– The justification for the government is desktop law. It is very naive, thunders children’s ombudsman Inga Bejer Engh. 50,000 pupils at primary and secondary schools have been promised special education because they need extra help with their schoolwork. Nevertheless, some of them do not get the help they are entitled to. Last winter, news told the stories of classmates Storm and “Christian” in Halden. Both were promised such help, but received both less and worse special education than they thought they needed. Both complained to the state administrator, and both were upheld. Now, however, the government will remove this possibility to complain to the state administrator. This causes the children’s ombudsman to sound the alarm. – Surprised – I am very surprised by this. We have been keen to improve the complaints system in order to strengthen the rights of this group of pupils. Then the ministry responds by removing the scheme, says Engh. For several years, the government has been working on a new education law. This spring, it will be adopted in the Storting. The government believes that the students who complain already have a decision entitling them to special education. If they are successful in their appeal, they will receive a new decision with similar content. Instead, the government believes it is better if disagreements between the pupil’s parents and the school are resolved through dialogue. They are also concerned that the schools will spend more time on case management. Almost 50,000 pupils have a decision on special education. A large proportion of these struggle with reading and writing difficulties. Photo: Anders Fehn / news – Breaking the law daily The Children’s Ombudsman is, however, clear that the problem is that the schools are unable to implement what they have promised. She refers both to the children’s ombudsman’s own observations and to the winter’s media reports. news then revealed that over 1.3 million hours of special education were not carried out according to plan last school year. A report that was recently submitted to the Norwegian Directorate of Education shows that special education is among the areas where the Education Act is most often violated. Engh believes that there should be greater consequences for the municipalities that break the law, and that the right of appeal should have been strengthened. She receives support from several other organisations. Secretary General Sissel Karin Haavaag of the Epilepsy Association believes that municipalities get away with breaking the law too easily. – Municipalities and county councils break the Education Act on a daily basis. We are therefore disappointed that the ministry does not propose new reactions to violations of the Education Act, says Haavaag. Will strengthen the right of appeal Education Minister Tonje Brenna (A) presented the proposal for a new education law at the end of March. Photo: Heiko Junge / NTB The new Education Act must first be processed by the education committee, before the Storting adopts the final version. Several parties have announced that they will vote for changes. – It is important for these students’ rights to be able to complain. So it should at least not be weakened, rather the rights should be strengthened, says SV’s Freddy Øvstegård. news has asked the Ministry of Education what they think should be the consequence if a municipality does not implement the decisions on special education. Education Minister Tonje Brenna has not had the opportunity to respond to this.
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– It’s naive – news Oslo and Viken – Local news, TV and radio
