T24 WILL BE SUED FOR LAY-OFF
Four employees were sacked by T24, for asking for a tariff
agreement, they claim. The manager calls it necessary cuts
in his workforce.
The four in question were hired when T24 opened last autumn.
– A contract was issued after a while, but it was not
honoured, says Monica Befring. She and her three colleagues
were fed up with the poor circumstances and contacted the
union.
– Two days after we did this, we were fired, Befring
says. Manager Kenneth Storheim describes the positions as
having ceased.
Befring and her colleagues are taking Storheim to court over
this dispute.
– We feel punished for wanting to be union members,
Befring maintains.
TOO FEW JOBS FOR TEACHERS
More than a thousand teachers applied for 11 positions in
Bergen’s primary school last autumn. Chances for getting
a full-time job teaching are slim.
This spring, about 250 new teachers will graduate from Bergen
College. Many of these will look for work in Bergen.
– Bergen is a less expensive city to live in than for
example Oslo, says Bjørg Kristin Selvik, dean at Bergen
College. Also, it is known that there is a more stressful
environment at Oslo’s schools.
The autumn of this year the University of Bergen will start
a new, five-year program educating teachers. Despite today’s
dismal employment situation there are prognoses for new teaching
jobs in a few years. Also, there already are good possibilities
of getting a job outside the big cities.
FEWER FAIL AT BERGEN COLLEGE
The number of students failing exams at Bergen College has
dropped the last few years. Effort has been made to improve
teaching. Dean Lena Bakke says students receive more follow-up
and this is paying off.
Also, the «quality-reform» has increased focus
on results.
Students Anders Johnsen and Torgeir Nygård will complete
their engineering-studies this spring. They have noticed improvements
in teaching and more mandatory classes.
Nygård says practical experiments and basic research
has become part of teaching.
– This is fun and increases motivation. Also, it gives
an idea of how future jobs might be, he says.
ALEXANDER KEMP
11.02.04
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