Education and Equality

The overall objective of education policy in Norway is to ensure equal education opportunities for all students irrespective of gender, ethnicity, geographic location and socio-economic background (public school is free of charge)

Important values : human dignity, idendity and cultural diversity, critical thinking and ethnical awareness, the joy of creating, respect of nature and environment, democracy and participation

A culture characterized by a ‘passion for equality’: Egalitarian policies and principles have informed distribution policies

• Easy passages between the levels
• Equal educational opportunities for all children, regardless of social background, abilities, gender and place of living.
• To develop social justice, equity, equal opportunities, participative democracy and inclusion.

Challenges :

• Introduction of new values like competition, choice, and managerial accountability (since the mid-1980s)
• Interference of transnational actors
• Cultural diversity

1) Pre-primary education : typical ages 1-6

2) Compulsory education : the primary level (1-7) and the lower secondary level (8-10).

3) Upper secondary education (typical ages 16-19): organised into 12 educational programmes (3 general and 9 vocational programmes).

4) Higher Education : 3 years Bachelor, 2 years Master, 3 years PhD

• The Parliament and the government define overall goals for education, adopt the legal framework and determine structures and organisation.
• The Ministry of Education and Research formulates national education policy including acts, regulations and curricula.
• The school owners are responsible for implementing education activities, organising and operating school services.

• Lånekassen is both a bank and a part of the welfare state
• Created in 1947
• Provides grants and loans to students, to cover living expenses and other direct and indirect costs associated

• 1959 : Increase the minimum level of education (from 7 to 9 years), ease the transition into tertiary education, enhance equality of opportunities along both along socio-economic and geographical dimensions.*
• 1994 : All pupils gained a legal right to pursue upper-secondary education
• 1997: School start at age 6 : 10 years of mandatory schooling
• 2003 : Kvalitetsreformen, implemented the Bologna convention throughout the entire national system of higher education.
• 2006 : “Knowledge Promotion Reform”

Low results -->Decentralisation and delegation of power to the municipalities and individual schools

2018 Results :

• Above the OECD average in reading and mathematics
• Performance gaps between girls and boys and non-immigrant and immigrant students still high

« Drop-out » at upper secondary level :

• if parents didn't attain secondary education and students from immigrant backgrounds
• student family SES is one of the most influential factors
• students from lower socio-economic background : enter more vocational programmes than general ones

• In 2021, 18.5% of Norwegian population consisted of immigrants and children born in Norway to immigrant parents
• Second-generation immigrants in Norway are still young and around 80% of this population is less than 20 years of age