NEWS FROM NORWAY
Ongoing Reforms and Topics of Debate in
Education in Norway
Following
major reforms in tertiary education which have been implemented, ongoing reform
work at the Ministry of Education and Research is mainly focused on primary and
secondary education. The reform is given the name Knowledge promotion. The aim
of the reform is to sustain and develop the best in basic education (understood
as all schooling from the start of primary to the end of upper secondary
education), with a view to ensuring that pupils are better able to meet the
challenges of the knowledge society.
Pre-primary
education
In
recent years the political debates have been about the financing of the sector.
The Storting (national assembly) has made an agreement concerning public
financing and parents’ fees. According to this agreement the parents’ fees
should not cover more than 20 per cent of the total running costs. The state
should cover the rest. Regulations concerning parents’ fees and equal economic
treatment between public and private institutions entered into force in 2004. The
Norwegian Government (Ministry of Children and Family Affairs) will present a
bill on early childhood education and care in April 2005.
Primary
and secondary education
A
Directorate for Primary and Secondary Education was established in 2004, with
the responsibility for national curriculum, assessment/examination,
supervision/control and development of primary and secondary education. The
Directorate is now developing new national curricula for primary and secondary
education based on the principles proposed in a white paper (‘Culture for
Learning’) presented to the Parliament in 2004. More emphasis on basic skills
and knowledge, greater diversity with regards to working methods and
organisation and education better adapted to each pupil are essential elements
in the new curricula and in the Knowledge promotion reform. The new curricula
will be implemented at grades 1 – 9 and 11 from August 2006, at grades 10 and
12 from 2007 and in grade 13 from 2008. A national system for quality
evaluation was introduced in 2004, including national tests for assessing the
students' basic skills in reading, writing, Mathematics and English and surveys
for mapping the learning environment at schools. Results at school and
municipal level are published together with development resources at
www.skoleporten.no (operated by the Directorate).
Tertiary
education
Through
the Quality Reform, a new financing system for tertiary education has been
introduced, as well as a new degree structure according to the criteria of the
Bologna Process (3+2+3 model). A national quality assurance agency (NOKUT) was
established as from 1 January 2003, and the tertiary education institutions
have been given more freedom in organisational matters. The number of study credits
per year is changed to 60 (from 20), and the system of marking is standardised,
using a system of letters (with A to E as pass grades, and F for failure), both
of the latter along the lines of the ECTS. The Diploma Supplement is
compulsory. New forms of evaluation are introduced, and students have individual
education plans, and a right to international mobility as integrated parts of
their studies. In March 2005, the Storting passed a common act for all higher
education institutions, both private and public ones. The government presented
a White Paper on research in March 2005.
(March
2005)
