It was 16 weeks – 112 days – from the time the first teachers were called out on strike, in Bergen on 8 June, until the government passed the compulsory pay committee yesterday, 27 September. Three questions are central when the pupils are now allowed to return to school: Will the pupils be compensated for all or some of the lost learning? What will happen with the exam, where the striking students will be at a disadvantage? And what happens to the money the municipalities and county councils have saved on teacher salaries during the strike? – When the pupils get back to the school day, they must receive teaching adapted to the level they are at. This is promised by area manager Odd Bjarne Berdal in Vestland county municipality. – Will it be possible to make up for what was lost? – There is great variation. Some pupils have lost 15 per cent of the school year. Many others are much less rammed. – We are forced to introduce measures that will cost money to be able to provide satisfactory compensation for what is gone, says Berdal. Teachers at Gimle nursery school in Bergen already went on strike on 20 June. Photo: Simon Skjelvik Brandseth / news Have unused wages An important feature of the teachers’ strike has been that the employers have not lost financially as a result of the teachers’ strike. On the contrary, the municipalities and county councils have saved salary expenses. Trøndelag County Council has saved over NOK 20 million, while Vestfold and Telemark County Council have saved up to NOK 7 million. Vestland county alone saved around NOK 43 million during the strike, the county tells news. – At the county council on Wednesday, Høgre will propose using the saved millions to make up for lost learning. That’s according to group leader Silja Ekeland Bjørkly (H). – We hope that the salary can be used for training measures for the rest of the school year, Berdal also says. Silja Ekeland Bjørkly (H) believes the county council must let the wages they saved during the strike now benefit the pupils. Photo: Sølve Rydland / news “To start on page 1” He says that each individual school must assess what is needed, based on how the pupils are framed and what subjects the pupils lack the most teaching in. – The aim is to get the best possible offer for the pupils, and that they should be well equipped in terms of curriculum goals and exams. – Are students in, for example, Bergen as well equipped as, for example, students in Oslo, where there have been no strikes? – In any case, we must do everything in our power to provide students with the best possible preparation. But the strike has lasted so long that it could affect the total education this school year. – How do they meet the pupils after the strike? Do the lessons now start “in chapter 1”? – We have to start from the level the student is at. For those who have the most catching up to do, I may have to think a little differently. It will be difficult to just start on page 1 if you want to get the best possible end result. Academic measures He enumerates various measures that can be assessed at each individual school. More teachers or assistants in the classroom To increase the teaching intensively in periods that are otherwise quiet Or to increase it slightly over longer periods within the regular timetable To have project weeks for practical subjects where the pupils have missed a lot of workshop teaching To use student teachers who can participate and strengthen the teaching To see if part-time teachers can fill the position To free up time for extra training by adjusting allocated exam periods. – But one prerequisite is that the politicians get the funding in place, says Berdal. If necessary, the timetable must be filled up with extra teaching to make up for lost learning, according to Vestland County Council. Photo: Synne Lykkebø Hafsaas / news Psychosocial measures In addition to academics, he says it will be important to take measures for the psychosocial environment for the pupils. – There are, for example, pupils in 1st grade who have hardly met their class. We want to draw on experiences from the corona period, and pass on measures that we saw had an effect during the pandemic. For example, to strengthen the offer of homework help in the afternoon or during free time, and to organize social events during the school holidays. – No strike breaking When the government decided to call off the strike yesterday, the teachers’ organizations expressed that the teachers are now angry and demotivated. But municipalities and county councils invest in getting the teachers involved in strengthening the training for the rest of the school year. – We assume that we want to have a good collaboration with the teachers now in order to provide the best and most wholesome offer for our pupils in the time that is left of the school year. I think we can do it, says Berdal. – Is it “strike wrestling” to make up for lost learning? – In any case, we do not see it as strike-breaking to start from the level the student is at. That is the assumption I am forced to take. KS: – Pupils are not entitled to extra hours KS wrote during the strike that the municipalities have no obligation to make up lost teaching time after a strike (see fact box). news clarifies: In an earlier version of the case, it was stated that Vestland county saved NOK 43 million a month on teacher salaries. The correct thing is that the county saved a total of NOK 43 million in total. KS on children’s rights after a strike KS believes: “In our opinion, the school owner does not have a legal obligation to offer extra hours in order to achieve the total teaching time as stipulated in law and regulations. (..) the consequence of a strike is that it can, and often will, affect third parties, which here are students. (..) In our opinion, a strike must be considered a force majeure-like event, which does not give the student the right to demand extra hours for the hours lost as a result of the strike.” Nevertheless, they point out that the Education Act gives a general duty to offer adapted education to each individual student. KS therefore believes that the municipalities have a “duty to arrange the conditions as best as possible so that pupils can make up for lost learning as a result of the strike within ordinary education.” When the strike is concluded, the KS strike framework advises municipalities and county councils “to assess which measures can be implemented to partially compensate for both the loss of learning and the psychosocial consequences the strike has had.”
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This is what will be offered to the pupils after the teachers’ strike – news Vestland
