– What a start to the day! With a turquoise and pink apron around her waist, father of four and KrF leader Dag Inge Ulstein has really found the tone with a group of eager first-graders in the play kitchen. The turbulent autumn with leadership changes, announcements and power struggles in KrF must seem rather distant, where he crawls around the playroom at Fernanda Nissen school in Storo in Oslo. SERVING: Lovely food for the KrF summit from the play restaurant that the school children themselves are behind. Photo: Christian Kråkenes / news Right next door, party colleague Kjell Ingolf Ropstad brings a rainbow-coloured unicorn to a doctor’s visit. – Can I get a bandage? I have a little pain in my hand, says Ropstad and is getting good help for his apparent injury. AT THE DOCTOR’S: Kjell Ingolf Ropstad gets an injection and a bandage from first-class doctors at Fernanda Nissen School in Oslo. Photo: Christian Kråkenes / CHRISTIAN KRAKENES The two KrF leaders are on a school visit to present the proposal for a sweeping new reform that arouses curiosity in the government and skepticism in alliance partner Høyre. Saving billions of KrF will have more play in school and preschool in the first stage. Fewer teaching hours and means-tested after-school care will cut expenses, and partly finance a salary increase of NOK 50,000 for each individual teacher. – Although in reality we have had two extra school years in the last thirty years, the learning outcomes have not improved, says Ropstad to news. – We have failed the six-year-olds and must ensure more free play in the school. It is absolutely crucial for children’s development and maturation, he says. KrF believes the number of hours should be cut by half an hour a week or 23 fewer weekly hours in total in primary school. It will bring the Norwegian school day on par with Finland and Estonia, which score highly in international student surveys. – But students get better results from being less at school? – We believe in this with more free play. It stimulates and develops children and young people and provides a better ability for in-depth learning, more enjoyment of reading and increased learning later in the school year, says KrF leader Dag Inge Ulstein. The party refers to the OECD’s education director Andreas Schleicher, who believes that falling school results can partly be explained by the fact that many students are bored at school. This costs KrF’s school proposal Fewer school hours and less teaching for primary school teachers More free play through compulsory pre-school for six-year-olds Increased investment in printed textbooks. Needs-tested after-school care for households with an income limit of over 2 million. The savings in the form of shorter school days are estimated at around NOK 6 billion. Needs testing for free part-time places at SFO will result in savings of around 2 billion. According to KrF, it will cost around NOK 7 billion to increase teacher salaries by NOK 50,000. The investment in fewer teaching hours for contact teachers has a cost of around NOK 4 billion, while the textbook investment is estimated to cost NOK 1.5 billion. “The sum of fresh funds required for these changes is small compared to the gain and in line with the action rule’s prioritization of knowledge”, argues KrF. – To have fun! At Fernanda Nissen school in Storo in Oslo, the first-graders play on the timetable, a couple of times a week. And the children shout the answer in unison when teacher Siv Karlsen asks: – What is rule number 1? – To have fun! TREASURE CHEST: A chest of clothes and costumes provides a fun break in the school day. Resource teacher Siv Karlsen believes there is a lot of learning in play. Photo: Christian Kråkenes / news Cleaning up after play is rule number 2. Because even if it is play, there are clear frameworks and clear educational strategies behind it. – The purpose is to let children use their natural learning arena, says Karlsen to news – But aren’t you at school to learn, not to play? – The problem is based on a wrong premise. It is wrong to separate play and learning. Play is a basic need of children. They collaborate, they resolve disagreements, and they learn from each other, she says. Nordtun: – Interesting Education Minister Kari Nessa Nordtun (Ap) has herself aired the idea of cutting one school year from primary school. A separate committee has been set up to look at the organization of Norwegian schools. When the Minister of Education has also said several times that a greater investment in printed textbooks is needed, it is perhaps not so surprising that she is positive about the new school signals from KrF. COMMITTEE: Minister of Education Kari Nessa Nordtun (Ap) has already set up a committee to assess, among other things, whether the school year should be shortened. Photo: Marie Skikstein / news – It has some interesting elements in it, which I have signaled that the government is working on. There have been more and more hours in Norwegian school, without the results or motivation having improved that much, she tells news. – More play in school, says KrF? – I completely agree with that. Play is incredibly important. It is seen that children who play earlier have better social relationships. And it is also a good basis for learning. Nordtun says many schools are now working purposefully to get more play into teaching, but she will not promise money for a bigger pay rise for teachers now. – It must be up to the parties in working life to assess, she says. Skepticism in the Conservative Party – KrF clearly has good intentions, but there are several challenges with the proposal, says Kari-Anne Jønnes of the Conservative Party to news. SKEPTICAL: Right-wing MP Kari-Anne Jønnes Photo: Marie Skikstein / news – The biggest challenges in Norwegian schools are that our children do not learn to read, write and do arithmetic properly. There is no contradiction between play and learning, but we are critical of shortening the school year and reducing the number of hours, she continues. – In Finland, students go to school for a shorter time than in Norway. The results are better. Doesn’t KrF then have a point? – We question starting with cuts, before we have looked at other measures, she replies. When asked how he assesses the realism of his own proposals when the old cooperative party Høyre puts its foot down, the KrF leader replies as follows: – Høyre has come after us on proposals in the past. And now we see that the government has turned around and followed KrF’s proposal in terms of smaller screens and more textbooks. So I have faith! Published 18.11.2024, at 06.02
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More play, less school – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
