The School System of Norway Part 2

IV. PUPILS

The compulsory school laws which operate in Norway determine the age (seven years) at which children shall enter school and the regularity of their attendance. With this in mind, it is readily understood that as a rule each cla.s.s marches steadily forward, one grade each year, until the completion of the school life. As a consequence there is but little variation in the ages of pupils doing the work of any certain grade, and the proportion of pupils of normal age in the several grades is very large. In order to ill.u.s.trate definitely, a concrete situation is presented in Table III, which shows the exact conditions existing at a certain time in one of their representative cities.

TABLE III [Transcriber note: table split to fit]

Table showing the age of pupils on April 30, 1908, in the several grades, also the number in each Grade and relation to normal age.

Age and year of birth.

Grade No.

of 6-7 7-8 8-9 9-10 10-11 11-12 12-13 13-14 14-15 15-16 16-17 Cla.s.ses 1902 1901 1900 1899 1898 1897 1896 1895 1894 1893 1892 Total 1 134 27 3047 1790 164 10 5038 2 130 33 2730 1795 263 18 4839 3 126 22 2564 1730 319 36 5 2 4678 4 122 33 2287 1620 393 77 14 1 4425 5 115 32 2009 1528 511 136 6 4222 6 105 1 39 1856 1342 569 80 3878 7 90 28 1582 1129 231 3 3003 X[2] 2 20 22 1 43 T[1] 824 27 3080 4542 4556 4323 3996 3841 3537 1962 139 3 30186 Per ct. 1908 0.1 10.2 15.1 15.1 14.3 13.2 12.7 11.7 6.5 1.1 ---- 1907 0.1 11.3 15.3 15.0 13.5 13.1 12.6 11.9 6.2 1.0 -- --- 1906 0.1 10.9 15.5 14.6 14.0 13.4 12.5 11.6 6.6 0.8 -- --- 1905 0.1 11.2 15.3 14.7 14.0 13.6 12.7 11.9 6.4 0.1 -- ---

No. of Pupils of Per Cent. of Normal Age. Normal Age.

Grade Under Norm. Over Under Norm. Over 1 27 4837 174 0.5 96.0 3.5 2 33 4525 281 0.7 93.5 5.8 3 22 4294 362 0.5 91.9 7.6 4 33 3907 485 0.8 88.3 10.9 5 32 3537 653 0.8 83.8 15.4 6 31 3198 649 0.8 82.2 17.0 7 28 2801 234 0.9 91.1 8.0 X[2] 42 1 --- 97.7 2.3 T[1]. 206 27141 2839 Per ct. 1908 ---- ---- ---- 0.7 89.9 9.4 1907 ---- ---- ---- 0.8 90.9 8.3 1906 ---- ---- ---- 0.9 91.8 7.3 1905 ---- ---- ---- 1.1 91.7 7.2

1. Primary schools of Kristiana exclusive of schools for abnormal children.

2. Cla.s.ses requiring special individual attention.

This table speaks for itself and needs no explanation. It is worthy of note, however, that in comparatively few instances do the ages vary more than two or three years, and that six years is the widest difference in age to be found among all the pupils of any given grade of work.

Furthermore, we call attention to the fact that those above normal age in no year aggregated as much as ten per cent of the entire number in attendance. 10.1 per cent represents the entire number outside the normal age--those above plus those below--for the year 1908. During the three former years the percentage was still smaller. The reduction in numbers of pupils in the sixth and seventh grades is due in large part to the fact that so many pa.s.s from the fifth grade into the middle school.

The same conditions of uniformity exist in the secondary schools. Having entered at the age of seven and having spent five or more years in the primary school, the pupils upon entrance to the middle school are generally twelve or more years old. In some middle schools the average age of those entering will at times be less than twelve years. This latter condition is usually due to some local situation or rule regarding age at entrance upon school work. In order to follow the age question to nearer its limits we will present Table IV.

TABLE IV

Table showing the ages of pupils in State and Communal Secondary Schools.

