- Supporting the Norwegian knowledge economy

More lessons at primary school level and free homework assistance for the very youngest pupils. 5 600 extra higher education places and NOK 350 million for climate research. Public funding for research of almost one percent of gross national product. The government will continue the initiatives that were announced in its action plan in January, including efforts to reduce drop-out rates from upper secondary education.

-  Providing good kindergartens and putting more resources into the first years of school increases pupils' chances of mastering subjects and completing tasks, says Minister of Education Bård Vegar Solhjell.

Giving children a good start – kindergartens and schools
The 2010 budget includes additional resources for improving the quality of kindergartens and for more teachers in years 1-4. Free homework assistance will be given at day care facilities for schoolchildren.

Kindergartens

• Funding for initiatives to improve the quality of kindergartens, including the introduction of management training for kindergarten supervisors, will increase with NOK 35 million to NOK 100 million.
• Parents' fees will not be adjusted for inflation, which means that in real terms monthly fees will go down by NOK 75 from 2009 to 2010.
• As part of a five-year plan to put non-municipal kindergartens on an equal financial footing with municipal ones, the government proposes increasing the allocation for this area by NOK 82 million.
• Create 7 200 new kindergarten places, in order to ensure that the universal entitlement of children to a kindergarten place continues to be met. The government proposes spending NOK 464 million on providing and creating new places in 2010.

In total, funding for kindergartens has increased from NOK 13,5 to 26,8 billion over the past four years. 

Schools

• The budget proposes the introduction of eight lessons per week of free homework assistance spread over years 1-4.
• It also proposes raising by one the number of weekly school lessons in years 1-7. In combination with the homework assistance programme, this aims to focus more resources on the youngest pupils, and to ensure that more learning takes place at school. The budget envisages municipalities receiving NOK 236 million in extra funding to implement these initiatives. The total allocation to state and private schools for these initiatives is NOK 241 million.
• NOK 40 million is budgeted for improving the number of cultural activities and culture schools available to years 1-4, which will be distributed amongst municipalities and organisations.
• The 2010 budget proposes an extra NOK 2 billion of investment funds for the interest subsidy scheme for educational institutions and swimming pools.
• In order to get more students to complete upper secondary education, it also proposes spending NOK 58 million on initiatives aimed at pupils who do poorly in quality assessment tests and on testing a new practical subject at lower secondary school level.
• In 2009, funding for apprenticeship grants was increased by NOK 200 million, and the proposal is to maintain this higher level of funding in 2010.
• Top level sports grants to be increased by NOK 10 million.

From 2008 to 2010, the school day has been lengthened by 8 lessons per week spread across years 1-7. The budget proposes adding a further 8 homework assistance lessons to the timetable in 2010. 

Higher education and research

-  The government wants to continue its broad investment in important areas of higher education and research. Increasing the number of new higher education places, increasing the Fund for Research and Innovation in order to finance long-term investment in research equipment and prioritising research into climate change are some of the key areas of this year's budget proposal, says Tora Aasland, Minister of Research and Higher Education. 

Higher education

• More higher education places

In order to support the long-term aim of building skills for the knowledge society and increasing higher education capacity on high priority professional courses, the revised national budget for 2009 allocated NOK 96,6 million to create 3000 extra higher education places, most of which are on multi-year courses.

The government proposes continuing with this increase in the student intake in 2010.

Approximately another 2 600 new places will be created from the autumn of 2010, making 5 600 new higher education places in total. Overall, this proposal will result in higher education institutions receiving an extra NOK 291,2 million in 2010. This is in addition to the financial support provided through the Norwegian State Educational Loan Fund. The government also proposes continuing its investment in decentralised education, continuing education and tertiary vocational education.

Other areas of investment:

• The budget proposes allocating NOK 50 million to various collaboration projects in the higher education sector in 2010.
• Additional student accommodation will be built, with 1 000 new units proposed for 2010.
• An extra NOK 100 million will be allocated to teacher training in 2010. Some of that money will be spent on the new training programme for primary and lower secondary school teachers.
• NOK 13,5 million has been allocated to the proposed civil aviation degree course at the University of Tromsø.
• In 2010, just over NOK 1 billion will go to continuing construction projects that have previously been allocated funding.

Research

The government's budget proposal includes around NOK 23,6 billion in public investment in research and development. In nominal terms, this is NOK 1.7 billion more than in the final 2009 budget. Publicly funded research and development (R&D), including the Skattefunn scheme, will total 0,97 percent of GNP in 2010 (in line with the research report Klima for forsking - A climate for research). That is considerably more than in previous years.

Selected areas of investment:

• The government proposes increasing the capital of the Fund for Research and Innovation by NOK 5 billion in 2010 to NOK 77 billion. In 2009 the government proposed earmarking the income from the fund's NOK 4 billion of extra capital for research infrastructure. From 2010 onwards this will make around NOK 140 million available for research infrastructure. The government has decided that in 2010 two thirds of the fund's additional capital shall once again be earmarked for infrastructure. If interest rates stay at their current levels, the increase in the fund's capital will provide a further NOK 140 million in annual income for this area from 2011 onwards. This means that the share of the income generated by the fund earmarked for infrastructure will double from 2011 onwards – from NOK 140 to 280 million.
• 2010 is the first year that the regional research funds will generate income. The NOK 212 million generated will be used for research projects throughout Norway.
• Climate research will receive an additional NOK 350 million, of which NOK 300 million will go to research within renewable energy sources, carbon capture and carbon storage, whilst NOK 50 million will go to other climate research. Some of this money will be used to establish an international climate research centre in Bergen.
• The research fellowships and company-sponsored PhDs that were created in conjunction with the government's action plan in January 2009 will receive a further NOK 72,7 million in funding. 

Adult education

• The government wants adults who need help with basic skills such as reading, writing, maths and use of ICT equipment to receive the necessary assistance. The government therefore proposes allocating NOK 79,8 million to the Basic Competence in Working Life Programme (Norwegian acronym: BKA). The government government's action plan in January 2009 and the revised national budget in May doubled funding for this area from NOK 38,5 million to NOK 78,5 million. The budget proposes maintaining that higher level of funding, adjusted for inflation, in 2010.
• The government has set aside NOK 7 million to help selected counties develop flexible education programmes to enable the unemployed to complete and gain formal recognition for their skills even after they have returned to work.

New knowledge centre for the education sector to open in 2011
The government proposes establishing a knowledge centre for the education sector from 1 January 2011. The Research Council of Norway will be charged with setting up the centre, and NOK 2 million will be allocated from the autumn of 2010 for its preparation work.

The centre will compare and present the results of Norwegian and international educational research. The centre will also be tasked with identifying gaps in our knowledge, and with proposing new areas of research to the Research Council of Norway, academia and the central education authorities.