ministry of Education, Research and
Church Affairs has the overall responsibility for administering the educational
system and for implementing national educational policy. A common national
standard is ensured by means of legislation, regulations and national curricula.
Each county has a national education office –there are 18 in all–which
carries out central government functions on a regional level. The Central
Government Educational Office cooperates with county and municipal bodies and
ensures an appropriate education of children and youth in conformity with the
relevant statutory provisions.
A National Centre for Educational Resources has been established for the
purpose of developing educational material and providing information and other
services to users in the education system.
In recent years a considerable amount of responsibility and decision-making
power has devolved from central to local government. The municipalities are
responsible for the running and administration of primary and lower secondary
schools, and the counties for the upper secondary schools. Legislation and the
national curricula regulations comprise a framework that must be respected, but
within these the municipality, the school and the teachers can influence
educational material as well as methods of work. The individual school is run by
a principal as well as numerous committees. The major portion of the funds for
school education comes from central government grants. Colleges and universities
are the responsibility of central government.
Private schools
Norway has a very small private school sector.
- About 98.5 per cent of all children in Norway at primary and lower
secondary level and 96 per cent of those at upper secondary level attend state
schools.
Private schools are regarded primarily as a supplement to state schools
rather than as competitors. Most of the private schools are based on a
particular religious denomination or philosophy of life, or an alternative
educational approach, or they offer essential training that the state schools
are unable to supply. There are also a number of privately run colleges,
especially in the fields of economics and administration, health sciences and
teacher training.
Approved private schools receive state support.
Education for Sami pupils
Sami culture, tradition and social life are part of the common Norwegian and
Nordic heritage that all pupils should learn about. Education for Sami pupils
shall make them feel proud of their own culture and promote the Sami language
and identity, and give them the opportunity to participate actively in society
and receive an education at all levels. Sami textbooks are subsidized. The Sami
upper secondary school has a special responsibility for training Sami educators.
The University of Tromso is responsible for Sami language and Sami
studies.
Language minorities
The rise in the number of immigrants has increased the proportion of pupils
belonging to minority language groups in state schools. There is broad political
consensus that the school system should safeguard the needs of language
minorities.
Pupils belonging to language minorities are to be given instruction that
provides them with opportunities for further education and participation in the
job market.
Nordic cooperation on teaching pupils belonging to language minorities has
been established under the direction of the Nordic Council of Ministers.
Primary and lower secondary education
Primary and lower secondary education
Key figures for the 1995-96 school year:
- 3,300 schools
- 479,000 pupils
- 43,800 teacher years
- 10.9 pupils per teacher year
Norway has had some form of compulsory education for over 250 years. Seven
years' compulsory education was introduced in 1889 and in 1969 this was extended
to nine years. The Storting lowered the school starting age to six and extended
compulsory education to ten years from 1 July 1997.
Ten-year compulsory education is divided into three main stages:
- primary school, preschool to grade four,
- middle school from grade five to seven
- lower secondary school, grades eight to ten.
Norway is sparsely populated and many of the primary and lower secondary
schools are small. It is not unusual for children of different grades to share a
classroom. Half of the primary schools in Norway belong to this category.
Many primary and lower secondary schools are combined and all ten grades are
taught at the same school.
Objectives
The objectives of compulsory education are laid down in a general curriculum
for primary and lower secondary school expressed in the national Curriculum
Guidelines, L97, comprising:
- the curriculum for primary and secondary education as well as adult
education, a general part
- principles and guidelines for education in primary and lower secondary
schools
- the curriculum for specific subjects
Primary and lower secondary schools are founded on the principle of a
unified educational system with equal and adaptable education for all in a
coordinated school system based on a single general curriculum. All children and
youth are to share in a common pool of knowledge, culture and basic of values.
The Curriculum Guidelines set out the subjects to be taught and the syllabus
for each subject with which all pupils are supposed to work. The amount of
common material increases in scope from grade to grade and reaches a peak at the
lower secondary level. At the same time, schools are expected to adapt the
Guidelines to their own needs and to adapt their teaching to local conditions
and individual pupils' needs.
Competence development
To ensure that pupils receive an education compatible with the Curriculum
Guidelines in Reform 97, the Ministry has worked out a plan to develop
competence with an emphasis on the further training of teaching personnel in the
primary and lower secondary schools.
Primary and lower secondary school subjects
- Christianity and general religious and moral education
- Norwegian
- mathematics
- social studies
- arts and crafts
- natural and environmental science
- English
- music
- home economics
- physical education
- elective courses
Time is also allotted on all grade levels to the pupil and class councils.
Electives are comprised of one of three alternatives:
- Elective language. The pupils can choose a second foreign language in
addition to English, i.e. German, French or another language in accordance
with local or regional needs.
- Elective intensive language – as an option pupils can receive more
intensive instruction in a language that they already have a basis in.
- Elective practical project work – an activity oriented option.
