Norwegian education minister submits bill against private schools

The proposal reads that the Ministry should give significant weight to the opinion of local authorities when assessing a new private school, Dagen reports. In Brenna's opinion, the state must listen closely to what local people think, she said to Vart Land.

Brenna said that the government wants a tighter grip on private schools and that it is a political responsibility to "ensure that we get the best possible public school." She adds that it is okay if students attend a private school, but they should make that choice voluntarily. "Not because they did not feel comfortable in the public school. Because the public school must be able to accommodate everyone."

In the last five years, 74 new private schools were established, Dagen writes. Of these schools, 38 were approved despite protests from the municipalities. In the future, these schools could have been refused permission.

At the same time, the bill does not ban private schools entirely. There is no limit on the number of religious schools, says Minister Brenna to Vart Land. Nor are the municipalities given the right to veto the establishment of them.

Faith

With the proposal, Minister Brenna wants to counter "parallel societies." She is afraid that children will not be prepared for life in society when they only grow up in classrooms with people of the same faith. "Even those who grow up in a family with strong faith should not mind learning about other people's faith", she says.

Brenna acknowledges that the application for a Muslim school could change the debate. So far, she has not had such a request. "My gut feeling is that the moment this happens, it could change the discussion about religious schools quite a bit. The more children attend a private school, the higher the risk of parallel societies."

Freedom

Jan Erik Sunday, a senior advisor at the Association of Chrisitan Independent Schools, says this proposal is a disaster for independent schools. He says to Dagen that the municipality will be able to decide which schools are allowed, while they, themselves, are also running schools. He points out that private schools are established to ensure freedom of education.