The Competence Reform in Norway

The process of implementing a Competence Reform for adults in Norway started in 1999. The reform is based on a report from a Government Committee in 1996 and a White paper presented in 1998 and debated by the Norwegian parliament on 19 January 1999. An agreement between the Government and the social partners in connection with the wage settlement in 1999 is also an important basis for the reform.

The following text is partly a summary of the White Paper No. 42 (1997-98) and partly an overview of the reform measures by November 1999.

Summary of the White Paper:

The basis for the reform is the need for competence in the workplace, in society and by the individual. The reform will embrace all adults in and outside the labour market and it will have a broad, long-term perspective. The reform will be implemented as a process in which employers, employees and the government will have to make an active contribution.

• The workplace as a whole, individual enterprises and the entire Norwegian population must be motivated and encouraged to take an active part in a long-term, wide-ranging competence reform. Employers, employees and the government must all make a contribution when it comes to funding, organising, adapting, developing and implementing the reform.
• From the perspective of life-long learning - where competence building is virtually never-ending - a good basic education will to a large degree be the basis for further learning. Basic education and continuing education complement one another and together they will lay the foundation for a long-term rise in competence.
• The target group for the reform includes both members of the workforce and people who, for different reasons, are outside it. The whole potential labour force must be included.
• The competence reform must be based on a broad concept of knowledge, where theoretical and practical knowledge and the promotion of creativity, initiative, entrepreneurship, cooperativeness and social skills are all part of a whole. Attitudes and values are also part of this concept of knowledge.
• The Norwegian workplace needs real, tangible competence in the short term. However, it is just as important to give newcomers to the workplace and people in the labour market today a broader range of competence than what would appear to be useful in the short term. People also function as a whole in their jobs. The continuous development of competence must therefore have a long-term perspective for the whole individual.
• A competence reform will require considerable reorganisation of the public education system in order to be able to offer educational opportunities adapted to adults' experience and life situation. The interaction between the educational system, non-government organisations and other providers of education will play a decisive role - particularly when it comes to the use of modern technology and distance education.
• In view of the corporate structure and the distribution of the population in Norway, it is important to give special attention to the development of competence in small and medium-sized businesses and to development in the regions.

The challenges:

• Updated competence in the workforce and in society in general is in the process of becoming the very key to a positive development both in Norway and internationally. Some of the reasons for this are the increasing globalisation of the economy, internationalisation, technological progress and the demands for greater adjustment of production and organisation in the workplace in general and in individual enterprises.
• There is growing concern in many countries about the widening gap between the need for and the availability of new knowledge in the workplace. This problem is due mainly to the speed with which changes are taking place in society and in the workplace and which is accelerated by the fact that the labour force is growing older.
• Compared with most other countries, Norway is in a favourable situation as regards education. We have a high standard of education. Large sums are invested each year by both the private and public sectors in competence building in the workplace. A broad range of educational opportunities is provided by the public education system, the network of non-government organisations and other providers of education.
• Many adults lack, and wish to receive, basic education at primary and lower secondary school and upper secondary school level as the basis for further learning, and there are still large groups in the workplace who do not receive the necessary competence-building. The public education system is not playing the active role in adult training that the future requires.
• Thinking and planning regarding education can no longer be based on the philosophy "once educated, always educated". This must now be changed to "completing a basic education is only the beginning".

Important principles:

• The reform must be based on the need of the workplace, society and the individual for competence.
• The reform must have a long-term perspective and its implementation must take place gradually based on a framework of economic and organisational requirements.
• As far as possible both basic and continuing education for adults should be geared to demand; this education should be flexible, available and adapted to the needs of the individual and the enterprise. The necessary arrangements must be made and education must build on the individual's competence, both competence already documented through basic education and acquired through non-formal learning.
• It is essential to the further development of competence that a system be established to document and assess adults' non-formal learning. The system should have legitimacy both in the workplace and in the educational system.
• Acceptance into upper secondary education and higher education must be based on the total competence of the individual.
• Giving more emphasis in the public education system to the development of competence for the workplace must not be done at the expense of basic education, but help to strengthen it.
• There must be better interaction between the providers of education and the workplace, with a view to allowing the employees to take as much part in developing competence as possible without taking them away from the workplace more than necessary.

Reform measures:

1. Education at primary and lower secondary and at upper secondary level

a) The Norwegian parliament has decided that adults who need primary and lower secondary education shall have an individual right to such education. The Government will present a bill to the parliament in the spring of 2000. The Government will also initiate projects in some local districts in order to acquire more knowledge about the scope, and try out teaching methods adapted to the persons/groups who will make use of the individual right to education.

b) The Government has proposed that adults who have not completed upper secondary education shall have a right to do so. This education and training shall be adapted to the needs of adults. A bill will be presented to the parliament in the spring of 2000. NOK 10 million will be allocated in 2000 to projects involving pedagogical methods adapted to the needs of adults. The same amount will be allocated to courses for adults leading to either university entrance qualifications or vocational competence, and arranged by non-governmental study associations and distant education institutions.

