At the beginning of the new school year, there are still approximately 1,200 skilled workers to meet the new teacher’s requirement according to the Directorate of Education.
When pupils in elementary school these days begin a new year of learning,the new teacher’s normative requirement also comes into force. It says there should be no more than 16 students per teacher in the first to fourth grade and no more than 21 students per teacher in the next six grades.
But there is still a places left to fill until the target has been reached showed figures VG newspaper has received from the Directorate for Education. On a country-wide basis, there are approximately 1,200 teachers missing to meet the requirement.
The municipalities will receive NOK 700 million over the state budget this autumn to cover the learning gap. Until 2020, there are no consequences for schools that do not meet the requirement, as long as the posts are advertised each year and there are no eligible applicants.
In total, 130 of the country’s 426 municipalities must recruit more teachers. Bergen and Drammen are among the municipalities that have fulfilled the norm, according to the Education Association. But sampling from the summer showed that cities such as Tromsø, Trondheim, Stavanger, Ålesund, and Sarpsborg were “quite behind” on recruitment said press head, Nina Hulthin.
Next year the requirements will be tightened. Then15 students per teacher becomes the limit for the lowest grades, and 20 students per teacher from the fifth grade and through primary school.
© NTB scanpix / #Norway Today
