Every year, approximately 200 registered places are empty in Norwegian classrooms. Some children are sent from the country, and subjected to neglect, according to the Red Cross.
‘The issues we deal with are very serious because there are children who have been sent out of the country, and experience social control, psychological pressure and physical violence,’ said Anne Marte Stifjeld,Head of the Red Cross section for forced marriages and genital mutilation to NRK news.
In recent years, they have seen 60 cases where children and young people are left abroad, they informed the state TV channel. The question concerns children born and raised in Norway, who have attended Norwegian school.
Oslo is the municipality in Norway with the most cases where students leave, according to the Directorate of Education. So far this year, 58 students have disappeared, and after investigations, the municipality has found 44 students abroad, wrote NRK. 22 of the cases have been reported to the child welfare office.
Some children never see the municipality again, others appear again after months or years. While some have attended good schools, others with major knowledge gaps have been found.
It will be problematic when the children don’t get training. If you are robbed of it in childhood can have a decisive impact, you get a poorer starting point for a good life,’said Margaret Westgaard, Director General of Oslo’s Education Board.
© NTB Scanpix / Norway Today
