– Focus on the youth in Finnmark
The partners in Finnmark County Council: the Northern Calotte People, the Right, the Progress Party, the Center Party, the Left, the Industry and the Business Party, the KrF (independent), writes in yous Cooperation Platform 2023-2027 that education and competence are very central among the primary tasks of the county council.
The cooperating parties will focus on further development of this area, as well as increase the ambitions for the county council's own activities in collaboration with municipalities and business.
In county council decision 14/23 they stated that they wish To increase the implementation of upper secondary education in Finnmark county municipality to 90% by 2030. This is a positive reading that shows that the position in the county council wants to focus on Finnmark youth.
What is needed for our youth to experience good quality in training so that more people benefit from and carry out upper secondary education?
The cooperating parties in the county council really give the answer themselves. They write in their platform that The teacher is the most important resource in the education course. They will make sure that the teacher is properly safeguarded and that it is facilitated for competence enhancement for the individual teacher.
This is great! But how do county politicians meet teachers and lecturers in the high schools in Finnmark?
KS (Norwegian municipalities' employer organization) asks municipalities and the county municipalities what input they have to KS in advance of the spring settlement. In its consideration of the case, the county committee responds that Finnmark county council wants to prioritize unskilled positions, and that the wage development for educational personnel is handled through central negotiations. You do not retain qualified teachers in our high schools by prioritizing teachers in an intermediate settlement.
Together, we in Finnmark must ensure that teachers stay in the county. We must make sure that the flight of expertise does not accelerate further. Many municipalities have different schemes for recruiting and retaining teachers. These schemes work, and the county council should get such schemes into their wage policy. It is not good personnel policy to prioritize teachers in wage settlements.
It is also not good personnel policy to remove senior measures for teachers and other employees in the county council, cf. County Council decision 88/24. It is not in favor of our youth in high schools that teachers with high competence and experience choose to retire because they are not valued by the employer. When the county government is prioritizing teachers, this helps teachers do not want to stay in Finnmark. Teachers know that they can get better pay conditions in other counties.
Finnmark County Municipality does not have a comprehensive policy for raising competence. Does this not match the ambitions of the cooperation platform for the position of the county council?
The youth's right to a qualified teacher stands strong. This is stated in a new Education Act where the right to a substitute is also a separate point in § 17-7. Politicians must take this seriously. In order to focus on the youth in Finnmark, the team around the students must be prioritized. The teacher is an important part of this team and teachers and lecturers must be prioritized in the upcoming intermediate settlement – we must make it attractive to grow up and work in Finnmark.
If the county politicians want to increase the implementation to 90% then a significant financial boost must be added, not cut training. The degree of implementation in upper secondary education in Finnmark County Council The 2023/2024 school year was 73.1%.
The county council's commitment to vocational subjects and cooperation with the business community deserves praise. We have good coverage for apprentices in the county. The county committee's response to KS states that professional teachers with technical subjects should be prioritized. It is awesome and contributes to a boost for some of the vocational subjects.
Mette Harr Meedby
Contact person upper secondary education and vocational school.
The Education Association Finnmark
