The case in summary Bodø municipality has sent a letter to the schools in Bodø. There they ask the students to answer questions about how the municipality should solve the school policy with less money. The letter, which teachers and the education association believe is incomprehensible to children, asks the students for input on questions such as “How can we run schools with fewer students and less money?”. Teachers, parents and FAU representatives have reacted strongly to the letter, and believe that it places an unreasonable burden on the children and teachers. a meeting to discuss adjusting the questions. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAI. The content is quality assured by news’s journalists before publication. School policy in Bodø has been a hot potato for a long time. But now many believe it has gone too far. – I didn’t think you could be shocked anymore. But this was perhaps the biggest overstepping we have had so far, says FAU representative Tage Hovland. In March, the municipality decided that one of the neighboring schools Alstad or Hunstad barneskole should be closed. Without saying which one. The municipality’s decision was revoked in June by the State Administrator in Troms and Finnmark. The reason was that the investigation showed little evidence that the children had been heard, as required by the Constitution. This is stated in the Constitution on the best interests of children, Section 4 second paragraph of the Constitution: Children have a right to respect for their human dignity. They have the right to be heard in matters concerning themselves, and their opinion shall be given weight in accordance with their age and development. In the case of actions and decisions affecting children, the child’s best interests must be a fundamental consideration. Now the municipality will try again, and this time they want input from the children. Therefore, they sent out a document to the teachers at all Bodø schools on Monday – with a response deadline of Thursday. It was just a problem. The document was completely incomprehensible and totally unsuitable for school children, according to teachers and the education association. – I have received feedback that this is completely absurd, says Katrin Kummernes, chief shop steward in the Education Association in Bodø. One of the questions the children are expected to answer is, for example: “How can we run schools with fewer pupils and less money”? Understanding graphs can be difficult for many. Here, the first-graders must understand the student development that is calculated ten years into the future. This table, which shows the financial situation of schools in Bodø, is expected for students up to and including 1st grade to understand Capacity development is a difficult compound word. The students must not only understand the word, but also the graph that shows the municipality’s projection of development in terms of capacity. The students are asked questions about different ways of organizing schools, and what should be focused on in Bodø in the future. Keeping the children at home Kummernes says that feedback has poured in after Monday’s letter from the municipality. The teachers react to the content and information from the administration. The parent contacts also react. – It seems like a desperate action from the municipality. – It has been a difficult process to say the least. It was a difficult school year last year with a lot of negativity and uncertainty for the children, says FAU leader at Alstad primary school Tage Hovland. Photo: Privat That’s what FAU leader at Alstad primary school Tage Hovland says. He believes it is too much for students who have learned that their school will be closed to take responsibility for finding the solutions. Hovland believes the municipality is doing this to counter the state administrator’s decision that the best interests of the child were not taken into account when the school closure case was brought up in March. But the result, according to him, is an unreasonable burden on the children and the teachers. According to the teachers at Alstad school, local schools are also very important for the local environment. Even after school, many children and young people use the school yard and the surrounding area. Photo: Sondre Sjelvik / news – The children’s contribution in this context is nothing more than finding solutions to the financial savings that must be made, he says. – We strongly advise against students at Alstad participating in this process. The FAU leader says that more parents want to keep their children home from school if the investigation goes through. Among other things, they are asked: Excerpt from the document Guidance to the school Children’s opinion about the basis for the new nursery and school needs plan Follow these points The points are the same regardless of age group, and must be adapted to the age group. For some, it may for example be natural for the student council representative to lead the process. 1. Communicate a summary of the basis for the case and inform that students can access the original document if they wish Bodø municipality has 1,200 available student places per day distributed across all schools. In addition, there will be approx. 