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The admissions committee will remove all special grade requirements for education, including the requirements in mathematics and Norwegian to become a teacher.

Today, more than 38 percent of courses in Samordna admissions have special admission requirements. Admissions Committee They presented their recommendations on Thursday I believe that all such special requirements should be removed.

The most well-known and politically controversial are the requirements in mathematics and Norwegian for entry into primary school teacher training.

Today, at least grade 3 in Norwegian, a combined subject in mathematics and at least 40 school credits in the upper secondary school diploma are required. Alternatively, you can have 35 school credits, at least 4 in mathematics and 3 in Norwegian.

– We are in favor of removing all special grade requirements because it is no longer possible to take subjects, committee leader Marianne Assen tells NRK.

Another example is nursing education, which requires a minimum of 3 in the Norwegian language and the combined subject of mathematics.

Only school credits are required

Pedagogstudenten leader Lars Strande tells Cirist Krono that they agree with the admissions committee to remove subject-specific grade requirements for primary school teacher training.

– There should be reasonably high requirements for teacher training. We need an average of 40 school credits from upper secondary school, but there are no specific requirements for individual subjects, he says.

Research and Higher Education Minister Ola Borten Mo says about the removal of grade requirements:

– We must think and digest it, but if we choose this way, it is not unnatural. “We have to look into it more closely, it’s not something that I or the government has concluded in any way,” he said on NRK on Friday morning.

For the Conservative Party, introducing grade requirements for teacher education is a matter of the heart.

– We have a good experience with the grade requirements set for student teachers, which contributed to better study completion and better preparation of students, says Jan Tor Saner, former Minister of Education and now member. Educational Research Committee at the Storting.

A simple model is needed

Admissions committees justify removing grade requirements by saying they want a simpler, more comprehensive admissions model where general study skills are the main gateway to higher education. Under present grade requirements, those without sufficient grades can take the subject as a private individual, and the committee recommends removing this arrangement.

The committee writes that finding solutions to match grade requirements in the new model would further complicate the admissions process for applicants and institutions.

– It is worth noting that the purpose of introducing grade requirements was often to increase status and recruitment into education, rather than the standard required to complete studies. The result in many cases is that the study centers remain empty because there are not enough applicants, the committee’s report said.

In addition, the Committee emphasizes that it is the responsibility of institutions to ensure that students acquire the necessary skills to practice the profession they are training for.

– If the subject has passed from upper secondary education, this indicates that the applicant has the necessary ability to start higher education, the committee writes.

He wanted to raise his status

In 2005, the Ministry introduced grade requirements and minimum school points for teacher training based on the objectives of strengthening educational standards, attracting the best candidates, and raising the status of the teaching profession.

From entry in 2022, the government has changed the requirements so they are now broader and you don’t have to have a grade 4 in maths. The aim was to provide more opportunities for primary school teacher training.

– Norway needs more teachers. With this change, admission requirements are broader and offer more qualified applicants. “We will still make high demands on our future teachers, but not exclude applicants with high grade averages and strengths in subjects other than mathematics,” said Ola Borten Moe (Sp) as he welcomed the changes.

From admission to the 2018/2019 academic year, the ministry also introduced grade requirements in Norwegian and mathematics for nursing courses. Here, the rationale was to enhance the quality of education and the performance of students.

Others have introduced their own grade requirements, as NTNU has for five-year integrated master’s programs in technical subjects.