In short, Kristiansund secondary school has been granted permission to farm salmon, which will give the school millions in income each year. The school has been asked to cut almost 10 per cent of its budget, so the income from the breeding will be able to contribute to maintaining the school offer. The school will not operate the facility itself, but will lease it to the breeding company Nekton in Smøla, which will pay the school NOK 6.5 million per year for the next ten years. The students will be closely involved in the operation of the farm. It is valuable practice, especially for the pupils studying aquaculture. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAi. The content is quality assured by news’s journalists before publication. – I think maybe we read it ten times before we understood what it said. That we have been granted a teaching permit for salmon farming, says the principal at Kristiansund secondary school, Marit Bjerkestrand. The Directorate of Fisheries has decided that the school is allowed to farm 780 tonnes of salmon. But the school will not run the facility itself, the breeding company Nekton in Smøla will do that. A group of tourists visited Nekton aquaculture last summer. Photo: Eirik Haukenes / news In rent, the school receives NOK 6.5 million from them every year for the next ten years, while the students must be closely involved in the operation. In addition, the state contributes NOK 6.2 million annually to run the education offer. This is valuable money for a county-owned school with poor finances. – Means greater security Møre and Romsdal county council has specifically asked the school to cut more than NOK 14 million compared to what they spent last year. That is a cut of almost 10 percent. Headmaster Bjerkestrand recently stated to the local newspaper Tidens Krav that “the social mission of the school may be in jeopardy.” – As of now, we are in a very demanding situation and we are continuing to work on how we will be able to stick to the budget so that the pupils suffer as little as possible. Then the 6.5 million who come annually will help so that we can maintain much of the good offer, says Bjerkestrand. They have only known about the award since Wednesday, so they haven’t started looking at how it will affect the economy yet. – But that it was immediately perceived as a gift, we are very happy about that. That means greater security for us, says Bjerkestrand. The school and the county spent two years preparing the application, and waited 1.5 years for processing. Photo: Marius André Jenssen Stenberg / news 18 education permit This is not the only school that is allowed to engage in farming. There are 18 such teaching licenses registered in the Aquaculture Register, the vast majority for the county municipalities that own the secondary schools. There can be lucrative arrangements for both the schools and the companies that rent licenses from them. – We will add a resource at Smøla who will follow the pupils closely. We put a lot of resources into this, but the unique thing about it is the fish, which finance the scheme, says Roger Osen, day-to-day manager at Nekton. He says they see great advantages in strengthening the educational offer in Kristiansund, which is the nearest town from the farming municipality of Smøla. – It is very important that we have attractive education when we have such a great need for workers. The aquaculture industry is huge in Nordmøre, and then it is quite natural that Kristiansund has a good educational offer. It naturally benefits the breeders in the area, but also service businesses and the entire industry cluster, says Osen. Roger Osen (th) is the day-to-day manager of Nekton. Photo: Marius André Jenssen Stenberg / news Classroom at the edge of the cage For the pupils who want to work with farming, the school day will be completely different compared to today, with far more practice. – It is completely incredible. I can’t really put into words how good this can be, says Jørgen Jensen, head of the department for nature management and aquaculture at the school. Jørgen Jensen is head of department at Kristiansund secondary school. Photo: Marius André Jenssen Stenberg / news On average twice a week they will be shuttled out to Nekton’s facility outside Smøla, 25 minutes outside the city. Until now, the company has had viewing facilities there for tourists and school classes. Now they will also operate the license the school has received, and make arrangements for education at the edge of the cage. – There will be extensive use of the location at Smøla, so the pupils get practical experience. They get to feel the forces of nature and develop a relationship with the fish. They can be involved from the hatchery phase, feeding and to slaughter. So they get to participate in the entire value creation, says Roger Osen. Pupils studying aquaculture and aquaculture at Kristiansund secondary school. Photo: Marius André Jenssen Stenberg / news – Almost perfect employees They are betting on being properly up and running by the autumn, so the changes also apply to those applying this year. The deadline for applying for further education is 1 March. – They will become almost perfect employees during this school year, which is on a completely different level than what we achieve today, says Jørgen Jensen. In the long term, the school aims to double the number of pupils and classes.
ttn-69
The school was told to cut back – millions of salmon could be saved
