A thousand youngsters bullied by teachers (Aftenposten)

Almost a thousand schoolchildren say they dread going to school because they are bullied by their teachers, according to a recent survey carried out by the Norwegian Board of Education. 22,000 pupils took part anonymously in the internet-based survey. 1,897 children said they have been bullied during the past year. 939 of these accused their teacher of being the bully, while 292 pointed the finger at other school employees. Around 1,000 children said they were bullied by other children at school.

Shocking (Dagbladet)

"That so many upper secondary school pupils feel bullied and dread going to school is both surprising and shocking," said Education Minister Kristin Clemet after seeing the results of the Norwegian Board of Education’s survey yesterday afternoon. "Obviously we need to look more closely into this. When we say that there is zero tolerance for bullying by other children, we have to say that there is minus zero tolerance for teachers who bully their pupils," she said.

Minister promises substantial increase in defence spending (Aftenposten)

Defence Minister Kristin Krohn Devold yesterday promised ‘substantial increases’ in defence spending when she visited the Nato exercise Strong Resolve. "The Conservatives have not betrayed the Armed Forces. We will be proposing substantial increases in allocations in the coming years, and a more competent defence capability," she said. Ms Krohn Devold believes the balance between objectives and allocations is more important than the actual size of the defence budget. But she refused to indicate at this stage how much extra cash the Government will be proposing when it presents its long-awaited defence spending bill just after the Easter break.

Drug abuse doubled in five years (Dagbladet)

Drug addicts are getting younger and younger. Twice as many young people take drugs today compared with five years ago, according to recent research findings. The use of hash, amphetamines, ecstasy, LSD and cocaine has risen by more than 100 per cent, according to a recently published report on teenage substance abuse. The gap between urban and rural areas is closing fast. Big-city youngsters start by smoking hash, but hash is a substance most teenagers can get hold of – also in rural areas.

Call for rethink on new opera house (Dagsavisen)

Is it possible to justify spending NOK 7 billion on a new opera house? This question is being asked by an increasing number of politicians from outside the capital. Gunnar Halvorsen (Lab) is calling for the Storting to debate the issue again. Despite the fact that it was the Labour Party which pushed hardest for the new opera house to be located at Bjørvika in Oslo, it is Labour MP Gunnar Halvorsen who is the first to demand the Storting rethinks its decision. He says the opera house project must stay within a certain financial framework. "We are now talking about NOK 6-7 billion for the opera house and new road system. This is a different order of magnitude to the figures we originally discussed in the Storting," he said.

Oslo’s Olympic bid upstaged (Verdens Gang)

Oslo’s mayor, Per Ditlev-Simonsen, had planned to have a quiet word with IOC president Jacques Rogge today and tell him how perfect Oslo would be as the venue for the Winter Olympic Games in 2014 or 2018. But the mayors of Lillehammer, Hamar, Gjøvik, Øyer and Ringebu joined forces to scupper Mr Ditlev-Simonsen’s plans. At a hastily called press conference yesterday the five mayors, representing the local authorities which successfully hosted the 1994 Winter Olympics, announced their intention of seeking a return engagement. And they did not include the capital city in their Olympic vision when they in all haste presented their thoughts on a new bid for the Games.

Sports supremo says no to new Winter Olympics bid (Dagbladet)

Kjell O. Kran, president of the Norwegian Confederation of Sports, has rejected outright any thought of Norway hosting another Winter Olympics. He dubbed the idea "downright crazy". "We have other things to concentrate on than organizing another gigantic event. It is 50 years since Oslo staged the Games. 1994 was fantastic, but it will be many, many years before we make another bid," said Mr Kran.

1 Worth Noting

1. Swedish warning against liberalizing school system. "Developments in Sweden have been dramatic since the country removed restrictions on starting private schools ten years ago," said Swedish MP Lennart Gustavsson. He is warning Norway not to introduce the same kind of system here, as Education Minister Kristin Clemet has proposed. (Klassekampen)
2. Environment Minister Børge Brende (Con) has said that it is ‘quite alright’ for the coalition parties to demand a new evaluation of how the public right of access to Norway’s shoreline can be protected. Mr Brende has proposed a 25-metre access zone, but both the Conservatives and the Christian Democrats have rejected his proposal. (Dagsavisen)
3. "We are trying to go backwards down an up-escalator, which is heading for the EU," says Conservative industry spokesman Ivar Kristiansen. He claims that the vested interests of the Norwegian Fishermen’s Association and the Fishing Vessel Owners’ Association are ruining the chances of the rest of the fishing industry and the people who live in coastal districts. (Dagbladet)
4. If you became the victim of a terrorist attack, for example at Gardermoen Airport, it is not certain that your insurance company would pay up. The insurance industry is now waiting to see whether Justice Minister Odd Einar Dørum agrees to a separate ‘terrorism insurance’. (Vårt Land)
5. Small companies are now much more optimistic about earnings and employment than they were in December, according to a recent survey carried out on behalf of the Association of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises and a number of public insitutions. (Dagens Næringsliv)
6. Refugees from Sri Lanka are the most hard-working in the Norwegian labour market. Tamils work more than Norwegians, and are twice as likely to be in work than people from Somalia or Iraq. (Dagsavisen)
7. Stock brokers’ commissions have plunged by NOK 678 million in just one year, creating a great deal more frustration among Norwegian stock brokers than they have felt in recent years. (Dagens Næringsliv)
8. Shareholders of the oil companies Phillips and Conoco have voted to approve a merger between the two. The new company will be the sixth largest operator in the Norwegian offshore sector. (Aftenposten)

2 Today’s comment from Dagsavisen

Environment Minister Børge Brende has done more for the Conservatives’ environmental image than any other politician. Mr Brende warmly supported the Kyoto process, went into battle to stop radioactive discharges from the UK’s Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant and intervened in the Swedish fish-farming industry. All with the aim of improving the environment. That the Minister also supports the public’s right of access to the country’s shoreline fits into the positive picture which Mr Brende has created since the coalition government came to power. In a recent report, the Office of the Auditor General points to the large number of properties which have been built close to the sea front over the past twenty years – despite the fact that there has been a blanket ban on building closer than 100 metres to the sea since 1965. Mr Brende’s problem, however, is that he belongs to a party which takes more notice of landowners’ interests than the people’s right to experience nature. Conservative and Christian Democratic MPs have sent back the Government’s proposal for a 25-metre wide corridor along the sea front. We do not expect the Government to abandon the battle for public access to the sea front. Mr Brende should therefore repeat his request that the Storting should provide the public with a legal right of access to all locations where the nearest house is more than 25 metres from the shoreline.