Everyone between the ages of 6 – 16 must attend school in Norway. All public education is free in Norway, and classes are taught in Norwegian (with the exception of foreign language classes, of course).
The Norwegian primary and lower secondary education system was reformed in 1997 and a new curriculum was implemented. The different municipalities in Norway are responsible for the running and administration of their public schools.
The school year runs from August to mid June, and consists of two semesters with a Christmas holiday (from mid December to early January) in the middle.
Besides being a good pedagogical institution for children, the kindergartens also take care of
children while their parents work or study. The kindergartens therefore also are a means to gain
equality between the genders. Kindergartens in Norway are for children aged 0 – 5 years. Children
start compulsory school the year they turn six.
ranked 12 in 2009 PISA and ranked 3 in 2012
The first Kindergarten Act in Norway entered into force in 1975. Today’s Kindergarten Act (Act no. 64
of June 2005 relating to Kindergartens) entered into force January 2006. The Kindergarten Act states
that the municipalities are the local authorities for kindergartens. The municipality must provide
guidance and ensure that kindergartens are operated in accordance with current rules. The
municipalities are obliged to ensure that there are a sufficient number of kindergarten places.
Private kindergartens have a legal right to approval if they are suitable in terms of purpose and
content and fulfil the requirements in the Kindergarten Act. The Government will introduce a legal
right to a place in kindergarten when full coverage is reached. The municipalities must approve
kindergartens and provide guidance to them. Approximately 50 per cent of the kindergartens are
privately owned.
Staffing The Kindergarten Act states that head teachers and pedagogical leaders must be trained
pre-school teachers or have other college education that gives qualifications for working with
children and pedagogical expertise. Pre-school teacher education is a three years university college
study with bachelor degree. Pedagogical leaders without pre-school teacher education must have
further education in teaching in kindergartens. According to regulations there must be one
pedagogical leader per 7 – 9 children under the age of three and per 14 – 18 children over the age of
three. Approximately 30 per cent of these were trained pre-school teachers. Approximately 13 per
cent of the head teachers and pedagogical leaders were not educated pre-school teachers and had
dispensations from the educational requirement. There is a lack of staff in Norwegian kindergartens
today in accordance with the educational requirement.
The Framework Plan states that all kindergartens must work goal-oriented with children’s
development and learning, and stimulate children’s linguistic and social competence. Childhood is a
phase of life with intrinsic value, kindergartens must be inclusive fellowships with space for each
child. The Framework Plan has seven learning areas that children should be acquainted with in
kindergartens: • Communication, language and text • Body, movement and health • Art, culture and
creativity • Nature, environment and technology • Ethics, religion and philosophy • Local community
and society • Numbers, spaces and shapes
The ratio is 1-7 under 3 and 1-14 over 3
ShareThis Environment - current issues: water pollution; acid rain damaging forests and adversely
affecting lakes, threatening fish stocks; air pollution from vehicle emissions
core time- 3-5 get 20 hours per week free of charge in 2019 expanded to include 2 year olds