The School System of Norway

by David Allen Anderson

Being situated so far to the north the days of summer are very long while those of winter are extremely short. This is noticeable even in the southern part of the country, and as one goes farther north it is more and more striking until upon reaching the arctic circle the summer traveler has the unique experience of seeing the sun at midnight. It is visible for weeks or months at a time, according to whether one is near the circle or farther toward the pole. For corresponding periods during the winter seasons the sun does not appear at all. It should not be inferred that these sunless days are intensely dark and gloomy. On the contrary, they, as well as the midnight sun, have fascinations peculiar to themselves and are of deep interest, especially to the novice in that latitude. The glitter of the stars, the glow of the moon, and the palpitating brilliance of the northern lights, combine with the light reflected from the vast snow fields and compensate in part for the absence of the direct rays from the sun.

The industries and occupations of the Norwegians are dependent in large measure upon environing conditions. Nearly one-fourth of the country is covered with a heavy growth of timber; hence, lumbering affords a large part of the most profitable employment. Much of the mountainous land can be used only for pasturage and, as a result, dairying claims considerable attention. Only a very small portion of the area (about four per cent) is suitable for agriculture and owing to this limitation of opportunity, comparatively few of the people are farmers. Their numerous fisheries supply cargoes, and train loads of fresh and cured fish to the markets of the world. Fishing is, in fact, one of the most important industries, and a large percentage of the wage earners of the country engage in it. Since the bulk of their travel and transportation is by water, a great many become sailors. A certain amount of manufacturing also is done, and this provides another means of earning a livelihood. The fact that nearly all of the people are gathered into cities, towns, and settlements along the coast, is explained by a consideration of the activities and conditions herein set forth.

The people of Norway are large of stature, vigorous, and alert in mind and body. They have ever been undaunted in their efforts to overcome the great, natural barriers to progress and to secure what they believed would be for their well-being. Toiling patiently and persistently, suffering hardships on land and perils at sea, they have developed the well-known characteristics of their sturdy race. The long, rigorous winters taught the people to provide amply for the needs of the future, and they learned also the economy of making every endeavor count for permanency. It has been and is still their aim and intent to so direct their efforts that their citizens may experience and enjoy not only in the present the best conditions made possible by the world's highest attainments, but that later generations also may reap valuable benefits therefrom. They realize that it is easily possible for today's provisions to supply the best for the present, and at the same time to bless tomorrow and the next day and all the coming years.

The Norwegians are as democratic in mind and disposition as any people of the earth. They demand that the masses shall receive whatever benefit may come from prosperity at home, from their relations with other nations, or from legislation. They advocate further that right now is the time to increase opportunities, to multiply privileges, to raise standards of living, and to insure through conservative action a substantial basis on which the coming generations may safely build. In accord with their aims and ideals they study the questions of education, labor and capital, and many others of vital interest to the people. They seek out sources, eliminating the undesirable and cultivating those of favorable growth and fruitage. Recognizing their own resourcefulness and ability, the Norsemen strive to gain for themselves and for their descendants material prosperity and true culture. To these ends they foster educational advantages for all, the development of the arts and sciences, and the elevation of labor.

Educationally, they have ever been desirous of providing the best possible advantages. During the latter part of the nineteenth century and the few years of the present one, they have been in a position to put into execution a number of advance ideas which they have done without hesitation. Being observant of what other nations provide they have been ready to select from various sources whatever good they found, to eliminate any undesirable features which revealed themselves, and to strengthen the weaker points. Though they have been forced by conditions to assume and maintain a conservative attitude toward every new project or attempt at reform, they have been also too democratic to permit tradition or precedent to bind them down or to hinder them in making changes in their school system, which they were convinced by experience or study would be for their good. In harmony with this they have been eager to make revisions where necessary; to introduce new features, which had been tested at home or abroad and found successful; and to cast aside relics of the past, unnecessary phases of work, and those things which might be supplanted by materials of superior advantage or value to the people served. They have become habituated to examining the new from every conceivable viewpoint, to finding its foundations, to testing its values, and to weighing its effects. When a thing has been thoroughly studied it is accepted or rejected according to whether it is adjudged desirable or undesirable for their use under existing conditions. In their effort to answer the demands of the people and to supply their needs, schools have been established according to local requirements. That is to say, every community enjoys school advantages, and every child in the entire state is privileged to receive instruction for a certain number of weeks each year at the expense of the state. All children are required to attend the schools of the state at least twelve weeks each year for seven years, or to receive instruction elsewhere which is equivalent to the amount required. In the more populous places higher schools also are provided for those who desire to take advantage of the opportunities afforded in them.

II. DIFFERENTIATION OF SCHOOLS.

It was early recognized by the Norwegians that through the means of education, better than any other way, they could develop a people qualified to pursue the arts, to cultivate the sciences, to appreciate and enjoy the highest culture, and to maintain and develop their noblest ideals of citizenship and richest conceptions of statehood. Having these objects in mind they endeavored to establish schools of instruction and training along every legitimate line. Beginning with the most essential they worked unceasingly, providing additional worthy kinds of instruction as rapidly as possible, until their efforts resulted in their present school system.

Perhaps the most important feature of their work was the establishment of primary schools, which furnish general education. These schools provide seven years of elementary instruction for children between the ages of seven and fourteen years, and are literally the people's schools (Folkeskoler). The law requires that pupils must be regular in attendance, and that parents, who fail to have their children in school in harmony with the provisions of the law, be fined according to the seriousness and extent of the offense. It is further provided that these schools shall be in operation for at least twelve weeks in the year, and that this time may be extended according to local demands or needs. As a matter of fact, nearly all of them in the cities and many of them in the country operate forty weeks per year. As a consequence of liberal provisions and enforced regulations, Norway has achieved an eminent place educationally among the nations of the world.

In the rural sections primary schools are held in comfortable, well equipped, and conveniently located schoolhouses and are taught by competent teachers who live near by in homes provided for them. In a few remote, rugged sections of the country, where children are few and scattering or where locations accessible to all cannot be found, they have no fixed schools, but instead what are termed ambulatory schools (Omgangskoler). There are no schoolhouses in these districts but the officials designate certain houses[3] as the places where children go at stated times to receive instruction. The teacher meets the children of the neighborhood in a given home and teaches them for a specified time, passes to the next designated place, and continues until his rounds are completed. Formerly, a very large number of these schools existed, but as roadways were extended or improved and the people became able to erect and maintain schoolhouses, the demand for ambulatory schools decreased until now nearly all of them are supplanted by fixed schools. In 1837, ninety-two per cent of the children attending school in the country were taught in ambulatory schools, while in 1907 this was the case with less than one per cent of them.