There are fewer and fewer schools in Norway

There are now 240 fewer schools in Norway than ten years ago, and schools with fewer than 100 students, in particular, are being closed down. At the same time, the number of primary school students has increased by 20,000.

Last school year, 37 schools in Norway were closed. That is less than the average for the last ten years, Utdanningsnytt writes.

There are 2,761 primary schools in Norway this year, which is 240 fewer than ten years ago, according to figures from the Norwegian Directorate of Education. The trend of fewer schools has led to larger schools on average. In 2021–22, a primary school had an average of 230 pupils, which is 25 more pupils than ten years ago.

School closures

The number of school closures reached a peak in 2013–14, with 80 schools closed. Oslo is the county with the lowest proportion of school closures.

Twenty-two schools were also established last year. Nine of these are private, and of the nine, three schools are international. More than half of all new primary schools in the last ten years are private.

The Directorate states that low student numbers and financial considerations in municipalities are likely reasons for school closures.

In general, on a national level, there are more closed schools than newly established schools – with the exception of Oslo and Rogaland, where there are more schools today than ten years ago.

Source: © NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today / #NorwayTodayEducation

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