12 hours ago
Norway government considering municipal international schools
Currently, Norway's Education Act requires that the main language in public primary schools must be either Norwegian (Bokmål or Nynorsk) or Sami, meaning those who want their children to be educated in English, French, German or another language, need to pay for private education.
But the State Secretary at the Ministry of Education, Synnøve Mjeldheim Skaar (Ap), told the public broadcaster NRK that the government, after years of dragging its feet on the issue, was now actively considering opening up for English-language education.
"We are now considering, based among other things based on the experiences from the experiment in the municipality of Oslo, whether the regulations should be changed so that public schools in Norway can also accommodate an international education offer," she said.
The ministry, she said, would consider the issue in more detail after the summer break.
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Manglerud skole in Oslo has been offering international classes in English in 2016, after the Norwegian Directorate of Education for the first time approved an English language trial at a Norwegian primary school.
Oslo's English language 'trial' has now in place for nearly a decade without a formal decision to make it permanent.
Julie Remen Midtgarden, the Conservative Party politician who heads the education committee on Oslo municipal council, complained that the government's delay in changing law had put the council and the school in a difficult situation.
"I believe it is irresponsible as a municipality to provide such an unpredictable offer over such a long period of time,"
she told NRK
.
"The worst thing is the unpredictability it creates for students, parents and staff, who do not know how long they have a school offer to attend. Now the government needs to make a decision."
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Oslo municipality may soon relocate its international school offering at another school, or perhaps even close it down, after the local education department said it was considering moving lower secondary classes from Abildsø School to Manglerud.
Midtgarden said it was crucial for Oslo as a city to be able to offer international education in English.
"We are an international city with a diverse student population. We believe that it is important that we also offer good educational opportunities to those students," she said.
