More than 30,000 students have been sent home. We asked some of them what they think.

Now high school students must home school too. Many say they understand that stricter measures are needed.

– I think secondary schools should have closed much earlier, says Arina Aamir.

The 15-year-old is in the tenth grade in upper secondary school, lives in Stovner and is vice president of Aker Unge Høyre and a board member of the Central Youth Council in Oslo.

He also believes that the city council should have implemented stricter differentiated measures in Stovner much earlier.

– Here at Stovner we have lived in a red light district for a long time. If a little stricter measures like this had been put in place earlier in the district, the infection could have stopped sooner. But it’s better late than never, says Aamir.

– When do you think the city council could introduce more differentiated measures in Stovner?

– We have had a very high infection here in Stovner for several weeks, says Aamir, noting that many live close, and often several generations together, in the district.

– Thus, one has been more exposed to infection. Everyone has been able to see it. Even before winter break, we had a sharp increase.

Homeschool for 32,000 students

More than 32,000 students in upper secondary schools and upper secondary schools in Oslo will now only have tuition at home.

– What does it mean to you students?

– Now it will be mainly the kl Teams meetings. 8 in the morning until kl. 15, says Aamir.

– Of course we learn less than we would otherwise. Homeschooling is highly dependent on the help you receive at home. Those who do not have the same prerequisites as me, and who have parents who can help, have it much more difficult.

– As a 10th grader, I really feel that learning is much worse than we have had it. Some upper secondary schools have done well, have had little infection, and students have been to school a lot. At my school we were in quarantine until yesterday. We’ve had it unstable for a long time and we jump between yellow, red, and off and back to yellow. But we have very different prerequisites when we now have to compete for the same places in high school.

– It goes beyond the middle notes. I got better grades myself when I was in school than now when we have classes at home. I think many of us feel that those of us who go to schools in the far east are losers in this competition.

– But would it have been better if the Stovner schools, for example, had been closed earlier?

– Then we would have had a little more stability and predictability, and we could plan daily school life. And I think the infection rates would have been lower.

– Maybe they can open again for the summer.

– It’s quite uncomfortable, but I think it’s good that they do it a bit strictly now for a while, so maybe they can open for the summer again. Rather than having to go all the time with moderately strict measures, because that’s no fun at all, says Hannah Anstensrud.

The 15-year-old is in the tenth grade at Marienlyst school. In his spare time he has gone out for walks with some friends, but says it is something completely different than being able to take them home and see a movie, or meet at school.

– I have a couple of things I can do that are a bit fun sometimes, but I’ve been out of things for a while. It becomes more boring and tedious to work at school when the fun is over.

Anstensrud says he prefers to be at school and loses some of his motivation when he just has to sit at home. At school, she has fellow students who take her with her and she receives a much closer follow-up from the teachers. At home it is easy to get distracted.

But she thinks it will get better this time.

– Now we have had homeschooling before, and then teachers know more what works and can be more prepared to make a good plan. It can work much better.

– I feel lucky enough to have enough space and my own room to work, but it’s not certain that everyone else has it.

– Good, but a little awkward.

Yostena Haile, Mina Hushagen Aldaser and Bidhya Chhetri go to Jordal school in Vålerenga in Old Oslo. They think it’s boring when school closes again and they think they learn less from homeschooling.

– It’s wrong, but if we go to school, it’s even more crown. Okay, but it’s a bit awkward what they do, says Aldaser.

Haile does not like homeschooling and thinks that the schedules have not been clear and are poorly organized in her class:

– Homeschooling doesn’t seem so serious. It is better to learn at school than online. Its very stressful.

When schools closed in March of last year, they think it was nice and a little fun to have homeschooling. But as the weeks went by, it became more and more stressful and they found they were learning less. They think that teachers explain things better when they are at school, even though they have been good at organizing lessons at homeschool.

– Everyone has gotten a bit worse in some subjects due to homeschooling. Last year I remember that I improved a lot in math than I do now. It has been much more difficult, says Aldaser.