Middle School Gymnasium I. II. III. IV. I. II. III. Date Trondhjem(A) 12-1(C) 13-3 14-2 15-6 16-10 17-18 18-1 9-1-06 Kristiansand(A) 12 13-5 14-2 15-2 16-3 17-7 18-3 10-1-00 Kristiansund(B) 12-7 13-5 14-8 15-5 16-2 16-9 18-4 9-1-09 Fredrikkstad(B) 12-7 13-4 14-2 15-2 15-10 16-10 17-8 7-1-08 Lillihammer(B) 12-2 13-2 14 15-3 16 16-6 18-1 7-1-06 Larvik(B) 12-2 13-3 14-2 15-1 15-10 16-10 18-2 8-1-03

[Note A: State secondary school.]

[Note B: Communal secondary schools.]

[Note C: Age in years and months.]

Attention is called to the step from the last year in the middle school to the first year in the gymnasium. In several instances there is considerably less than a year of difference in age. This is but another ill.u.s.tration of the tendencies of the sifting that goes on in the natural process of selecting the fittest. Those of keenest intellect are the ones who reach a specific requirement in least time and then proceed in the pursuit of advance education. The ones sifted out are more generally those whose advance has been more difficult, or those who have lagged behind others of their own age. The absence of these tends to lower the average age in the succeeding grade. Similar conditions in emphasized form are in evidence when we study the ages of those who enter the university from year to year. While the ages of those just entering the third and final year of the gymnasium are on the average more than eighteen, the ones who enter the university the following year in September average nineteen years of age or a little less.

In addition to the tables showing the ages of pupils throughout the several grades of preparatory and secondary education, the following one is inserted to show the average age of those in attendance at four of the teachers' seminaries. The advance in age with advance of grade is not as regular here as in the other schools.

TABLE V

Table Showing Age of Pupils in the Teachers' Seminaries at the Beginning of the Year, 1906-7.

Average age[A] in grades.

I. II. III.

Holmestrand 19-7 21-3 22-1 Levanger 20 19-8 21-4 Hamar 19-2 20-2 21-7 Stord 19-6 19-11 21

[Note A: Age in years and months.]

There is not as close correspondence between age or grade and scholars.h.i.+p in the seminaries as we find in the other schools. The greater variation is due to several causes, among them are the following: (1) The law requires that a teacher must be at least twenty years of age.[9] (2) The previous education of those in attendance varies greatly. Many are desirous of getting as thorough and complete preparation as their circ.u.mstances admit, while others are seemingly anxious to enter on the lowest standard admissible. (3) Teachers who are eager to improve their qualifications frequently return to the seminary after a few years of teaching experience in order to complete the course and prepare for the better cla.s.s of positions.

Comparisons between the educational equipment of the American youth and that of his Norwegian cousin at any given age are exceedingly difficult to make. We have not yet established any specific units or norms by which education may be measured. We can make neither definite nor satisfactory quant.i.tative or qualitative measurements of accomplishment.

However, a careful a.n.a.lysis of the respective courses of study, the qualification of teachers, and plans of work, supported by the testimony of those who have been teachers in both countries, seems to warrant the statement that the completion of the gymnasial course of study in Norway is comparable to the completion of the soph.o.m.ore year of work in our American colleges and universities. The average age of students is about the same in both instances.

The American children spend a less portion of the year in school than do the children in Norway. While in our schools we generally have but thirty-six weeks of five days each in a year, inclusive of all regular and special holidays, the schools of Norway are in operation forty weeks of six days each, exclusive of holidays. Leaving out any consideration of holidays, the American school year usually amounts to one hundred eighty days, while in Norway they have two hundred and forty days of school. In other words, eight years of primary school and four years of high school in America represent only three-fourths as many days of instruction and study as are included in five years of primary school, four years of middle school, and three years of gymnasium in Norway.

That is to say, to provide the same number of days of instruction it would take sixteen school years in America to equal twelve in Norway.

The specialization which characterizes the work of the students upon entrance to the Norwegian university brings their study within much narrower limits than that of our ordinary juniors in college. Their general cultural education concludes with the taking of _artium_ while ours usually continues throughout the liberal arts course in college or until the degree of Bachelor of Arts has been received. A certain amount of specialization is common among our students during the later years of their college education, but it covers a wider range than in Norway and the greater portion of it is reserved for post graduate courses. In Norway the professional studies are taken up without any preliminaries immediately upon entrance to the university. In the better professional schools of America, one, two, or three years of collegiate work is required as a preparation for entrance.

