Do Norway’s upper-secondary schools need another reform?

A new school model may look like action, but it will not necessarily help students learn more, argues Helle Christin Nyhuus of the Norwegian Association of Academics in Schools.

The Directorate for Education and Training wants to discuss a new organisation for upper-secondary education. Nyhuus questions whether fewer subjects, a different school year or a new timetable would address the problems facing students and schools.

Many students begin upper-secondary school without the academic foundation they need. Statistics Norway data cited in the piece says students leaving lower secondary school with 35 or fewer points, equivalent to an average grade of 3.5 or lower, form a risk group in which about half or more do not complete their education. The union supports a voluntary 11th school year for students who need additional time to strengthen that foundation.

The article also points to integration challenges. An Integration and Diversity Directorate report says almost half of immigrant boys do not complete upper-secondary education, with short residence, weak Norwegian skills and failure to complete lower secondary school identified as risk factors. The union therefore wants Norwegian instruction for language minorities to be mandatory when students need it.

Nyhuus says schools also face teacher shortages, strained budgets and limited capacity for close follow-up. She cites the Comprehensive School Commission’s view that the state should assume greater responsibility for funding, particularly as demographic changes and falling student numbers put pressure on local finances. The union supports school development, but wants evidence that changes to subjects, school years or timetables would actually improve learning before they are introduced.