– I feel I have come out of my shell a lot more and become more mature. I have learned a lot about myself and also about those around me. It has been very important to me, says Anniken Jensen. Jensen himself went to Ålesund Folkehøgskule and was a conductor training student there. Now she will have a summer job at the school before she starts her studies. – We came straight from secondary school so we didn’t know there were such cool teachers. It has been absolutely fantastic, says Jensen. But fewer and fewer apply for the experiences she has had at the folk university. Anniken Jensen is so happy at her folk high school that she will have a summer job there until her studies start. Photo: Hans-Olav Landsverk / news Oliver Simonsen would also recommend others to apply to folk colleges: – You get to challenge yourself and create a year you will remember for the rest of your life with so many good experiences. Photo: Hans-Olav Landsverk / news Have to cut teaching posts The rector of Ålesund Folk High School, Sven Wågen Sæther, now has fewer applicants. – We had 119 pupils before the pandemic, now we are likely to get between 60-70 pupils. Sæther says they have struggled since the pandemic to attract young people. He says that in order to succeed with a folk university, you have to combine what the young people want to do with what the school wants to do – to help shape and form citizens. – If we don’t succeed with that bit of fun, we can have as many nice ideas as we want without it helping us, says the principal. Sven Wågen Sæther tells of a decrease in the number of pupils of 40-50 per cent since the pandemic. Photo: Hans-Olav Landsverk / news Several notice a decline Half an hour’s drive away from Ålesund Folk High School is Sjøholt Folk High School. There they also notice the decline for the next school year and have already cut a line at the school. – We would like to have quite a few more students as of today, says headmaster Lars Johan Klokk. Headmaster Lars Johan Klokk would like to have more applicants for his school. Photo: Hans-Olav Landsverk / news The school had 60 students last year. Now they are approaching 40. Klokk highlights less marketing and tighter finances as a possible reason. – We think that we have become poor, and that it is expensive to spend money on going to folk college. That’s not true. You get a lot for your money, he says. At Sunnfjord Folkehøgskule in Førde, they have around 115 places, but have not had 100 students for many years. As of today, 66 students have agreed to a place next school year, but the headmaster at the school, Jon Olav Leira, says from experience they get between ten and 30 positive responses during the summer. 150 students have applied to Sunnfjord Folkehøgskole this year compared to 180 last year. The number of applicants last year was also low. In recent years, they have had 78–90 students. Photo: Ina Christin Løvseth / news Due to the low number of applicants, the school has to take action, and a teaching position will not be extended. Leira says several principals have recently met to discuss what is the cause of the decline at several schools, but that most are scratching their heads a little. Better numbers now than before in our According to Folkehøgskole.no, there are 85 folk high schools in Norway. Dorte Birch, day-to-day head of the Information Office for Folke Högskule, says that the number of applicants is currently 14 per cent behind last year’s figure. Dorte Birch, day-to-day head of the Information Office for Folke Högskule, says that the number of applicants varies greatly from school to school. Photo: Torbjørn Brovold / news – It is much better than what they were earlier this spring. So we expect that during the summer we will be able to catch up a lot of what was lost. For Folkehøgskule, you can apply right up to the start of school. She thinks the economy has affected the number of applicants. – Some young people are worried about spending money. The price for a year at folk university includes accommodation, food and study tours, which makes the choice more financially predictable than studying. This spring we have worked even harder to communicate this, she says. I think they offer something important The rectors at Sunnmøre have faith in the future anyway. – We want to give people value for who they are, and not for what they can achieve, and that makes what we are doing here extremely important for everyone to experience, says Sven Wågen Sæther, rector of Ålesund folk university. In any case, Oliver Simonsen and Anniken Jensen have no doubt that they got something good out of their year at Folkehøgskule. Anniken Jensen and Oliver Simonsen are sure that they would not have been without the experience from the folk university. Photo: Hans-Olav Landsverk / news
ttn-69
Fewer people apply to folk high school – Anniken Jensen would never be without the experience – news Møre og Romsdal – Local news, TV and radio
