Research and Higher Education Minister Iselin Nybø (V) says that few travel abroad for education, and believes that it must be better opportunities for the students.
Last year, 7,283 Norwegian students went abroad for the education exchange program, 446 more than the year before. However, there are large differences in how many students are sent out from the various universities and colleges around the country.
“The figures show that many universities and colleges must make better arrangements for students to travel. It should be a cultural change and the employees and management should talk about the opportunities for educational travel,” says Nybø.
The proportion of students who take advantage of the exchange program is greatest from the Norwegian Business School in Bergen (NHH). Last year, almost 60 percent of its students had taken part of their education abroad. At the other end of the list is Nord University, where only 5 percent of the students went on exchange.
On average, over 16 percent of Norwegian students take advantage of the exchange program as part of their studies.
“In the long term, the goal is that we get a cultural experience so that half of those who take a degree in higher education have had a stay abroad as a natural part of the program. The quality of the stay is as important as the number of students traveling, but we also need the numbers to rise,” Nybø says.
© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today
