This document discusses Norway's efforts to reduce dropout rates from upper secondary education. It notes that completing secondary education is important for success in the labor market. Norway's goal is to increase completion rates from 70% to 75% by 2013 through the "Ny GIV" project. This project focuses on improving collaboration and transitions between lower and upper secondary schools. It also provides follow-up support for struggling students. The county of Hordaland uses government funds for measures like study centers, career counseling, and flexible education programs to help keep students engaged and prevent dropping out. The document analyzes Hordaland's dropout statistics and lists additional national recommendations to further reduce dropout rates.

1. Local projects: Transition Follow up

3. Background
”Young people who do not complete upper
secondary education have difficulties in the
labour market. Most jobs require computer skills,
language skills or math. That is why the battle
against dropout is so important”
Prime minister Jens Stoltenberg
august 2010

4.  Why is it important to complete upper
secondary education?
 Research shows that persons who have not
completed their education have lower
income and higher unemployment and
make use more often of public benefits and
national insurance. There is a strong
correlation between dropping out, crime,
poor health and poor material living
conditions.

5.  In short, it is harmful for the individual and
it is more expensive for society in the long
run to have a high rate of drop-outs

6. Goal
Ny GIV - New chances/New possibilities/New Energy
- Ny GIV is a national prosject
- It is a national task to increase successful
completion in Upper Secondary Education and
Training from 70 % to 75 %. The project, Ny
GIV, was introduced in the autumn 2010 and
will last until 2013.

7. The transition project:
The main target of the project is to establish
long-term sustainable structures for
cooperation between the differet levels in the
education system.
In Hordaland we have 46 upper secondary
schools and appr. 60 lower secondary
schools involved in the project (all schools
from 2013)

8.  The Transition project (cont.)
The main focus is on the transition and
collaboration between lower secondary
education (8-10th grade) and upper scondary
education. This include an offer of follow up of
the 10 % of the pupils with the poorest results
in the final part of 10th grade with focus on
training with a specific emphasis on skills in
reading literacy, writing and numeracy.

9. All pupils in lower secondary edu. (16 – 19
years) har a right to upper secondary
education or training by law.
In Hordaland appr. 96 % of the 16 years old
go directly to upper secondary education or
training
Approximately 52.7% choose vocational
education, 47.3 % choose academic ed.progr.

10.  Research shows clearly that pupils who do
well in lower secondary school chose
general studies edcucation programmes
over vocational studies.
 Almost all vocational studies programmes
lie below the average of vg1-pupils, while
all the general studies educational
programmes lie above the average.

11. The county municipalities are being funded
with extra funds in order to get more solid and
robust follow up of pupils who are struggling
with basic skills and consequently have poor
scores at the obligatory screening tests in vg1.
35mil NOK was being allocated in 2010.

12. In Hordaland county we use app. 7-8 mill NOK
of government funds 2010 – 2013 (project-
period)
In addition we use 4-5 mill. NOK every year to
prevent drop-outs

13. Definiton of drop-outs or pupils who dont
reach completion (include those who fail to
complete with competence)
Drop-outs during the school-year:
2011: 722 out of 17.433 pupils = 4.1 %
2012: 803 out of 17.816 pupils = 4.5 %

14. In addition we count the pulpils who dont
complete their education with necessary
competence for academic studies or a trade
certificate (5 years after they have started
upper secondary education)
Every year around 1000 pupils start again
vg1, vg2 or vg3 (maybe they choose a new
vg1 or repeat vg2)

15. The drop-out rate is around 30 % after 5 years
(the last 10 years ) In 2012 we achieved a
completion-rate at 69 %.
The completion-rate differs between
academic education program (80-90%) and
vocational education programs (30 – 60%)
After 2 years, only 35 % of the pupils apply
for tre training programmes

16. An extremely large number of pupils want to
take a supplementary year qualifying for
higher education after completion of
vocational vg2.
In this supplementary year we have a high
rate of pupils who fail.

17. Measures
National studies of drop-outs recommend
among other things:
 Focus on the transition between educational
levels (lower to upper sec. education)
 focus on the first days of school
 Summer activities
 more flexible education programmes (ordinary
2+2)

18. Measures
 More flexible opportunities of education
based on collaboration between schools
and employers/enterprises and businesses
with more opportunity to change between
school and training on the job
 Production schools
Modelling on Danmark – for pupils who
need strengthening of social competance
before entering or reentering formal
education

19. Measures
 Information to minority-speaking pupils and
their parents on opportunities in upper
secondary education, specially vocational
education
 Studies-centers in 26 schools with offers of
adapted edcucation (often in
reading/writing skills and numeracy)for
shorter period of time

20. Measures
 Upper secondary education with
documentation/completion of basic
competence

21. Measures
 Focus on career-guidance
Professionalization of the career and guidance
service. Incorrect choices of education
programme is one of the reasons why so many
pupils drop out of school. The county
municipalities have had their Government grants
increased with enhanced guidance and
counselling as from 2008.

22. Ny GIV
 FYR
 Purpose: to combine the general subjects
(norwegian, math, english, sosial science,
natural science and physical ed.) with the
other vocational subjects
 Goal: to strengthen the general subjects,
specially reading, writing and math

23.  Follow- Up Project
The Follow up Service in the county
municipalities (OT) is targeting young people
(between 16 – 21 years) who are neither in
school nor at work, and helping them to get
back into school or in work.

24. A great number of young people are neither in
school, nor at work. These persons do not
receive sufficient follow up or other kind of
assistance.
The follow up service in the county
municipalities ( OT) is not able to get in contact
with, and therefore lose survey of about one third
of the 30 000 young people making out the target
group for the Follow up Service (young people
between 16 – 21 years outside school and work)
The Follow Up Project

25. Increased allocation of money to training
establishments: This was initially introduced in
the temporary package of initiatives/measures,
but was continued with 190 mil NOK via the
Government grants to the county municipalities
in 2010.

26. More apprenticeships: Solid dialogue with the
social partners to obtain more apprenticeships.
Screening of the number of apprenticeships in
the public sector and push to obtain even
more.

27. Flexibility in the school system
 Study-centers:
Open for pupils and others with school rights
 Short courses
– Truckdriver
– Safety courses
 Alternative arenas
– Entrepreneurship

28. What about those who are not ready for neither
school or work?
 Motivation courses
 Green schools
 Longer perspective
 Social services

29. Statistics
The Ny GIV project will also establish a
common set of indicators so that successful
completion/amount of drop outs is counted in
the same way in each county . This will be a
good starting point for exact figures and
changes