Norwegian children in kindergarten rate at top

kindergartenKindergarten.Photo. pixabay.com

Almost all Norwegian two year olds attend kindergarten. Norway uses a larger share of public cash at daycares than any other country in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, or OECD.

– We focus on quality in kindergartens because we know that early education is important, says Minister Torbjørn Røe Isaksen.

According to the report ‘Education at a Glance’, Norway spends 2 percent of its GDP on kindergarten. Sweden follows close behind, with 1.9 percent.

Not many OECD countries have such a large proportion of children in kindergarten as Norway, shows the report, which was presented on Thursday. We distinguish ourselves as especially remarkable in that almost all two year olds are in kindergartens, and only Denmark has a higher coverage for the youngsters.

Norway has high kindergarten participation at all ages. For one year olds only France, Israel and Spain higher participation.

– The high resource usage per child must be seen in connection with the high proportion of one and two year olds who attend kindergartens in the country, the report said.

Several employees per child

‘Education at a Glance’ is an annual report from the OECD, which makes it possible to compare education in the 35 member states.

Both resource usage, participation and results of education are measured.

Children who have undergone at least one year in kindergarten, do better in school than children who have not attended kindergarten, showed the results of the previous Programme for International Student Assesment survey.

– We must ensure that all children have equal opportunities to learn and develop, regardless of where they come from and how much education their parents have. We can help this process through good kindergartens, says Røe Isaksen.

 

Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today

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