The matter summed up: Teachers, parents and pupils in Bø in Vesterålen want to close several children’s schools in the municipality. The municipality with around 2,000 inhabitants has four schools for only 225 primary school pupils. Principal of Eidet children’s school, Rita Hansen says it is unfavorable when there are so few pupils in the classes. The head of schools and kindergartens in the municipality, Hans Kristian Pettersen, points out that the number of pupils will halve by 2040. It has not yet been decided how the school structure in the municipality will be solved, but three alternatives are under consideration. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAI. The content is quality assured by news’s journalists before publication. So far this year, we have seen a number of examples of proposals for school closures that have caused resentment among the citizens. In Innlandet, children and parents lost the battle, while in Vågan in Lofoten, they are raising posters high outside the town hall and shouting “Let the town live”, after the municipality proposed to build a brand new school at a cost of NOK 87 million. But a little further north in Nordland, the situation is different. Because while residents elsewhere in Norway shout slogans, light torches and go on trains, the residents of Bø in Vesterålen have done the opposite. They want to close schools. – If I have to, I’ll take the boat to Værøya with the kids to let them go to school there. It’s perfectly fine, says FAU head at Steine skule, Astrid Vik Tande. The preschool attended by Arina Cristiane Haugstad and Marie Enoksen may be closed down. Photo: Lars-Bjørn Martinsen / news – We are tiny In the small municipality of Vesterålen, there are just over 2,000 inhabitants. Only 225 of them are primary school pupils. Nevertheless, the municipality is equipped with four schools. Steine school Straume school Eidet school Bø youth school There is an average of 56 pupils per school. Both parents, pupils, teachers, FAU leaders and the municipality want to do something about it. Now they are fighting for school closures. – We are not small schools. We are tiny little schools. If we put them together, it is still a small school, but a little bigger, says Tande. – We need to feel as one here in Bø. This was also shown by the investigation that Telemarksforskning has carried out here. We agree that this is right, says Kine Martinussen. She is FAU head at the kindergarten at Straume school. Photo: Lars-Bjørn Martinsen / news – There is no denying that there are fewer of us. I think we owe it to our generation to bring us together. We need to be prepared, and there is an awfully good opportunity to do so. Gather the village once and for all, says Kristin Jakobsen, FAU head at Eidet school. Unfavorable with few pupils The private school is the smallest of the four schools, with 25 pupils from Years 1-7. steps. The largest class at the school has eight pupils. The youngest has one. – And unfortunately we will have fewer students here at Eidet school, that probably applies to the whole municipality, says the principal there, Rita Hansen. The principal at Eidet School in Bø in Vesterålen, Rita Hansen, says the municipality is forced to merge the children’s schools. Photo: Lars-Bjørn Martinsen / news She says that they often merge the levels, and that often the entire middle or lower level at the school is merged. – It is unfavorable when there are so few pupils in the classes. They must have learning habits, and they must measure themselves with those at their level. Although we can see each individual student well, there is a challenge with this. – But you lose your school? – I don’t lose school, he develops together with others. I rather think that I am helping to develop him, explains Hansen. A little over 2,000 inhabitants live in Bø municipality. Only 225 of them are primary school pupils. Photo: Lars-Bjørn Martinsen / news Getting fewer and fewer The pupils at Eidet children’s school do not quite agree with the adults that it is a good idea to close the school. – I think it’s stupid. I have been going to this school since I was in the first grade, says seventh grader Arina Cristiane Haugstad. Classmate and student council leader Marie Enoksen says she will miss school. – It had gone well. I know most of the people who go to school in Bø. But I would miss Eidet, says Enoksen. Seventh-graders Arina Cristiane Haugstad and Marie Enoksen do not agree with the adults. Photo: Lars-Bjørn Martinsen / news But the statistics show that there will not be that many more in the municipality in the future, so something must be done, according to Hans Kristian Pettersen, head of schools and kindergartens in the municipality. – Looking far ahead, by 2040 there is talk of halving the number of pupils. It may not work out, but we have to look at the school structure. The will to change is great Bø has engaged the consulting agency Telemarksforskning to sort out the school structure. They have interviewed parents, pupils, teachers, staff representatives and management. The conclusion was clear; it is desired that something should happen to the school structure in Bø. – It has been a pleasure to work with Bø municipality. They had a very rare starting point; they were genuinely interested in improving the situation instead of thinking that everything should be as it has been, and that they do not want change. That’s what Ingrid Steine Bortne says, who has been involved in the project as an adviser. Ingrid Steine Bortne believes Bø municipality has a good starting point for implementing a change in the school structure. Photo: Privat She helped present the report to the municipality, where they put forward a main recommendation, as well as two other proposals which are also good alternatives. – We went wide and looked at many alternatives. Our recommendation is to get a joint children’s school, and that he be located in Straume. We also recommend keeping the current junior high school where he is located, she says and adds: – Now the work begins for the municipality and the residents. It has not yet been decided how the school structure in the municipality will be resolved, and many considerations must be taken. Hans Kristian Pettersen, the director of schools and kindergartens in Bø municipality, points to the three relevant alternatives: Close two of the three kindergartens. Create a large school with grades 1–10. steps. Close one of the three kindergartens. He is concerned that it should be a good process and that the municipality takes its time. – It will go out for consultation, and we will spend plenty of time on it. It is a big commitment, and I think there will be a lot of interest in this. Hans Kristian Pettersen, school and nursery manager in Bø municipality in Vesterålen. Photo: Lars-Bjørn Martinsen / news Published 08.11.2024, at 21.13
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In Bø in Vesterålen, they will close several children’s schools – news Nordland
