It is not always easy for us ordinary working people to understand how politicians and bureaucrats think. Sometimes their choices are so incomprehensible that one simply has to speak up. I do that now. In recent weeks, I have followed the political news closely. A proposal has been made in the Education Act that can destroy a lot for those of us who are not good at school. Politicians will no longer bet 100 per cent on the training offices, which help companies with everything needed to take in and follow up apprentices. It is very bad news for all the country’s apprentices. And the worst news for us are the so-called school losers. Without the training office, I would never have been able to take up the subjects from upper secondary school and never have received a vocational certificate. I’m hardly a politician, but now I’m trying to get them to understand that it would be a big mistake to remove the subsidies to the training offices. My school days are not exactly a sunny story. I struggled with both writing, reading and math. I functioned socially, but felt bad because I never did my subjects well. I was miserable in middle school, and it didn’t go much better in high school. Deep down I hate school with theory and paperwork. There was truancy, sloppiness with homework and lousy grades. Without going into details, my school days ended without anything to brag about, and I ended up at Nav. I got a summer job with a mechanical contractor. They connected me to something I hadn’t heard of: the Training Office for Construction and Mining Professions (OKAB) in Trøndelag. OKAB helped me to take up subjects from upper secondary school and eventually motivated me to take a diploma in road and construction. That help was exactly what was needed. Without the training consultants, together with a company that was interested in investing in me, I certainly would not have received that professional certificate. I’m afraid I would have ended up at Nav without that system and the people who work there. Now the government wants to remove the direct support to the training offices, so that they will not receive subsidies for the apprentices or have the main responsibility for the apprenticeship. They will instead become an office from which the companies will purchase services. This will mean that companies will have even more tasks to follow up on apprentices. Then I get really worried. The individual company already takes a great deal of responsibility for its apprentices, and they do not need even more tasks. On the contrary. The company must first and foremost ensure that the jobs are done. If they are to be subjected to even more work with the follow-up of apprentices, I am afraid many employers will cut them out. Then the politicians have closed a way into working life which can be decisive for many. I was one of them. We need more apprentices, not fewer. I think many people have never heard of a training office and what they actually do. That is perhaps why the people inside the Storting think that they are not that important. The training offices are in many ways a link between the school and business. I can list some of the things they do: They are included in the contract with us apprentices and the school They create a follow-up plan for each apprentice They arrange assessment interviews with the apprentice They send reports to the county council on how things are going They acquire new apprenticeship companies and apprenticeships They guide the apprentices They help if there is a need for relocation. They organize the subject test itself. They probably do a lot more too. For me, it is completely incomprehensible when I read that the role of these offices is to be weakened. Who will do all these things? Who will help the apprentices? Who will be there when things get tough? Who will make people like me become a skilled worker and not a naver? All this cannot be added to the individual learning company. The whole point must be to make it easier for businesses to take on apprentices, not more difficult. Now the politicians must think again, and not cut the ties that link the companies, the apprentices, the county and the training offices. I am a practitioner, and believe that you should not repair what works. And this system works well. I know that from my own experience.
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Don’t close the door – Statement