English is compulsory from primary school onwards.
The following curriculum has been prepared for deaf pupils: sign language,
sign language as an elective language, suitably adapted plans in Norwegian,
English, and rhythm-drama.
Pupils with special needs
Pupils with special learning needs have a right to special education in
accordance with professional evaluation. The municipal educational-psychological
service (PPT) has advisory responsibilities. Resource centres assist
municipalities and schools in their work with children, youth and adults with
special needs. The centres develop special pedagogical competence through
surveying needs, as well as advising, training and development efforts.
After-school programmes for schoolchildren (SFO)
In many families both parents have jobs. Others consist of a single working
parent. If their school children are in the lowest grades of primary school,
they have a need for child care before and after the relatively short school
day. These centres provide a secure and stimulating environment where the
children can play and take part in various activities. The SFO centres are
located in the schools or close by. In 1995, such centres were available in 85
per cent of municipalities, and the intention is to reach the 100 per cent
target by 1997. Norway's kindergarten coverage is currently 80 per cent for
six-year-olds and about 55 per cent for younger children.
National Parents' Committee for primary and lower secondary schools (FUG)
The parents' committee (FUG) is an advisory body to the Ministry of
Education, Research and Church Affairs. Its goal is to promote cooperation
between the home and the school. The committee safeguards to parents' interests
in school matters.
Upper secondary education
Upper secondary education
Key figures for the 1995-96 school year
- 550 upper secondary schools
- 177,000 pupils
- 22,000 educators
- 8.38 pupils per educator
- *22,650 apprentices
*May 1997
Upper secondary education covers all education and training between lower
secondary school and higher education. As of the school year that began in 1994,
all young people between the ages of 16 and 19 are entitled to three years'
upper secondary education, qualifying them for an occupation and/or higher
education (Reform 94). Youth have a right to a place in one of the basic areas
of study that they choose. The reform has made it easier for pupils who first
choose vocational training to achieve college and university eligibility. The
reform has also given counties responsibility for following up any youth in the
16 to 19 age group who neither attend school nor have jobs. Disabled pupils have
a right to more than three years of education at this level.
Academic education and vocational training
Upper secondary education has been made available over the whole country to
ensure that all young people have the same opportunities for education and
training at this level. Until the reform of 1976 there were a variety of schools
offering different types of education and training, but these were replaced by a
single system which provides both an academic education and vocational training,
often in the same school building. Equal weight and status are given to
theoretical education and practical training, and they are organized into 13
areas of study in the first year. Specialization starts in a later phase with
the so-called higher education courses I and II and in apprenticeships.
Apprenticeships have been incorporated in the upper secondary school
educational system. Instruction takes place through a combination of school
attendance and work. In the first two years, instruction is given at school,
while the final specialized phase (lasting up to two years) is given as
on-the-job training. If no private apprenticeships can be found, it is the duty
of the county to offer specialized training in the form of an advanced course at
school. A journeyman's final examination is the same whether the latter phase of
training took place on the job or in school.
The following foundation courses are offered:
- General and business studies
- Music, drama and dance studies
- Sports and physical education
- Health and social studies
- Arts, crafts and design studies
- Agriculture, fishing and forestry studies
- Hotel, cooking, waiting and food processing trades
- Building and construction trades
- Service and technical building trades
- Electrical trades
- Engineering and mechanical trades
- Chemical and processing trades
- Carpentry
Curricula for the new foundation courses and methodic instructions for the
pedagogical adaptation of the educational plans have been prepared. The general
part of the curricula for primary and lower secondary school, secondary school
and adult education was put in effect from the autumn of 1993. A plan of action
for continued education of personnel who work with secondary education has been
prepared, and the reform has also led to new standards and regulations for tests
and exams.
Higher education
Higher education
Key figures for the 1995-96 school year:
- 4 universities
- 6 university level science colleges
- 2 art colleges
- 26 state colleges
- 170,000 students
Higher education is provided by universities and colleges and the normal
entrance qualification is the final upper secondary examination. Apart from a
few privately owned colleges, the institutions at this level are state-run, but
they enjoy a considerable degree of academic and administrative independence.
Universities and university-level colleges
Norway has four universities: the University of Oslo, which is the oldest
and largest, the University of Bergen, the Norwegian University of Science and
Technology NTNU (formerly the University of Trondheim and the Norwegian
Institute of Technology) and the University of Tromso. The country also
has six specialized colleges at university level: the Agricultural College of
Norway in As, the Norwegian School of Economics and Business
Administration in Bergen, and the Norwegian College of Veterinary Medicine, the
Norwegian College of Physical Education and Sport, the Norwegian State Academy
of Music and the Oslo School of Architecture – all in Oslo. In addition
there are two state-run art schools – one in Oslo and one in Bergen.
These institutions have a two-fold function: research and teaching. They
offer degrees at several levels, requiring courses of study lasting from four to
seven years. Special emphasis is currently being given to recruitment to studies
in mathematics, the natural sciences and technological subjects and disciplines.
