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Education Director Marte Gerhardsen gave incorrect information at a meeting with the city council’s education and culture committee.
Marte Gerhardsen, director of the Education Agency. Photo: Håkon Mosvold Larsen / NTB
At the previous meeting of the City Council’s Culture and Education Committee, the Director of Education, Marte Gerhardsen, participated to answer questions about the unrest at the Education Agency.
The background is that all permanent employees of the core learning environment team have chosen to leave. The team is recognized for its high competence in the learning environment. Schools use them to create a good environment for students in Oslo.
A letter in which employees explain why they have chosen to resign states that the section previously consisted of eight supervisory positions. The reorganization that Gerhardsen initiated after she was appointed director of the agency was also criticized. The team criticized the fact that more positions should now be reserved for more administrative tasks.
– So sorry
At the committee meeting in the city council’s culture and education committee, Gerhardsen said that the learning environment team consists of four supervisory positions, but will now be strengthened with two more positions.
With four positions as a starting point, the two additional positions indicate an increase, he said.
Representative Sillje Lutro (H) then wanted to know if it was wrong that the team originally consisted of eight positions, or if it was the case that the six positions that were now highlighted actually meant a reduction from the way it had been.
– There weren’t eight supervisors there now, since I’ve been at the Education Agency. There have been four, Gerhardsen replied.
Aftenposten has requested the background information on the director’s statement that while she is at the agency, there have been four people.
– I have informed the city council department that I gave incorrect information at the meeting with the city council culture and education committee on October 7th. I deeply regret that I provided incorrect information, Gerhardsen writes in an email.
She emphasizes that it is her responsibility to have an overview and provide correct information, but it turned out that she did not have it.
The agency has now revised the figures based on May and September 2020 (see the full report at the end of the case).
There are no “concrete plans” for further cooperation
Gerhardsen has previously been to Dagbladet. There he said that he understands that someone may have had the wrong impression. This is due to cases in the media that there were fewer directors at the agency since this spring. Later, VG wrote that 22 directors of the agency would become six. According to Dagbladet, the Education Agency actually had 26 directors with a salary of one million in mid-September.
At the October 7 committee meeting, Gerhardsen also stated that the agency had plans to cooperate with the outgoing section chief of the Learning Environment Team, Inger Bergkastet. Bergkastet will start a new job as a project manager at Høgskolen i Innlandet.
Aftenposten has contacted Bergkastet herself and her new employer, who say there are no plans for this. When asked about the background of the accusation, the director of education responds that she expects a good collaboration with Bergkastet when he begins in a new position, but that there are currently no “concrete plans” for it.
This is Gerhardsen’s response on the number of supervisory positions on the Learning Environment Team:
“When we have reviewed the figures now, we have taken our starting point in May and September 2020. In May 2020, the section for the learning environment consisted of 7.6 man-years. Based on the information we have, We estimated that 5.6 man-years were used as a guide. In May, there were six employees and a section leader who had supervisory duties in schools. In September 2020, there were four employees and one manager who had supervisory duties in schools. schools, after several people had left the section.
After the reorganization, the section was to be eight man-years in operation. We recently decided to expand to ten permanent man-years. We originally estimated that four of the man-years would go to supervision, now this has been extended to six man-years. Positions are advertised. It is not clear how the man-years will be distributed among the people. “
