Representatives of the Municipality and the City of Nisko together with Mayor Waldemar Ślusarczyk participated in a study visit to the Municipality of Midt – Telemark in Norway from November 29th to December 2nd , 2022. The visit was organized as part of a cooperation agreement with the Norwegian Partner – Midt Municipality – Telemark. The visit was a continuation of the cooperation established with the Partner from Norway as part of a project co-financed by the Norwegian Financial Mechanism. The first visit to Norway was devoted to the subject of education in the era of modern technologies, aimed at educating students in the area of key competences. During the visit, we had the opportunity to get acquainted with the local education system in Norway at the level of primary school, lower secondary school, upper secondary school and university. We visited schools in Bø – the centre of the municipality and in Gvarv, as well as the university in Bø. The University educates students in the field of "sustainable development", which is currently a very popular direction in Norway.
In primary schools in Norway, pupils are not assessed on the basis of grades, but on skills and development, the assessment is only descriptive. A large amount of emphasis is placed on practical skills in schools, children use many practical, technical or culinary workshops. The peace and quiet in Norwegian schools is surprising, there are no bells throughout lessons, each class works individually. The large part of outdoor activities, especially in winter is also surprising. It is done so the children are prepared for the adverse weather conditions that prevail in Norway.
Teachers use many interesting educational solutions in classes, each student uses a tablet or a laptop (depending on the age of the student), received from the school. Children do not have to carry books to school, which does not mean that they do not use books. This is what the local library is used for, and the paper book is also a tool of education.
During education, strong emphasis is placed on education in key directions, a very important part of education in Norway is learning English, but in a system completely different from ours. Learning is focused on communication, and to a much lesser extent on classical learning of words and grammar. Children learn English through communication. A very important element is also education in the area of entrepreneurship, which starts from the youngest years. Entrepreneurship education broadly understood as education towards diligence, individual development, the value of work and the development of one's own passions.
We would like to thank our Partners for the opportunity to visit Norway, in particular for their hospitality and willingness to cooperate. We still have a joint exchange of experience in the area of education development for the needs of local entrepreneurship and creating an interesting offer of the city for the needs of residents.
We invite you to our photo report from the visit to the beautiful municipality of Midt – Telemark.
