– I get frustrated, and then I get sad on behalf of the children. The fact that 6-year-olds should be pressured to sit for many hours at school is disturbing, says Guro Nordgaard Siri. She and her husband moved to Kautokeino in 2018 with their three children. For Siri, it was important that the children grew up in a Sami-speaking society. Guro Nordgaard Siri hopes the municipality will introduce an extra school day for the pupils. Photo: Privat There was still something about the school in the village that was going to present challenges. In Kautokeino there are four-day school weeks, where the pupils have longer school days when they are first at school. – The youngest children are unable to stay focused when the school days last from half past nine to half past three in the afternoon. They are tired and fatigued, and have neither spare time for homework nor leisure activities when they get home from school, says Siri. Four-day school week in Kautokeino In 2013, the municipality of Kautokeino introduced a four-day week for the youngest pupils in primary school, when the municipal council decided to cut school transport in the middle of the day. 1.-4. class has had school days from 8.30-14.00, and a day off once a week. More than one in four Norwegian municipalities currently have a four-day school week. There have long been disagreements over whether the municipality should continue or discontinue the scheme. The last time Kautokeino municipality evaluated the matter was in 2016. Then a financial evaluation of the scheme was carried out, where the municipality chose to continue with the four-day school week. If the five-day school week is to be introduced, the municipality will have to pay more in bus costs for the pupils. What this will cost the municipality is uncertain, according to the municipality, but in 2016 it emerged that the total sum for bus and after-school expenses would be just under NOK 2.5 million. FAU in Kautokeino sent out a survey to parents in June about whether they prefer a four- or five-day school week. Over 80 percent of parents want a five-day school week. The municipality tells news that they will carry out a separate survey among parents and teachers in the autumn around the four-day school week. According to the municipal manager, Bodil Utsi Vars, the report should be ready in December. Four out of five against FAU in Kautokeino have long wanted the municipality to carry out an evaluation of the scheme. FAU deputy chairman Tim Valio decided with the rest of the board to take matters into his own hands. FAU deputy head in Kautokeino, Tim Valio, sent out a survey about the four-day school week scheme to parents at primary and secondary schools in the municipality. Photo: PRIVATE They sent out a survey to parents about whether the parents wanted their children to be at school four or five days a week. The result was clear. 83.3 per cent of parents between the first and tenth grades want the scheme to be reversed. – We hope the politicians and the municipality will now tackle what the survey clearly reveals, says Valio. Over 80 per cent of primary and secondary school parents want the municipality to adopt a five-day school week. Facsimile: Screen dump / Private To be investigated Municipal manager of the culture and upbringing unit in Kautokeino, Bodil Utsi Vars, says that the municipality will soon evaluate the four-day school week. – After the summer holidays, we will evaluate the scheme, including consulting with both teachers and parents, and then the politicians will have to assess the matter. It is expected that the report will be completed in December this year. The last time the municipality assessed the financial costs of introducing a five-day school week was in 2016. The case documents state that the total costs for extra bus transport and after-school care would cost the municipality just under 2.5 million. Vars, on the other hand, believes that the price tag is around 4 million. Bodil Utsi Vars, municipal manager in Kautokeino municipality. Photo: Ida Emilie Marakatt Lindseth / news Vars cannot answer concretely how much an extra school day a week will cost the municipality today, but believes one thing is certain: – If the children are to be sent to school five days a week, we must introduce school shuttle in the middle of the day, which will be an additional cost to the municipality. – If the subject and timetable is to go round, all the children cannot start school at the same time, and then the bus has to run twice, adds Vars. – Women had to stay home from work In Norway, there are currently 66 municipalities that still practice a four-day school week. Senior researcher at NORCE Øyvind Halleng has investigated the consequences of the four-day school week in Agder, and points out that there are very strong opinions about the scheme. What do you think about the four-day school week? I think it works well I prefer a five-day school week I have no idea about this Show result Among the many findings in Halleng’s report, he points to one particular challenge that several families in Agder experienced. – On the day the child is not at school, the parents must find someone to look after the children. Some had grandparents, but the biggest finding was that many women had to stay home from work and look after the children, says the researcher. Siri recognizes herself, but says that she is one of the lucky ones. Her children have grandparents who can look after them while she and her husband are at work. – I know of parents who have to stay at home with their children, or who simply have to take them to work, says the mother of three. Siri believes that the municipal finances are prioritized over the pupils’ learning, and fears that this will have consequences when the children get older. – If we look up and look ahead, these children are the future of Kautokeino, she concludes. Published 10.07.2024, at 09.12
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Parents in Kautokeino despair over the four-day school week while the municipality saves money on the scheme – news Sápmi
