Conservatives are holding back school reform – NRK Norway – Summary of news from different parts of the country

On Friday, the government presented the new upper secondary school completion reform.

It was stated that they want to cut the number of common subjects, so that students can obtain more hours for the subjects of the program within the line that they follow.

– Everyone should have math, Norwegian and English, but we want students to have fewer subjects, to allow for specialization, Education Minister Guri Melby (V) said in a press release on Friday.

The proposal has been controversial and many have opposed the proposal.

On Sunday, however, several conservative politicians argue that they do not want to reduce the number of common themes.

In a Facebook post, Storting representative Mathilde Tybring-Gjedde (H) states that the party does not support major cuts in common issues.

Turid Kristensen, a school policy spokesman for the Conservative Party, believes things have gone a bit fast since the reform was announced on Friday.

She believes the wording related to cuts in common themes has been unfortunate.

– I think this has gone a bit wrong, he just tells NRK.

I don’t want big cuts

In the new reform, the government has defined a core of Norwegian, mathematics and English that they believe should be included, while therefore wanting a subject based on the subjects of history and society.

They also propose a new subject on democracy, gender equality and scientific thinking that, among other things, can help prepare students for the study specialization in further studies.

Kristensen says conservatives agree that there should be room for more freedom of choice on the calendar, but stresses that they have not concluded what changes should be made.

– We are against too large cuts in common issues, as this has been presented in the media. Several of the common subjects have a long tradition as school subjects and are also part of the educational mission of the school, he says in a comment to NTB.

Melby apologizes

Conservatives are not the only ones to come out after criticism of the reform this weekend.

After referring to certain issues as “smaller”, the Minister of Education, Guri Melby (V), goes flat in a Facebook post.

– The debate over what subjects should students take in high school is very important, and the way I started it in VG before the weekend with the description of major subjects as “minor”, it went completely wrong, writes Melby, according to Utdanningsnytt.

The apology comes after she, in an interview with VG on Friday, when asked what would happen to topics like history, religion, social studies, science and geography, replied:

– These are examples of smaller topics that we individually find useful, but prefer to prioritize topics that are useful for everyone to take with them. In what we call an adapted and more future-oriented subject, we highlight the aspect of democracy which is a subject that everyone will benefit from taking with them. We should pay more attention to what the students themselves prioritize.