I. ORGANIZATION--RELATION TO STATE, COMMUNE, AND CITY

The highest educational authority of Norway is vested in the Department of Ecclesiastical and Educational Affairs (_Kirke-og Undervisnings-Departmentet_), and the chief functionary in this department of government is a member of the King's cabinet (_Statsraad_). The work of the department is separated into two divisions, one of which supervises the ecclesiastical activities and the other the educational work of the country. This latter division is again separated into two bureaus, one having charge of primary education and the other being in control of secondary educational affairs. These bureaus perform the functions usually devolving upon such offices, the work being largely clerical. In addition there are the diocesan directors (_Stift Direktorer_) bearing the immediate responsibilities in primary education, and a state educational commission (_Undervisningsraad_) having large authority in secondary education.

Next to the department itself the school directors have authority over primary education. In fact the director has all but complete control in his territory even though the department is recognized as having the higher authority or powers. The King's cabinet appoints seven directors for the six dioceses into which the state is divided; two for the most northern, because of its greater extent, and one for each of the other five. The directors are paid by the state and are amenable only to the state, hence they exercise their powers in an endeavor to effect the best possible results educationally without fear or favor of local influences. They act independently in their respective territories and do not const.i.tute a committee in any sense whatever.

The commission having chief oversight of secondary education consists of seven men appointed by the King's cabinet. They are chosen because of their efficiency in educational affairs without regard to the part of the country to which they belong.[10] They work always as a committee, and as experts serve the state for the general welfare of secondary education. The many privileges and duties exercised by this commission may be grouped together under the heads of inspection and supervision of secondary schools, and arrangements for having examinations. Several of the men const.i.tuting this commission are at the same time rectors of leading secondary schools in the country. In fact they are chosen because of their familiarity with and expertness in just such kind of work. When it becomes necessary to seek advice in hygienic questions a physician of recognized ability is added to the commission. His judgment and instruction are respected and adhered to very closely.

The rural communes are divided into school districts or circles (_Skolekredser_). Each district supports and maintains a primary school with at least two divisions--an infant school (_Smaaskole_) for children from seven to ten years of age, and a higher one designed for children from ten to fourteen years of age. In districts where distances are great or roadways difficult, two or more infant schools are provided.

Companies operating one or more manufacturing establishments or industrial concerns, and generally employing thirty or more laborers, are required to provide a primary school for the children of the men in their employ. When once started these schools are to be kept up unless the number of the employed is reduced below twenty. In case there are other children who desire to attend such school, they shall have the right to do so providing it does not interfere with the instruction of those for whom the school was established. In return for this the school treasury receives from the communal treasury a yearly amount proportioned to the total cost for all pupils in the school.[11]

While the law requires that instruction shall be provided six days in the week for at least twelve weeks each year, it also grants to the communes the privilege of extending the time to fifteen weeks.[B] It further provides the right to maintain six weeks additional, voluntary instruction each year.[12] These privileges are generally taken advantage of by both communes and pupils. The communes desire the extension of time for school, and the pupils are very glad of the opportunity to attend the extra time, even though their presence is not compulsory. In fact the compulsory education law has been so rigidly enforced for so long a time that regular attendance has become habitual, and the exact provisions and requirements of the law are rarely thought of by the pupils. There is, in reality, no law requiring children to attend the schools provided by the state, but a certain amount of education is obligatory. It is mandatory that schools be maintained in all of the districts, but individual children may receive their instruction in private schools if they choose, so long as educational requirements are met from year to year. Pupils who belong to the schools are required to be in attendance regularly, and children who receive instruction elsewhere than in the state schools must meet the requirements calculated to bring them to a certain educational standard by the time they are fifteen years of age. Failure in this subjects parents, guardians, and those providing schools for children of laborers in their employ to fine or imprisonment.[13]

The work in the infant school includes or amounts to thirty lessons per week while in the higher one there are thirty-six lessons. Accordingly, the pupils in the lower grades receive a minimum of three hundred sixty lessons a year, and this number may be increased to four hundred fifty or six hundred thirty. In the higher grades they have at least four hundred thirty-two lessons a year, and if the time is extended they have five hundred forty or seven hundred fifty-six lessons a year.

