More than 3,000 teachers are now on strike. The strike particularly affects students in secondary schools and upper secondary schools. Several have expressed concern about how a prolonged strike can affect young people’s mental health. For many, the school day has already been ruined during two pandemic years. But mental health is not up for consideration during the strike. Not looking at the teachers’ strike Legal strikes in Norway can be ended if they threaten life and health or have other serious consequences for society. It is the government that can intervene. But the life and health assessment is primarily done by the Norwegian Health Authority. A recent example is when the flight engineer strike was ended at the end of June. It was the Norwegian Health Authority that notified the government that the strike posed a danger to life and health because the ambulance plane would be seen on the ground. But the teachers’ strike has not been looked at by the inspectorate at all. The inspection focuses exclusively on the effects of strikes on the health services themselves. Nina Vedholm, head of communications at the Norwegian Health Authority, writes the following to news: – We are checking whether legal conflicts lead to the health service not being able to take care of the population’s need for health and care services. The teachers’ strike does not affect this, and therefore we are not joining the teachers’ strike. – Can destroy lives Child psychologist and professor emeritus at the University of Tromsø, Willy-Tore Mørch, has joined the debate with a different perspective on the effect of the teachers’ strike. CRITICAL: But Professor Mørch emphasizes that he is not against teachers being able to strike. Photo: Eirik Hind Sveen / news – One thing is that the pupils will fall behind in the subject. But it can also affect their self-confidence and self-esteem, he said in Politisk kvarter on Monday. Mørch first spoke critically about the teachers’ strike in the North Norwegian debate last week. He warns that the strike could have a snowball effect. Therefore, he believes that mental health should be a topic that was brought up for assessment. – I also think that mental health should perhaps be included in the term “danger to life and health” which we use when there is a strike and the state can intervene with a forced wage review. But that assessment is therefore not made. – We are sticking to the assignment we have been given and do not have a mandate to go into other strikes that do not affect the health services’ ability to deliver their services, writes Vedholm in the Norwegian Health Authority. Experiences and surveys from the pandemic show a mixed picture. Some young people managed well, but many of the older young people struggled. The government’s restraint The government does not only need to look at life and health. It can also choose to intervene in a labor dispute if it is judged to have major social consequences. CONSEQUENCES: But Labor Minister Marte Mjøs Persen did not intervene. Photo: Annika Byrde / NTB news has asked Labor Minister Marte Mjøs Persen (Ap) whether a teacher’s strike could have such major consequences that a forced pay committee is relevant – even if there is no danger to life and health. – There is no doubt that the strike can have major consequences for society, Persen points out. But she does not want to speculate on what it will take for these to become so large that the government intervenes and stops the strike. – It will be a concrete assessment of the individual situation and not correct to answer in general, writes Persen to news. When Education Minister Tonje Brenna (Ap) met with news yesterday, she was preoccupied with not interfering in the conflict between KS and the teachers’ organisations. – A strike is a legal remedy. Beyond that, I think that it is of no use to anyone that I go into it more.
ttn-69
Pupils’ mental health not to be considered in the teachers’ strike – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
