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– I am very sorry for the negative attention around the Oslo school now, education director Marte Gerhardsen tells Dagbladet.
In the past two weeks, several revelations at Dagbladet have drawn strong criticism of Gerhardsen and his political leader, school councilor Inga Marte Thorkildsen.
For the first time since the cases reached the public, Marte Gerhardsen now speaks.
– Do you take self-criticism on something?
– We take criticism seriously and see that we must learn from it.
– What do you have to learn?
– We will take some steps when it comes to the use of consultants, which we have worked to reduce over time. Now we want to create our own guidelines, to make it even clearer when we don’t use consultants, says Gerhardsen.
Check the directors salary party
The pay party
Dagbladet has reported, among other things, that the Education Agency has used expensive consultants to conduct reading tests in elementary school, and that the agency has spent millions on American talent hunters and leadership training.
Added to this is the revelation of significant pay jumps for several of Gerhardsen’s principals and managers, while teachers are encouraged to show restraint in crisis year 2020.
– Have you been kind enough to follow the political signals you have received from Inga Marte Thorkildsen?
– Yes, I experience it, replies Gerhardsen.
Millions of scouts: – Idiot
Eliminate American coaching
Among the things that surprised many is the use of US-inspired coaching at Gerhardsen’s agency. 2.5 million have accepted this since the summer of 2019. Gerhardsen describes the model used by several of the world’s largest companies as “a sober tool for gaining trust-based management in schools.”
– But our plan is to develop leadership with our own resources in the future, he says.
The Education Agency’s framework agreement with Leadership Pipeline Institute Norway will not be renewed, Gerhardsen can now tell Dagbladet.
– We have received good help from the Norwegian consultant who also assists several Norwegian public institutions. It has been a useful lesson and we need good leaders in the Oslo school. But we are on our way to developing our own agency leadership development competence.
Gerhardsen says that the termination of the agreements with an external consultant on leadership development is not related to the Dagbladet cases, but that it was a process that she had already started.
Add after salary rage
– Have confidence
In an important interview with Dagbladet yesterday, Gerhardsen lost weight in public for the first time by school councilor Inga Marte Thorkildsen. Among other things, it was clear to the SV leadership that Gerhardsen should not have started the salaried party that Dagbladet revealed.
Gerhardsen has had the opportunity to comment on Thorkildsen’s statements, but does not wish to do so. Thorkildsen was not aware of the pay increases until Dagbladet wrote about it.
Gerhardsen tells Dagbladet that he still feels like he has Thorkildsen’s full confidence.
– Yes absolutely. We have regular contact with the City Council.
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Time not money
At the same time, Gerhardsen takes self-criticism for granted time gave raises to some of his managers. She is responsible for the actual pay increase.
– The timing was completely wrong, says Gerhardsen, referring to the fact that school employees have now been in extraordinary ways in relation to the pandemic.
All the directors of the Oslo school have a salary of one million, and in August some went up to 140,000 crowns in annual salary. School teachers have been offered a 1.7 percent pay increase for 2020, and Inga Marte Thorkildsen recently used VG to complain about a lack of money in schools.
– Is it just the moment when you take self-criticism, so that you are responsible for the salary level of the directors?
– Yes, I attest it. The salary adjustment is the result of some managers being given greater responsibility after the reorganization. This is in line with the agreement. Most managers have not received a raise. It won’t be relevant with such large salary increases going forward, says Gerhardsen.
It also promises that employees will be better informed and involved in salary developments at the top of the agency.
Spend millions on American coaching
– sad
Gerhardsen acknowledges that the signals to the Oslo teachers were wrong this time.
– I see you came at a very unfortunate moment. Sorry about that. Teachers are in a demanding time in the middle of the pandemic, they work hard to give students the best offer in a special situation.
The education director explains that some managers acquired more responsibility through the reorganization and therefore deserved higher salaries according to the agreement. Others have received more pay because the agency wanted to keep them, says Gerhardsen.
– The salary level in the agency in general has not increased, he says.
– Can it hardly be true when there are more people with a million salary on the payroll now than before?
– There have been some adjustments that mean that someone has received a higher salary, but these are not the ones who earned the most before, is Gerhardsen’s answer.
After the revelations: – Shocked
Number of directors
In his interview with Dagbladet, Thorkildsen also said that he expected the number of directors at the Education Agency to decrease in the long term. Mars Gerhardsen rose high in VG this spring. Avisa wrote that the number of principals in the Oslo school should go from 22 to 6.
But the impression of the post was not in accordance with reality. As Dagbladet already reported, the number of directors or equivalent in the agency today is 28.
– It was never my intention to give the impression that we would have fewer directors. What I said was that we wanted to have a smaller senior management team.
– But you don’t have that – Do you have more in management today?
– The senior management group has been reduced. It is for six people.
– You are talking about a senior management group, but in total there is more in your direction now than before. You have created an additional level of leadership, right?
– We had a senior management group of 22. Now I have divided the organization differently and have five division directors who are responsible for various departments and sections. In the Education Agency, the title of those who head a department is department director.
Agreement with the salaried party: – Horrible
– No drop in salary
The Education Agency is the largest municipal agency in Norway, with more than 17,000 employees. They control all 182 schools in Oslo.
– How many fewer have a director’s salary?
– It is not the case that in Norwegian working life, wages are reduced in a reorganization, replies Gerhardsen.
– You have added an additional management level. Isn’t it about reducing the number of leaders?
– We have not aimed to reduce the number of leaders, but to build a well-functioning organization.
– Do you understand that the impression he left was a bit misleading then?
– I apologize if the case was misunderstood.
– Have you made any mistakes now?
– Everything we do at the Education Agency is about creating the best school in the world. For that we work every day. There has been an additional burden on all teachers and principals through the negative press reports, and I am sorry. I want everyone who works for our students every day to let go of that burden. And then it is always wise to reflect on whether there are things we could have done differently.
– Doesn’t it automatically mean that you are at fault here?
– Of course I take responsibility for everything that happens with us. We need to go within ourselves and see if there is something we should do differently. But I am very confident in the main steps we have taken to create the best school in the world in Oslo. Everyone wants the same thing here: to make the Oslo school the best it can be.