Each rural commune has its own school board (_Skolestyret_) consisting of a priest; the chairman of the munic.i.p.al council; one or two teachers[14] chosen by the body of teachers; as many other members (men or women) as the communal council deems it advisable to select; and the rectors of higher schools, if there be any, under the supervision and inspection of the school board.

In the towns and cities the school board consists of at least one priest[15]; a member of the city's executive council;[16] as many other members chosen for three years as the munic.i.p.al council deems it advisable to select, at least half of whom must be chosen from among parents who at the time of election have children in the city primary schools; one or two teachers;[17] and, wherever the school board controls higher schools, the rectors of such schools.

The members of the school board select their own chairman and act together as a committee or board. Among its more important duties are appointment of teachers and special committees, provision of course of study with specific instructions regarding its presentation, and the estimation of sums of money necessary to meet demands in the maintenance of the schools for the year. This estimate of expenses is sent by the board each year to the communal council which has charge of the dispensing of finances for the commune.

The course of study, including the plan of instruction and directions regarding the supervision of the schools as given by the board, is minutely detailed and specifically stated. It includes a list of studies to be pursued, the manner and order of their presentation, and the number of hours per week to be devoted to each subject; an outline of arrangements for entrance, promotion, and leaving examinations, with provisions for exemption therefrom wherever such is deemed advisable; all necessary arrangements for vacations; and other matters considered essential in the maintenance and carrying on of a school.

For each primary school, or for the several schools, using the same building, the board appoints a committee of inspection (_Tilsynsutvalg_). This committee consists of a member of the school board (chosen by the board), who is chairman of the committee, and three other members. These latter members are chosen in the city by the parents of children attending the school, and in the rural districts by such parents and other taxpayers. A priest appointed by church authority is added to committees serving town or city schools.

This committee of inspection exercises constant oversight of the school, keeping the board informed with reference to all matters requiring attention by that body. By the consent of the communal council this committee may have an amount provided from the school funds for its use in carrying out its work. The inspection is with special reference to the physical and moral well-being of those connected with the inst.i.tution. Among the special objects of its endeavors may be enumerated the solving of all hygienic questions, regular attendance, good discipline, and proper moral conduct. The committee must also see to it that children of school age, not in attendance at the state primary schools, receive instruction in such quant.i.ty and of such quality as to meet all state requirements. In general it is an outstretched arm of the school board, feeling after the betterment of the common schools in every possible direction.

Another committee (called the school committee--_Skoleraad_) is appointed by the school board for each of the primary schools in the city. The duties of the two committees are in a way complementary. While the committee of inspection is occupied in matters external in large measure, the school committee exercises functions more pedagogical in nature, though it also has general watch care over the affairs of the school. If there be a superintendent of schools (_Skoleinspektor_), he is a member _ex officio_ of the school committee, and its chairman.

Under other conditions the school board designates which of the appointed members of the committee shall be its chairman. In towns where the number of teachers exceeds sixty, the school board may direct that the school committee shall consist of the superintendent and the princ.i.p.als of the several schools as _ex officio_ members and any determined number of other teachers selected by the body of teachers.

The elected members are to be male and female in proportion to their respective numbers on the teaching staff, exclusive of those who are _ex officio_ members of the committee. The s.e.xes separate into special meetings for the purpose of election, each choosing its allotted number of representatives. Election is for two years, one-half retiring each year, the first time according to lot. Members whose terms expire are required to serve longer in case of re-election. This school committee holds regular meetings, according to its own appointment, at which the members are required to be present. Furthermore, the chairman may call additional meetings in cases of necessity, and he is required to call special meetings when requested by the school board to do so. A majority vote of the members is sufficient for the pa.s.sage of any proposition.

While the duties of this committee are not specifically outlined, it is intended that its work shall concern chiefly the internal workings of the schools. Its functions are mainly pedagogical in character as already stated and as evidenced in the following provisions in the law.

"The school board shall permit the school committee to voice its opinions in every affair which concerns: (1) the general supervision of primary schools, (2) general provisions concerning regulations and discipline, and (3) text books and outlines of instruction." In addition the committee is required to express itself regarding any matter relating to the good of the school when asked by the board for advice.