The case in summary Over a thousand students demonstrated outside the county hall in Hamar against planned school closures in Innlandet. Pupils from several upper secondary schools took part in the demonstration, and expressed concern about the long journey and lack of space at alternative schools. County mayor Thomas Breen (Ap) met the students and accepted signatures from students on behalf of several schools threatened with closure. The background for the school closures is, among other things, more than 2,000 vacant school places in the county, and an expectation of 3,000 fewer pupils by 2038. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAI. The content is quality assured by news’s journalists before publication. Political strike at several secondary schools in Innlandet On Wednesday 23 October, the county council will finalize the matter of a new school and provision structure in Innlandet. The day before the first meeting day in the county council, large numbers of people were expected to show up to demonstrate. Over a thousand people gathered outside the county hall in Hamar. Among them are pupils from Skarnes vgs., Dokka vgs, Nord-Gudbrandsdal vgs. and Solør vgs. – We speak out, but we are never heard. Now you must listen to what we have to say and what will actually happen to us. That’s what student council leader at Lom upper secondary school, Eivind Maurstad Husom, says. You can read about this in this case: The students held appeals The county politicians accepted signatures Lom’s mayor appeared after controversial statements The students traveled far to come to the demonstration The teacher is distraught over the situation Declining student numbers in the interior An estimated over a thousand students showed up to protest . Photo: Frode Meskau / news Speech Maria Krohn Engvik, known as Health Sister, made an appeal from the stage. Photo: Frode Meskau / news County mayor Thomas Breen, county deputy mayor Hanne Velure and group leader for MDG in the county Johannes Wahl Gran met the students outside the county hall. Photo: Reidar Gregersen / news The artist Matoma stood side by side with the students. Photo: Reidar Gregersen / news Pupils from all over the interior met in front of the county hall in Hamar. Photo: Frode Meskau / news Husom points out that the students from Lom are forced to move to a dormitory or have to travel 3-4 hours. As long as you actually enter the nearest schools in Otta or Vinstra. – At these schools there is not room for everyone who is in Lom now, and those of you who do not get into those schools are the ones with the lowest average, says Husom. Both Synne Vo and Matoma held concerts during the commemoration, where they both made appeals to the young people. During the concert, Matoma, or Tom Stræte Lagergren as he is called, had to interrupt due to technical problems. Thilde Bergheim from Skjåk primary and secondary school also highlights the travel distance as devastating. – My future is four hours on the bus, zero free time and only homework and sleep. Youth should contain so much more, says Bergheim. – We are fed up with not being heard. I am very disappointed. This will empty the villages. There is no shame in turning around. Hanna Gjeilo Skjåkødegaard from Skjåk stated during her appeal that Elden law firm was connected. In a press release, lawyer John Christian Elden believes that the county council should postpone the school case since the decision may violate the Constitution. – Even if our school is closed tomorrow, it is not the end. We will continue to fight. Facts and research must win. There are major gaps in the knowledge base and Elden agrees with us on that, says Skjåkødegaard. 10th grader Anna Nordby had turned up at the demonstration in Hamar to influence the politicians not to close down Dokka upper secondary school. Meeting the students Before the county council was convened, county mayor Thomas Breen (Ap), county deputy mayor Hanne Velure (H) and group leader for MDG in the county Johannes Wahl Gran met the students outside the county hall. They accepted signatures from students on behalf of several schools and school sites threatened with closure. County mayor Thomas Breen (Ap) accepts signatures from students present. Photo: Reidar Gregersen / news – It makes an unimaginable impression to see that what we are doing in terms of politics at county level creates so much anger and frustration, said county mayor Breen from the stage. – The reason why we are where we are is that we have not had a birth surplus for 50 years in the interior. It is the case that we have been losing students from our schools for a long time, and we see that this will continue. This applies regardless of the statistics debate. Photo: Reidar Gregersen / news – In sum, some of us believe that the situation has now gone so far that all students are losing from the situation we are in. The county mayor says that today there are too many young people who do not get their first choices fulfilled, and too many who apply for lines that are not started. From left: County mayor Thomas Breen (Ap), county deputy mayor Hanne Velure (H) and group leader for MDG Johannes Wahl Gran. Photo: Reidar Gregersen / news County mayor Thomas Breen (Ap) outside the county hall in Hamar. Lom mayor showed up On Monday evening, the mayor of Lom, Kristian Frisvold, made strong statements that he is declaring war on the school issue and called for digging up “crap” about the county politicians. He showed up during the demonstration in Hamar, and tells news that he has largely received “thumbs up and support”. – It has been a hectic day. There have been many comments, where there is some crap, but mostly thumbs up and support. People