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Norway

Status of school closures in Norway during the pandemic

  • Early childhood education: Closed from March–April 2020.
  • Primary school: Closed from March–April 2020. Adjusted operations from July–October 2021.
  • Secondary school: Closed from March–June 2020. Adjusted operations from January–February 2021.
  • Higher education: Closed from March–June 2020. Adjusted operations from November–December 2020. Closed from January–February 2021. Adjusted operations from March–September 2021 (Norlén, Gassen, & Randall, 2022).
School closures primarily affected older students in the Nordic region, but Norway and Denmark were the only countries to implement school closures on all levels, including kindergarten. 
During the periods of adjusted operations, the schools in regions with low infection rates were allowed to remain open. A traffic light system with red, green, and orange lights was used to identify when infection rates increased. A red light meant that schools would close for a brief period until the infection rates fell – and a green light meant that schools could reopen (Helfer, Aapola-Kari, & Trane, 2023).

Nameh

“I learned almost nothing. I couldn’t speak neither English nor Norwegian.”

Nameh is 16 and lived in Oslo, Norway at the time of the interview. During the pandemic, Nameh and her peers were immigrants studying for a certificate of lower secondary school
The first seven years (years 1–7) are called the primary level, and the three subsequent years (years 8–10) are called the lower secondary level.
. The certificate is mandatory for admittance to upper secondary school. Nameh had just started the course to secondary school in autumn 2020.
Nameh found the transition to online education almost impossible. It was both imprudent and unreasonable to be assigned to online education, as she lacked the necessary language skills. She believes she should have spoken up about it but found it challenging and was unable to find the courage to say anything.
According to Nameh, everything became easier when schools that provided intensive courses for newly arrived immigrants were allowed to reopen in the autumn of 2021. Even though it was just a few days a week, Nameh felt that being at school and meeting her friends made the learning process easier. She believes many of her peers felt very lonely during the lockdown and the periods of home schooling. She thinks it would have helped if she and her peers had been given an opportunity to attend some leisure time activities during the lockdown.

Hannan

“It is important to listen to young people and understand how they feel.”

Hannan is 16 and lives in Oslo, Norway. During the pandemic, she had just started an intensive course providing a certificate of lower Secondary school
The first seven years (Years 1-7) are called the primary level, and the three subsequent years (Years 8-10) are called the lower secondary level. 
. The certificate is mandatory for admittance to upper Secondary school. 
Hannan wanted to be at school as she needed more help from the teachers. She found online education too difficult. It was hard to understand what the teachers were saying and how to complete the various assignments. The online platform Teams kept malfunctioning all the time. She felt it was very unreasonable that she had to take exams after only completing an online education. 
When the classes for newly arrived immigrants were allowed to reopen in autumn 2021, Hannan and her friends decided to attend as many lessons as possible. Face-to-face teaching made a huge difference to Hannan. She found it easier to be more open, it made her more focused, and she made new friends. She believes youth should have been listened to and asked about how they felt during the lockdown. 
nordicwelfare.org