2. Documentation of non-formal learning

It is vital for further competence building to establish a system to document and recognise adults' non-formal learning. This system must have legitimacy in the workplace and in the educational system. The system must therefore be developed in co-operation with the employee and employer organisations, the various providers of education and the public education system.

A project has been started to establish a system for documentation and recognition of non-formal learning related to upper secondary education. This is important to arrange courses adapted to the level and the needs of the individual. NOK 10 million was allocated to this project in 1999, and the work will continue in 2000 with an allocation of 20 million. The plans are worked out in close co-operation with the social partners and various providers of education.

A Government committee considering higher education on a broad basis has delivered a report on documentation of non-formal learning in higher education. The committee proposes a law amendment giving universities and university colleges the right to admit students based on their work experience alone, or work experience combined with education and training. The committee also proposes that the recognition of non-formal competence may lead to a shortening of studies. I 1999 one university and three university colleges have, on a project basis, admitted students to certain courses based on their age and non-formal learning.

3. Right to leave of absence

In May 1999 the Government presented a bill providing for an individual right to study leave. The Government proposes that employees who have been working at least 3 years, and who have been employed by the same employer for the last two years, shall have a right to study leave to participate in organised education and training leading to a documented competence. Education beyond primary and secondary level must be work related to give a right to study leave. Work-related education comprises all types of continuing education and training relevant for the labour market. Employees cannot claim the right to leave of absence if it interferes with the employer's opportunity to plan production and organise personnel. The parliament will debate the bill in November 1999.

4. Funding subsistence and the tax situation

The Government believes as a matter of principle that compensation for the expense of subsistence during study leave is a matter to be decided upon between the employer and the employee. The employer retains his primary responsibility for meeting the need of the enterprise to build up new competence.

The Government emphasises the importance of basing educational funding on equal treatment of the different groups. Public funding of subsistence in the case of basic education at university and college level and on completing primary and lower secondary and upper secondary education for adults, should therefore be based on established funding schemes managed by the State Educational Loan Fund. Financial assistance is available through these schemes for most educational purposes.

• A committee has reviewed the general rules for educational funding with the purpose of adapting the rules more closely to continuing education and training for adults. Based on the committee's report the Government has proposed raising the limit of monthly income that students can have without reducing the funding from the State Educational Loan Fund.
• New guidelines have been adopted for the tax treatment of employer-financed education. From 1999 there is no tax on education paid by the employer.

5. The competence-building programme

An important element of the reform is the development of educational opportunities, which exploit the huge potential that lies in the workplace as a place of learning. This will involve joint projects between the workplace and the providers of learning in order to plan systematic competence building. This can be done by establishing development programmes and funding schemes in order to encourage greater use of information and communications technology in teaching and the development of new flexible, user-adapted courses, adult teaching methods and media-based teaching.

In connection with the wage settlement in 1999 the Government agreed to co-finance a competence-building programme with the aim of developing the market for continuing education and training. A total of NOK 400 million will be allocated to this programme over 2-3 years, starting with 50 million in 2000. The planning of the programme started in the autumn of 1999 in close co-operation with the social partners. Projects can be initiated by enterprises, networks of enterprises, local districts (municipalities), branch organisations, tariff partners etc. Projects involving primary and secondary education for adults can be financed this way. Use of ICT and multimedia will be an important element in these projects. The competence programme will also support projects in primary and secondary education.

6. Reorganisation of the public education system

Much of the training in the workplace will be provided by the workplace's own resources. Nonetheless, the public education system must play a central role in providing training, which meets the need for competence in the workplace. There will be a comprehensive development process throughout the public educational system, where existing rules, teaching methods, organisation and management are reviewed in order to adapt primary and lower secondary education, upper secondary education and higher education to the competence reform for adults.

The state-run institutions of higher education will have more freedom to establish and terminate courses of study, and charge a fee for more comprehensive courses than today. The Government has proposed that the institutions will have this freedom for studies up to 30 credits.

NOK 15 million will be allocated in 2000 to a "University of Industry" - a co-operation project between the University of Oslo and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim. The aim is to offer continuing education and training to enterprises.

7. A plan of action

The Government is preparing a plan of action for the Competence Reform. The plan is designed in close co-operation with the social partners and other actors, and will be implemented in 2000. Measures concerning information about available education and the Competence Reform as a whole will be contained in the plan.

Published by the Norwegian Ministry of Education, Research and Church Affairs, November 1999