are tired of politicians who talk about porridge, says Frisvold. – Are you afraid that your tirade on Monday will have consequences for you? – No, I don’t. I say what I mean. I get a few shouts, but mostly a thumbs up, says Frisvold. He thinks the marking in Hamar is fantastic. – The young people are good at presenting their case. I am proud of them and excited for tomorrow. If the county politicians do not allow themselves to be influenced by what they have seen and heard here today, they should find something else to do than be a politician. Took a bus to the county hall Pupils from several schools and schools threatened with closure sat on buses on Tuesday morning on their way to the county hall in Hamar. Including from Lom. Among them is third year student at the school in Lom Ada Biko Vaagaasar. – We are standing up for a very important cause. The closure of the schools affects the entire local community, and we are very happy. We have almost had three good years here, and then it is important that we stand up when it matters. Ada Biko Vaagaasar and Astrid Rød will demonstrate outside the county hall in Hamar on Tuesday. There they hope to be heard. Photo: Even Lusæter / news She herself is not affected by a school closure. On the other hand, she fights for others she knows who want to go to school. – We have friends in second grade and siblings who want to go here. It’s not just about people going to school here, but it’s part of the local community, she says before getting on the bus on Tuesday morning. In addition, Matoma held a concert during the demonstration. Matoma, whose real name is Tom Stræte Lagergren, threw himself into the school debate recently to oppose the closure of his old school in Flisa. Speaker Maria Krohn Engvik, better known as the “Health Sister”, held an appeal and has been strongly involved in the issue of school closures in the interior. Matoma took part in the Debate on news last week. – Upset, despondent and angry That school site Lom is threatened with closure arouses strong reactions from teacher Guro Lund Grimstad. – I am upset, despondent and angry, she says. Teacher at the school in Lom, Guro Lund Grimstad, is moved by the commitment to the school cause. Photo: Even Lusæter / news She is moved by seeing the commitment the school cause has created in the villages. – It is absolutely fantastic to see that all the villages here have stood together and fought for this in a good way, have been decent and come up with good arguments. The students have been fantastic, written consultation responses, made posters, get involved in the media and social media. It is terribly moving. The police have turned up at the county hall in Hamar on Tuesday morning. Photo: Roar Andre Berntsen / news These schools are proposed to be closed: Stine Bækkelien / news Dokka secondary school currently has 269 pupils. The school has six lines: * Study specialization * Building and construction engineering * Electrical and computer technology * Health and early childhood subjects * Technology and industrial subjects * Building up to general study skills Distance to nearest school: approx. 42 km to Gjøvik vgs. Ann-Kristin Mo / news Skarne’s secondary school Currently has 187 students The school has five lines: * Building and construction engineering * Electrical and computer technology * Hairdressing, flowers, interior design and exposure design * Study specialization * Building on general study skills Distance to the nearest school: approx. . 22 km to the city center in Kongsvinger. Even Lusæter / news Skulestad Lom One of three departments at Nord-Gudbrandsdal vgs. Skulestaden Lom currently has 94 students. Skulestaden has two lines: * Building and construction subjects * Study specialization Distance to the nearest school: approx. 62 kilometers to Nord-Gudbrandsdal vgs. Dept. Otta Even Lusæter Skulestad Dombås One of three departments at Nord-Gudbrandsdal vgs. Skulestaden Dombås currently has no students. Skulestaden has previously had offers for specialist studies. Distance to nearest public transport: approx. 47 km to Nord-Gudbrandsdal vgs. Dept. Otta Frode Meskau / news Skulestad Flisa One of three departments at Solør vgs. Today has 110 students. Skulestaden has two lines: * Study specialization * Electrical and computer technology Distance to the nearest school: approx. 18.8 km to Solør vgs. Dept. Våler Stein Eide / news Skulestad Sønsterud One of three departments at Solør vgs. Currently has 70 students. The school has two lines: * Natural resource education * Building up to general study skills Distance to the nearest school: approx. 18.8 km to Solør vgs. Dept. Våler. Falling student numbers The reason for the school closures is, among other things, that there are already over 2,000 vacant school places in the county. In addition, the county council expects that there will be 3,000 fewer pupils by 2038. This entails both little predictability for pupils and teachers, and at the same time less income from the State, according to the county council. In Politisk kvarter on Tuesday morning, leader of the main committee for education, Joakim Ekseth (H), said that they are not doing this because they want to. – We don’t do this because we want to, we do it because it is necessary. If we don’t make changes now, the educational offer in the entire Inland will be depleted. For many years we have used a cheese grater and cut down on the offer. It’s getting narrower and narrower, and it will continue going forward if we don’t take action. Published 22.10.2024, at 10.45 Updated 22.10.2024, at 18.09
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Here they bow to the politicians – news Innlandet – Local news, TV and radio