State Colleges
The former 98 regional colleges were merged from 1 August 1994 into 26 state
colleges. The objective was to make higher education more accessible and to
raise the level of qualified expertise in outlying parts of the country. The
programmes offered at these colleges are usually shorter and more occupationally
oriented than those at the universities. The course of studies usually last two
to four years. The fields offered are teachers' education, preschool teaching,
engineering, the health and social sciences, other two- and three-year
programmes and a few parallel studies with universities, mainly at the
undergraduate level. These are an essential link in the the decentralization of
college-level educations. Many students combine their college studies with
additional studies at a university. Colleges also carry out research and
development as well as artistic development.
Network Norway
In order to promote cooperation and a more rational division of labour, a
network has been set up linking all Norwegian universities and colleges. This
enriches the various academic departments by enabling them to cooperate with
regard to fields of specialization and division of labour. All educational
programmes are being reviewed and reorganized so that each institution can
concentrate on its own areas of specialization. The network will give students a
larger range of options and make it easier to combine educational programmes
from different institutions.
A new law regulates all state colleges and universities in Norway.
Student financing
In 1947 the State Educational Loan Fund was set up, to provide financial
support for students in the form of loans and grants for upper secondary
education, vocational training and higher education. The Fund enables pupils and
students to acquire an education irrespective of their social and financial
background. Such support is also provided for studies abroad.
Adult Education
Adult Education
Key figures for the 1995-96 school year provided by the Ministry of
Education, Research and Church Affairs:
- Folk high schools, about 32,000 participants whereof 7,000 are one-year
pupils
- Adult education associations, 768,000 pupils
- Distance education, 61,400 pupils
- Instruction (mainly language) for non-Norwegians, 25,500
- Labour market courses, 63,000 pupils
- Primay and lower secondary education for adults run by municipalities,
2,868 participants
- Special education at primary and lower secondary schools, 6,043
participants
- County run upper secondary courses for adults, about 30,400 participants.
Educational opportunities for adults and lifelong learning are two basic
tenets of Norwegian educational policy, which aims to raise the general level of
education of the entire adult population. In today's jobs, and more so in the
future, a growing reliance on people's abilities, knowledge and creativity is
the key factor in productivity and the creation of value. Thus the emphasis on
adult education and further training. In addition to gaining skills useful to
work, adult education creates a basis for social and cultural interests and
democratic participation in leisure time activities. A national plan of action
for a coordinated goal-oriented and unified system of further education is being
prepared. The goal of this plan is to prepare the ground for increased creation
of value, increased flexibility in the general work force, more equal
opportunities, and better chances for the individual to procure relevant
qualifications. The efforts are also aimed at training segments of the
population that are currently outside the job market.
Through Reform 94, adults have received better educational opportunities
because teaching is based on modules and shorter routes can be taken.
Recently much effort has been put into providing educational opportunities
for groups of adults with particular difficulties, such as an inadequate
schooling, mental or physical disorders, reading and writing difficulties or an
inability to speak Norwegian.
Responsibility for adult education has up until now been divided between the
State and the adult education associations. Municipalities are responsible for
adult education up to the lower secondary school level, while counties take over
at the upper secondary level. Some 40,000 adults participate annually in these
adult education programmes run by the school system. The adult education
associations and distance education institutions also provide courses at this
level, as well as courses in higher education that are not offered by the public
institutions.
Adult education associations
Adult education associations are a joint organ for volunteer humanitarian,
political and other non-government organizations whose main purpose is adult
education. Examples are the Folk University and the Workers' Educational
Association in Norway (AOF). Numerous subjects are taught, varying from hobby
courses to subjects at a college or university level and ones that give job
qualifications. Twenty-two adult education associations qualify for state
subsidies for this educational work.
- 770,000 adults participate annually in various courses arranged by the
adult education associations
- 14,000 take part in such courses at the upper secondary school level
- 33,000 adults take part in courses at the college or university level
Folk high schools
There are about 80 folk high schools in Norway and they have a combined
capacity of 7,000 pupils. Most of the folk high schools are boarding schools
owned and run by religious organizations, independent foundations or county
authorities. They provide general educational courses for young people and
adults, but they do not result in formal qualifications.
Labour market courses
Labour market courses provide occupational qualifications. They are part of
the government's labour market strategy and are fully financed by the state. The
courses take place at upper secondary schools, in separate centres attached to
the schools or at enterprises. They are run by the labour market authorities,
the adult education associations and the school authorities in collaboration. In
1995, 63,000 people participated in such courses.
Distance education
is also fairly widespread. This used to consist mainly of correspondence
courses, but today there are a number og multi-media programmes. About 60,000
persons complete such courses annually run by credited distance education
institutions. In coming years, distance education will contribute to alternative
and more flexible options which meet the need for further education.
This page was last updated September 3 1997 by the editors
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