Inside the girls’ room at Landås in Bergen, she spends her days. Amalie Bjørkedal-Aksnes (14) has been here since the summer holidays. After her teachers at Gimle nursery school in Bergen went on strike on 20 June, she has had no lessons. Today, the Education Association is taking almost 100 new teachers out on strike. Tomorrow, 300 new teachers will be taken out. Then close to 8,500 teachers around the country will be on strike. After the summer, she was to start the ninth grade at Gimle upvveksttun school. This is what her schedule should look like. Instead, she has been sitting alone with the books in the girls’ room. Photo: Synne Lykkebø Hafsaas / news – Can’t learn things on my own – I usually just lie in my bed and watch TikTok. She tries to leaf through the school books a little every day. But it quickly stops. – I can’t learn things on my own. Things don’t stick. I get “stuck” very quickly, she says. Her parents are at work every day. If they can’t help her with tasks over the phone, she often puts the books down. – I can feel myself getting irritated. I want school to start again, so that I can understand more and get on, she says. After the summer holidays, Amalie Bjørkholt-Aksnes (14) has been left alone with her school books. Often she ends up putting the books down and doing other things. – What I read doesn’t stick, she says. Photo: Synne Lykkebø Hafsaas / news Father: – It’s hard to see Bernt Ola Bjørkedal is worried about his daughter. – It is not good for any of them to be at home, so it is a bit difficult to watch. He says that he tries to motivate her and help with her school work. – But I understand the frustration. Especially for my daughter who tries but doesn’t quite get it. – There is something about being in class. Being able to ask the teacher for help and have the class around you, says Stine Emilie Olderkjær Veka. Stine Emilie Olderkjær Veka is visiting Amalie Bjørkedal-Aksnes, but not all days are equally social. Photo: Synne Lykkebø Hafsaas / news Today, Amalie has a visit from her classmate, but not all days are equally social. – I’m not very good at asking people if they want to hang out with me. I usually just stay at home and wait for someone to ask me. It’s not very often, because I don’t have many friends. Headmaster: – There is a crisis The starting shot for the teachers’ strike was fired in Bergen. As of Monday, the strike has lasted 110 days. As a result, many of the students in the municipality are the hardest hit in the country. 40 teachers at Gimle nursery school already went on strike on 20 June. Now 46 teachers at the school have gone on strike. Eight are left. – Now it is critical. There are many who have lost their entire school offer, says principal Nita Løvestad at Gimle uppveksttun school. Some pupils have not had an educational offer since the summer holidays. Some have only visited the school once to pick up books. Løvestad is now worried about the long-term consequences for the students, and hopes the parties will soon come to an agreement. – Up until now, perhaps loneliness, lack of social contact and lack of structure have been the biggest burden. If this continues for several weeks, the loss of professional learning will also have consequences that we have no overview of. The two classmates both miss going to school. Both for the teaching, but also for the social, says Amalie. – I want to be a little more with friends again. This is what they are arguing about Teachers’ pay: KS has made the teachers pay losers for the sixth year in a row. Teachers have had a weaker pay trend than other employees in municipalities and counties. KS: The figures from the Technical Calculation Committee (TBU) that the Norwegian Confederation of Education uses are not very relevant for looking at salary trends. Figures for the municipal sector show that the various groups of teachers have had 1 per thousand lower wage growth in the last five years than the average. Teacher dropouts: Increasingly poor conditions are one reason why 40,000 people with teacher training no longer work in schools. KS: Of around 33,000 with teacher training who do not work in the school system, around 40 per cent still work in education and school (nursery, higher education, after-school education, adult education centres, community colleges). Lack of qualified teachers The teachers: One in five who teach in the school (primary school and VGO combined), lack an approved teacher training. KS: There is no shortage of teachers in Norway, 96 per cent of primary school teachers meet the competence requirements. The actual turnover is relatively low for teachers, around 8 per cent, compared to around 12 per cent in the municipal sector as a whole. Recruitment The teachers: The number of applicants to the teacher training courses is down for the third year in a row. The reason is, among other things, weak wage growth since 2004 compared to other groups. KS: This year’s result ensures good salary increases for all employees, while at the same time it has a clear recruitment profile. Only 5 per cent of municipalities say in KS’ employer monitor that it is “very challenging” to recruit primary school teachers. There is a shortage of teachers in some municipalities, and a surplus of teachers in others. Teachers with a long education The teachers: Teachers with more than four years of education are paid less than all other professions with the same length of education, in both the public and private sectors. The school is the sector in Norway where higher education gives the worst pay in terms of wages. KS: In this year’s settlement, new teachers with a master’s degree will be guaranteed a starting salary of NOK 563,800. Most have additional functions on top of this, an average of NOK 25,000. Education also pays off in the municipal sector in the long term. (Sources: KS and the Swedish Education Association)
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Amalie (14) hardest hit by the teachers’ strike – hasn’t had school since before the summer holidays – news Vestland
