In the summer, everyone who has completed 13 years of schooling will receive their diploma. From secondary school, some can be left with as many as six grades in Norwegian: Standpoint grade: Norwegian oral, written side goal and main goal. Exam grades: Norwegian oral, in addition to written main and secondary objectives. Norwegian is therefore a subject that weighs heavily in the leaving certificate. But if it had been up to Unge Venstre, the students would have stopped getting more than one Norwegian grade on their diploma. They envisage that the pupils can pass the exam, but that the grades from the exam and standing will be combined into one common grade. Student Mathias Tjernæs (17) starts his final year at the Academy of Advanced Studies in Oslo after the summer holidays, and thinks it is wise to remove the grade in secondary objectives in favor of one overall grade. – In any case, I think it seems very positive, considering that I myself am not very good at Nynorsk and I don’t think that many others are that much of a fan of it either, he says to news. – Unfair Leader of the youth party Ane Breivik (25) is herself in the program committee of the Liberal Party. There, it will be decided what policy the party will vote on at the general election in 2025. She will bring the party along to scrap the character in side goals. – We are concerned that the current system rewards a specific type of student, and it is especially those who are proficient in languages, says Breivik. LANGUAGE CONTROVERSY: Unge Venstre leader Ane Breivik does not agree with program committee leader Sveinung Rotevatn (V) when it comes to Nynorsk. Photo: Saeed Zubair Mob:+4798066666 In addition, she believes that the current grading system does not reflect the hours the students actually spend on the Norwegian subject. But Breivik rejects that this could lead to students deprioritizing side goals. – We must have confidence that the curriculum goals are followed in the Norwegian school. I don’t think that having a lot of language grades is a good way to show that confidence, she says. The Directorate of Education (Udir) has previously investigated whether there is an advantage to fewer grades in the Norwegian subject. This led to the Høgre government in 2019 removing grades in secondary objectives for pupils in first and second year. For the third-graders, on the other hand, the side goal grade remained standing. Most of the students in secondary school have Bokmål as their main subject. Last year, there were 45,300 pupils who were registered for the written exam in Norwegian. 42,700 chose Bokmål as their main language, while 2,600 had Nynorsk as their main language, according to the Directorate of Education. The parent party: – Ueinig Venstre have traditionally been strong advocates for equating the written language in school. This also applies to Storting representative Sveinung Rotevatn, whose main language is Nynorsk. He now rents the work to the program committee, and does not support the youth party’s proposal. – It is important that Norwegian pupils learn both the main target and the secondary target well, because both Bokmål and Nynorsk are official languages in use in Norway, and are important in many jobs, he says to news. DISAGREEMENT: Venstre’s Sveinung Rotevatn is himself a Nynorsk user. He believes that grades in Nynorsk are important for the pupils. Photo: William Jobling / news Rotevatn is worried that the teaching of secondary subjects will be worse if the pupils do not have their own grade in the subject. – You don’t think there are any young voters to pick up here then? – I am primarily concerned with Norwegian pupils learning the various subjects they are good at. I think it’s important to test students, I think exams are important, I think grades are important, and I actually think many students agree on that, says Rotevatn. – Civic support On the civic side, Ane Breivik seems to have greater influence outside her own party. Høgre’s education policy spokesperson Kari-Anne Jønnes hopes the Liberal Party listens to the youth party. – Unge Venstre has a very good proposal, she says and elaborates: – We in Høgre have stated in our program that we want to have one Norwegian grade in oral and one in writing, both at secondary school and junior high school, says Jønnes. SUPPORT: Høgre’s education policy spokesperson Kari-Anne Jønnes hopes that Unge Venstre will be able to convince her parent party. Photo: Høyre – So it would be easy to get them involved in this in any government negotiations after the election in 2025? – Yes, on the assumption that Høgre’s national assembly will continue to simplify the system and reduce it to one grade, then the answer to that is yes. Frp: – The students should be allowed to be the boss, the Progress Party itself will go even further. Storting representative Himanshu Gulati (Frp) explains it like this: – We want to make side goals optional, not to add to a major Norwegian subject. The students should be allowed to be their own boss and decide whether it is a side goal or another subject that they benefit most from. GOING FURTHER: Storting representative Himanshu Gulati (Frp) wants to make Norwegian Nynorsk an elective subject at secondary school. Photo: Torstein Bøe / NTB The program proposal for the Liberal Party will receive input from the rest of the party. After input from the party, the committee will come up with a proposal that could become the party’s policy after the national meeting next spring. Published 25.06.2024, at 06.49
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