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NORWEGIAN SCHOOLS (Continued from page 4)
other school, a teacher who knows nothing about the students or his/her earlier grades in the subject.
In 10th grade, the students must find out what they want to do after Ungdomsskolen. As they are guaranteed by the government to get into a Videregående skole, this is what most choose to do. The applications are filled in at Ungdomsskolen, and the students are, if necessary, helped by the guidance counselor to figure out what they want to do from there. There are 13 "foundation" courses at the first year of Videregående skole, each which leads to different opportunities. Choosing the right course is what many 15-year-olds feel is the hardest by graduating from Ungdomsskolen.
Before a class graduates from Ungdomsskolen (and from the entire Grunnskole for that matter), there is often a prom for the seniors one night, and then at the night of the very last day of school a more official ceremony with parents, teachers, students and the principal. The students receive their diplomas and the principal gives a speech. There is also some entertainment, performed by groups of students. And after that only a few things remain - hugging all one's classmates and giving flowers, cards and/or hugs to the teachers.
Videregående skole - Upper secondary school
Everyone who graduates from ungdomsskolen is guaranteed to get in to a Videregående skole (after Reform '94), so the grades on one's diploma from Ungdomsskolen don't matter much. However, if you want to get into the Music, Dance and Drama course, or some other course which only allows a limited number of students, they can matter a lot. There are only three such classes in Bergen, one for dance, one for drama and one for music. The music class is especially hard to get into.
There are 13 different foundation courses to choose from when starting Videregående skole. 10 of the courses are vocational, the
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other 3 will give competence to continue studying at a University level (there are such possibilities with some of the vocational courses too, depending on which subjects one choose). Example of foundation courses:
*Economics and administration
*Music, dance and drama
*Electronics
*Mechanics
No matter which course one takes, there will be a required load of general subjects. Norwegian and P.E must be carried through all the years. The differences are when it comes to the electives which one may choose. And of course, the vocational courses involve a great deal of practical skills, while the other courses are more theoretical.
Some vocational courses last for three years, some for four, and the last or the two last years are spent working in the profession they're training for. Unfortunately, the government can only guarantee the students room in school, they can't demand industries, firms and agencies to take in apprentices, as they have to be paid as well as trained. Those who don't get a job have to go to school, and later, before they graduate, they don't have as much experience as the others. Many of them get trouble passing the final, important exam -the one that'll certify them as whatever they have been training for the past years.
CREDITS: This entire content was taken from the Internet at http://library.thinkquest.org/18802/gazette.htm and is their content.
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By now many of you are back in school.
Do you wonder what the school day is like for Norwegian children?
Here are some things about school in Norway. Also, on page 4 there is a long article about school that finishes at the top of this page. That article is mainly for the older kids and the rest of our members but you may want to read it or have someone else read it to you.
What is their day like?
Periods and recess:
Each period lasts 45 minutes. Between the periods there is a minimum five minutes recess. The length of the recess varies throughout the school day, leaving a schedule like this:
1st period
5 min. recess
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2nd period
10 min. recess
3rd period
30 min. recess
4th period
10 min. recess
5th period
5 min. recess
6th period
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