What does this decision mean?

The municipal council's decision means that the municipal director is to draw up a plan for a more consolidated lower secondary school structure in Vågan municipality. The goal, according to the decision, is to ensure a larger social and academic environment for pupils and teachers. That may sound plausible, but the reality is entirely different. This decision reinforces the uncertainty that has already done great harm to the rural districts.

The decision states, among other things:

  • The municipal director is to assess realistic travel times for pupils, capacity at the receiving schools and previous expert reports.
  • New lower secondary school levels shall be organised based on risk and vulnerability analyses (ROS), as well as input from staff, the parents' council (FAU) and the pupils' council.
  • From autumn 2025, free school choice is to be introduced in the municipality.

The governing coalition has taken a clear line. It has already been established that there is nothing to be saved by closing down lower secondary schools, so now all the focus is placed on the social and academic environment for pupils and teachers.

It is overlooked that the parents have chosen to settle in the rural district with the kindergarten and pupil numbers the schools had. They have found a school that is just the right size and environment for what they want for their children. It is provocative that, once again, someone claims to know better than the parents what is best for their children.

Recruitment

The academic environment for teachers is also weakened at the schools that lose their lower secondary level. Teachers disappear from the lower secondary level, and the good collegial exchange and the opportunity to organise expertise are reduced.

Reference is also made to a hypothetical problem regarding recruitment. Strauman Education Centre currently has teachers with top-level expertise. To claim that we will have recruitment problems in relation to increased requirements in the Education Act is a presumption and an assertion we cannot go along with. We are a living example that many skilled teachers seek out smaller schools precisely because they value the close contact with pupils and the local community. The increased requirements in the Education Act are about strengthening the quality of teaching, not about centralising the school provision. Small schools can be better equipped to adapt teaching to the individual pupil, which is in fact a core value of the Education Act. Removing the lower secondary level from the village schools will weaken this.

The Liberal Party, the Conservative Party, the Progress Party and the Green Party contradict themselves, and their arguments do not hold.

It is now clear as day: they intend to close us down. No matter what.

The Liberal Party, the Conservative Party, the Progress Party and the Green Party have chosen to hang the sword of Damocles over the rural districts. The constant threat of closing the lower secondary schools halts all possible further growth. No new residents. No new establishments. No chance of succeeding with the positive development we already see.
Kenneth Greger-Pettersen, Straumankompaniet

The facts are clear:

  • Strauman got a new school in 2019, and the kindergarten is already full – with a waiting list.
  • Forecasts from Statistics Norway (SSB) show that the school will soon be full.
  • Bus is not a realistic alternative for many pupils, neither for practical nor social reasons.
  • People are going to move here.

Why are we not allowed to continue this growth? Why does the municipal council choose to let uncertainty prevail, when we have the figures proving that the rural districts can flourish with the right support?

Do not ruin good forecasts

Strauman Education Centre has good forecasts now, but as long as the sword of Damocles hangs over us, we will ultimately lose. Not only those of us who live here, but all of Vågan. Because the villages are a strength for the municipality as a whole – a resource that attracts families, secures jobs and creates diversity.

If this unease is not cleared up, we will lose more than just schools. We will lose residents, revenues, resources and a large piece of Vågan that the rural district has worked hard to create.

Help us be heard

We cannot let the rural districts lose this battle. Sign the petition to give the rural district peace to grow. Let us show the politicians that the villages are a valuable part of the municipality that should not be ignored, written off or deprioritised.

Sign the petition today.

We will not give up without a fight, and we must remove the threat that hangs over us. The municipality needs the rural district in order to be attractive to newcomers in the years to come. We must have ambitions of growth in Vågan, and then we need more than just the town centre.

Stop the study and give us peace now!