CONTEXT
In October 2018, the government launched a new integration strategy. Ministry of Education and Research is responsible for primary and secondary school, upper secondary and tertiary vocational education, adult education and skills, and from January 2018 also integration, and in the new integration strategy, education is strongly emphasized. The strategy document is called “Integration through knowledge”. In Chapter 1, Education and Qualification, it sets clear goals and it offers measures. It mentions both the content and organization of the education, skills assessment and special measures are mentioned for newly arrived students.
In Norway, the municipalities are responsible for primary schools and the counties are responsible for upper secondary education, and all pupils who have left primary school, 16 years old, are entitled to upper secondary education. But even though all students have the right to upper secondary education, many drop out. And the group that has the most problems, is youth who come to Norway with little schooling from their home country. The Integration strategy addresses this, and proposes measures so that young people over the age of 16 can receive more primary education. To achieve this, municipalities and counties must work together, and the legislation has been amended to facilitate such cooperation.
NAFO has school owner networks, one for municipalities and one for counties. All county municipalities, all major cities and many smaller municipalities has participated in the networks. At the NTR in 2019, the two networks met in Tromsø.