Thursday is the deadline for applying for further education. According to figures from Lånekassen, there are a total of over 24,000 pupils aged 16–19 who have moved away from home to go to school in the past year. 15-year-old Agathe has long wanted to follow her handball dream, but moving to Bergen and living in a dormitory is a big step. – I don’t want to move away from home, but I also want to follow my dream and develop as a handball player, says Agathe Fristad Naustdal. She is one of around 70,000 10th graders in Norway who have to choose where they will go to secondary school. 10th graders in Norway per county Agder: 4248 Inland: 4330 Møre and Romsdal: 3378 Nordland: 2835 Oslo: 6908 Rogalnd: 6830 Troms and Finnmark: 2919 Trøndelag: 5781 Vestfold and Telemark: 5307 Vestland: 8070 Viken: 16,944 Total: 67,550 Source: Directorate of Education Dei last ten years fewer students have chosen to move to a dormitory. Since 2014, the number of students with living abroad scholarships has decreased by 17 per cent, figures from Lånekassen show. – It is scary. You have to be completely alone very often and everything becomes new, says Naustdal. The deadline for applying for further education is 1 March at 23.59. Maria Jauge Folkestad (left) is good friends with Agathe Fristad Naustdal through ten years in the same class. Now Maria has chosen to stay in Dale, but hopes her friend will follow her dream of becoming a handball player in Bergen. Photo: Fride Audunsdotter Westvik / news Taking action for lonely students Moving into a dormitory already as a 15-16-year-old can present several challenges. Research shows that young people who live in dormitories feel lonely. – Several people tell about feeling sad, depressed and lonely, especially at first, says researcher Wenche Wannebø at Nord University. But several secondary schools have taken measures to improve the student’s daily life. Over 50 percent of the students at Firda secondary school in Gloppen municipality live in dormitories. There, they have implemented open school measures with staff who offer dinner and evening meals several days a week. – It has worked very well and created a good culture, says principal Hallgeir Hansen. Pupils in dormitories have greater motivation In Nordland county, where the largest proportion of pupils live away from home, there has been a long struggle with high absenteeism among pupils passing through. The county council asked Oslo Economics to carry out a thorough survey among students and schools to see if there was a connection, which turned out not to be the case. – Based on the interviews, it does not appear that living away systematically contributes to greater dropouts or greater challenges among students in the county than among students who live at home, the report states. In the report, it is rather highlighted that pupils who actively apply for an education program where they have to live in a dormitory often have more motivation to complete the schooling than some other young people. Agathe Fristad Naustdal from Dale still has a few hours to decide. – I actually want to play handball the most and have a weekday dedicated to that, says the 15-year-old. Motivation is the biggest factor in whether students complete secondary school, according to a survey from Oslo Economics. Photo: NTB
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Agathe (15) must choose between the dream and the safe everyday – news Vestland
