The School System of Norway

by David Allen Anderson

While the law requires that instruction shall be provided six days in the week for at least twelve weeks each year, it also grants to the communes the privilege of extending the time to fifteen weeks.[B] It further provides the right to maintain six weeks additional, voluntary instruction each year.[12] These privileges are generally taken advantage of by both communes and pupils. The communes desire the extension of time for school, and the pupils are very glad of the opportunity to attend the extra time, even though their presence is not compulsory. In fact the compulsory education law has been so rigidly enforced for so long a time that regular attendance has become habitual, and the exact provisions and requirements of the law are rarely thought of by the pupils. There is, in reality, no law requiring children to attend the schools provided by the state, but a certain amount of education is obligatory. It is mandatory that schools be maintained in all of the districts, but individual children may receive their instruction in private schools if they choose, so long as educational requirements are met from year to year. Pupils who belong to the schools are required to be in attendance regularly, and children who receive instruction elsewhere than in the state schools must meet the requirements calculated to bring them to a certain educational standard by the time they are fifteen years of age. Failure in this subjects parents, guardians, and those providing schools for children of laborers in their employ to fine or imprisonment.[13]

The work in the infant school includes or amounts to thirty lessons per week while in the higher one there are thirty-six lessons. Accordingly, the pupils in the lower grades receive a minimum of three hundred sixty lessons a year, and this number may be increased to four hundred fifty or six hundred thirty. In the higher grades they have at least four hundred thirty-two lessons a year, and if the time is extended they have five hundred forty or seven hundred fifty-six lessons a year.

Each rural commune has its own school board (Skolestyret) consisting of a priest; the chairman of the municipal council; one or two teachers[14] chosen by the body of teachers; as many other members (men or women) as the communal council deems it advisable to select; and the rectors of higher schools, if there be any, under the supervision and inspection of the school board.

In the towns and cities the school board consists of at least one priest[15]; a member of the city's executive council;[16] as many other members chosen for three years as the municipal council deems it advisable to select, at least half of whom must be chosen from among parents who at the time of election have children in the city primary schools; one or two teachers;[17] and, wherever the school board controls higher schools, the rectors of such schools.

The members of the school board select their own chairman and act together as a committee or board. Among its more important duties are appointment of teachers and special committees, provision of course of study with specific instructions regarding its presentation, and the estimation of sums of money necessary to meet demands in the maintenance of the schools for the year. This estimate of expenses is sent by the board each year to the communal council which has charge of the dispensing of finances for the commune.

The course of study, including the plan of instruction and directions regarding the supervision of the schools as given by the board, is minutely detailed and specifically stated. It includes a list of studies to be pursued, the manner and order of their presentation, and the number of hours per week to be devoted to each subject; an outline of arrangements for entrance, promotion, and leaving examinations, with provisions for exemption therefrom wherever such is deemed advisable; all necessary arrangements for vacations; and other matters considered essential in the maintenance and carrying on of a school.

For each primary school, or for the several schools, using the same building, the board appoints a committee of inspection (Tilsynsutvalg). This committee consists of a member of the school board (chosen by the board), who is chairman of the committee, and three other members. These latter members are chosen in the city by the parents of children attending the school, and in the rural districts by such parents and other taxpayers. A priest appointed by church authority is added to committees serving town or city schools.

This committee of inspection exercises constant oversight of the school, keeping the board informed with reference to all matters requiring attention by that body. By the consent of the communal council this committee may have an amount provided from the school funds for its use in carrying out its work. The inspection is with special reference to the physical and moral well-being of those connected with the institution. Among the special objects of its endeavors may be enumerated the solving of all hygienic questions, regular attendance, good discipline, and proper moral conduct. The committee must also see to it that children of school age, not in attendance at the state primary schools, receive instruction in such quantity and of such quality as to meet all state requirements. In general it is an outstretched arm of the school board, feeling after the betterment of the common schools in every possible direction.

Another committee (called the school committee—Skoleraad) is appointed by the school board for each of the primary schools in the city. The duties of the two committees are in a way complementary. While the committee of inspection is occupied in matters external in large measure, the school committee exercises functions more pedagogical in nature, though it also has general watch care over the affairs of the school. If there be a superintendent of schools (Skoleinspektor), he is a member ex officio of the school committee, and its chairman. Under other conditions the school board designates which of the appointed members of the committee shall be its chairman. In towns where the number of teachers exceeds sixty, the school board may direct that the school committee shall consist of the superintendent and the principals of the several schools as ex officio members and any determined number of other teachers selected by the body of teachers. The elected members are to be male and female in proportion to their respective numbers on the teaching staff, exclusive of those who are ex officio members of the committee. The sexes separate into special meetings for the purpose of election, each choosing its allotted number of representatives. Election is for two years, one-half retiring each year, the first time according to lot. Members whose terms expire are required to serve longer in case of re-election. This school committee holds regular meetings, according to its own appointment, at which the members are required to be present. Furthermore, the chairman may call additional meetings in cases of necessity, and he is required to call special meetings when requested by the school board to do so. A majority vote of the members is sufficient for the passage of any proposition. While the duties of this committee are not specifically outlined, it is intended that its work shall concern chiefly the internal workings of the schools. Its functions are mainly pedagogical in character as already stated and as evidenced in the following provisions in the law. "The school board shall permit the school committee to voice its opinions in every affair which concerns: (1) the general supervision of primary schools, (2) general provisions concerning regulations and discipline, and (3) text books and outlines of instruction." In addition the committee is required to express itself regarding any matter relating to the good of the school when asked by the board for advice.

The school board may also order that there be a teachers' commission (Laererraad) for each school or for the several schools using the same buildings, consisting of the teachers in the school. The chairman of this committee is the superintendent of schools, a school principal, or other member, according to the determination of the board. The duties devolving upon this commission are in each case outlined by the board.