- A proactive budget for Norway’s knowledge economy

The Norwegian Government intends to create 350 new fellowships to boost recruitment of scientists and academics. The Government also intends to increase the capital of the Research and Innovation Fund to NOK 66 billion in 2008. Total budget allocations to research and development will increase by NOK 1.2 billion. More student residences and increased student funding are also on the Government’s agenda for 2008.

“This proposed budget paves the way for more and better research and higher education, and the Government is now fulfilling a number of the promises it made in the Soria Moria declaration,” commented Øystein Djupedal, Minister of Education and Research. 

Business, education and research, and the public sector are looking for increasingly high levels of education in their employees. The Government therefore intends to create 350 fellowships at universities and colleges, and will allocate NOK 112 million for this purpose in 2008. It also proposes to create a network of national research schools, intended to improve the quality and delivery of researcher education, through the Research Council of Norway. This scheme will have an overall budget of NOK 10 million in 2008. 

Good equipment and source material are essential to good research. In 2008 a total of NOK 238 million will be spent on equipment in the higher education sector, with the Research Council of Norway contributing NOK 200 million of this. In addition, the Government proposes to allocate NOK 40 million to Norway’s university museums in 2008. 

To secure a stable, long-term financial basis for research, the Government proposes to increase the capital of the Research and Innovation Fund by NOK 6 billion. Over three years, the Government has increased the fund’s capital by NOK 30 billion to NOK 66 billion. Total budget allocations to research and development will rise by NOK 1.2 billion to NOK 17.8 billion in 2008. 

Norwegian participation in the seventh EU framework program for research and technological development has important benefits for research programs in Norway. The Government proposes to allocate NOK 342 million to increased participation fees in 2008, which will be in the region of NOK 1 billion. 

Improvements for students

The Government believes in educational opportunities for all, and that students should be able to study full time, which means they need favourable financial conditions. The Government therefore proposes to increase funding for student accommodation by NOK 40 million in 2008. This will allow the construction of around 670 new student residences during the year, depending on where in Norway they are sited. 

The Government also proposes to increase by 2.5% all the rates of support paid by the State Educational Loan Fund with effect from the 2008-09 academic year, in line with the expected rise in the consumer price index. The basic amount of support for students in higher education will be NOK 85,000 in 2008–09, an increase of NOK 5,000 since 2005–06. 

To ensure that the State Educational Loan Fund can improve customer service and reduce ICT-related risk, the Government is proposing to spend up to NOK 745 million to modernize the fund’s ICT systems. It proposes to allocate NOK 69.1 million to this project in 2008. 

Additional teaching time

The Government is proposing to fund an additional five 60-minute periods of teaching time per week at junior school level from autumn 2008. The increased teaching time will be shared out across grades 1–4. Norwegian, mathematics and English are the subjects that will benefit. Under the Government’s proposals, NOK 276 million will be allocated to this initiative in 2008. In addition, the trials of an extended school day and school meals will continue. From autumn 2008, free learning materials will be made available to Level 3 upper secondary students, in an expansion of the scheme introduced in 2007. 

The Government intends to allocate NOK 37.5 million to student counselling at upper secondary level and regional career guidance partnerships. This is an increase of NOK 22.5 million on the 2007 revised national budget. 

In all, some NOK 1 billion is to be spent on quality enhancements in the comprehensive school system in 2008. 

Adults’ right to education

The Government also wishes to extend the right to upper secondary education to all adults over the age of 25. The Government plans to present proposals to amend the Education Act accordingly in spring 2008, and will make NOK 21 million available to the initiative during the year. 

Universal preschool education

The proposed budget paves the way for the Government to achieve its objective of universal preschool education. Funding will be made available for the creation of 7,700 new preschool places, accommodating an additional 3,900 children. This will bring the total number of children being offered a preschool place to 255,000. The Ministry will review the funding requirement if necessary to achieve universal coverage. The total budget allocation to preschool education will increase by NOK 3.6 billion in 2008. 

The Government wishes to reduce parental contributions to preschool education and after-school care costs by a total of NOK 409 million in 2008. The maximum parental contribution towards a standard full-time preschool place will be NOK 2,330 monthly, or NOK 25,630 annually, which represents a reduction in real terms of around NOK 100 monthly, or NOK 1,100 annually. The income tax allowance for childcare costs will be increased from NOK 5,000 to NOK 15,000 for the second and each subsequent child. This will help reduce childcare costs for parents with several children in preschool education and after-school care. 

Well-qualified staff are essential to a high-quality preschool system. The Government is therefore proposing to spend NOK 66 million to improve the quality of preschool education in 2008. This will allow implementation of the strategy for recruiting preschool teachers (2007–11) and the strategy for professional skills development in the preschool sector (2007–10). The Government also proposes to fund an additional 125 places on preschool teacher training programs in 2008. 

Lifelong learning

The Government proposes to increase the budget allocation to the EU lifelong learning program by NOK 45 million to NOK 187 million. Participation in this program creates excellent opportunities for cooperation and exchange throughout the Norwegian education and research sector. 

A national forum for educational research is to be set up, with the aim of creating a focal point for cooperation between research institutes, public administration and policy makers. 

 

Contact:          Deputy Director General  Kjetil Moen, tel. +47 22 24 75 28

                        Adviser Håvard Austvik, tel. +47 22 24 78 72