700 fewer pupils in the Bodø school over the next ten years, which is equivalent to two medium-sized schools. Available student places are calculated based on how many square meters each student must have, based on current rules. One of the consequences of this is that there will be a lot of vacant land to be heated, at the same time that Bodø municipality will use 25% less energy on its buildings over the next six years. Many of the schools in Bodø are also in great need of refurbishment, which requires a lot of energy, but still much less than building new schools. In small schools and in schools with small secondary levels, it is difficult to hire enough teachers with competence to teach all subjects. There are many different opinions on whether it is good to have small or large schools, stages and classes. Bodø municipality does not have the money to run all the kindergartens and schools as we do today. The politicians who will decide how we will save the money are therefore asking for your advice and input. Were you able to answer the questions 1. the classes in Bodø are asked about? Yes, there would have been no problem! Now maybe, but then I’m not 6 anymore either. No, this was difficult, even now that I’m an adult. Show result Too little time Teacher Grete Tandberg at Alstad School reacts most to how little time the municipality has given them to collect responses from the students to the survey. – If I’m going to do this so that all the students in the grade understand what they have to answer, I need some time. The students at Tandberg are taking national tests these days. Therefore, she believes it will be difficult to find time to carry out the survey. – That children as young as six should tell politicians how to get them to do their job is not a good way to do it, says Grete Tandberg, teacher at 4th grade and shop steward at Alstad school. Photo: Sondre Skjelvik / news In addition, it will be demanding to do it in an educational way. According to her, the municipality has not done that. – There are pupils in the first stage who will not be six years old until December. They must decide on the notes that Bodø municipality has made for the adults. If the students were to be involved in this process, Tandberg believes they should have been invited long before. – This is not in the child’s best interests. How will they be able to say how the municipality will run the school without money? Thinks the municipality sets guidelines Main representative in the Education Association in Bodø Katrin Kummernes thinks it’s basically great that children should be allowed to participate and have their say in municipal issues. – At the same time, there must be a demarcation about what we can expect pupils to be able to say something about, says Kummernes and adds: – It is almost as if the pupils or children have to take responsibility for the poor economy in the municipality. – This could be achieved by teachers and the schools themselves with their pedagogical expertise, says chief union representative Katrin Kummernes. Photo: Matilde Mørk She reacts to the fact that premises are set for the discussion in the students’ questions. – They make a story about the municipality’s poor economy, and then the students have to help save it. In addition, she believes that some of the factual basis for the questions are incorrect. For example, that there are currently 1,200 student places available across all schools. According to Kummernes municipality, this has confirmed that they will recalculate. Turn around and give the pupils more time On Tuesday, the Kindergarten and school manager, together with the head of the Primary School Office, had a meeting with all the principals in the municipality. They discussed the criticism from teachers and parents. The municipality held its own first, and wanted to carry out the investigation as it stood. But the next day they turned around anyway. The teachers now have an extra ten days to make the questions from the municipality understandable. Teacher Grete Tandberg at Alstad School believes that schools are also important meeting points in the local area, also outside school hours. According to her, there is always activity in gymnasiums and play equipment. Photo: Sofie Retterstøl Olaisen The answers from the students will now be presented to the municipality by all the student councils at a student conference on Friday next week. – We see that it is probably too bureaucratic, says school principal Tore Tverbakk to news. He says the document was meant to help the school when they have to pass the information on, but that they are now looking at whether it is possible to simplify the language and the questions. Tore Tverbakk, head of kindergarten and school in Bodø municipality, says that their professionals with expertise in the child’s voice and the child’s best interests have helped them to prepare the procedure for getting answers from the pupils. Photo: Kåre Riibe Ramskjell / news But Tverbakk does not agree that guidelines have been laid in the questions they ask. He believes that students must be aware of the underlying figures. Nevertheless, he has invited FAU managers and shop stewards to a meeting where they will see if they should adjust some of the questions. – In the letter, one of the questions is whether the students have input on how to run a school with fewer students and less money. Why is it an important question to address? – We believe it is an important question to talk to the students about. Because we believe that the students may have some input for us adults that is relevant in that context. Alstad school was built in the 70s and has long been promised renovation, but since the municipality started talking about closing down one of the schools, nothing more has happened. Photo: Sondre Skjelvik / news – Why should it be up to the students to answer what the vacant area when a school is closed down should be used for? – We believe it is an important question to talk to the students about. Because we believe that the students may have some input for us adults that is relevant in that context. The school head says they are very interested in hearing their children’s voices. – It will be part of a knowledge base that will be used in the work going forward, says the school head and adds that the pupils do not have an obligation, but an opportunity to participate. Published 11.09.2024, at 21.14
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Want to hear what the children have to say about school closures with incomprehensible documents – news Nordland
