Oslo City Council will change the funding model for primary schools. But the Education Association believes that the measures they are considering will not help much.
Today, all schools in Oslo receive the same basic amount. They then receive a unit price per pupil and also a socio-demographic allocation. The latter is a calculation of the social and economic characteristics of the school district, such as the parents’ education level, income level and the extent of child protection measures.
The schools also receive money according to the extent of relocation in the school district and also funds according to each decision that is made about special language training.
But the biggest impact on schools’ finances is controlled by pupil numbers.
This model will now be changed by the city councilor for education in Oslo, Julie Remen Midtgarden (H).
– In recent years, we have heard about schools that are struggling to get their budgets up, schools that cannot afford to hire new teachers, students that have not received the follow-up they need and schools that cannot afford new teaching aids. We want to do something about this, says Remen Midtgarden in a press release.
And that’s all well and good, replies the Education Association in the capital. But they believe that the measures listed by the city council will not solve the schools’ financial problems.
The number of students determines the economy
– The city councilor says she will look at the arrangement of funds that go to special education and special language training. It is nice and we are happy to talk to Remen Midtgarden about it, but this is not where the big money is to be made for the schools, says Thomas Toddy Valås, county board member of UDF Oslo.
– If the city council wants to solve the money problems in the Oslo school, she must scrap the piece rate funding and introduce a system where the schools receive funds distributed per class, he says.
In the current model, says Valås, it is the case that schools with “unfortunate” pupil numbers at one or more levels find that the operation of the classes is not fully funded.
“Unlucky” pupil numbers mean that the number of pupils at a level requires a division into classes which means that the classes are well below 28 pupils at the primary level and 30 pupils at the secondary level. In primary schools they receive NOK 59,000 per pupil, in secondary and upper secondary schools the sum is NOK 69,000.
For a primary school with 400 pupils, it will amount to NOK 23.6 million.
– The teacher costs the same
– When the city council then asks the Education Agency to look at the socio-demographic allocation or the funds for special language training, this constitutes a very small proportion of the school’s total budget, says Valås.
He explains the effect the number of pupils can have on a school:
– For a school that fills up the two or three classes they have per stage, with 28 students in each class, they will have a perfectly decent economy. But if they are unlucky with the number of pupils, and perhaps only get 24 pupils in each of the classes, then the school will actually lose NOK 59,000 per pupil they are missing. In this example, it amounts to NOK 472,000, says Valås.
– The expenses are mostly the same with a class of 24 or 28 students. The teacher, for example, costs the same. But the school that has many classes with “too few students” at each level will have several millions less to deal with than the school that fills up all the classes.
– Large classes are rewarded
A few years ago (2020), Uddanningsforbundet Oslo asked the agency how much more it would cost to introduce a class funding model. About NOK 400 million, was the answer they got.
– It is of course a lot of money. But it is a good investment if Remen Midtgarden actually wants to do something about the poor finances of the Oslo school. However, what she is up to now is patching up a system that does not work, says Valås.
– But with a model where the schools get money per class, will they then be able to speculate on creating many small classes to get more money?
– We want a model based on the principle that the main part of the funds should be distributed to the schools based on the number of classes in the individual school. Then it will also be natural to introduce a class division number again, i.e. a number that says something about how many students will make up a class, says Valås.
– And then it must be said that the current model rewards schools with large classes, often at the expense of the student’s learning.
City councilor Julie Remen Midtgarden has been presented with the views of the Education Association in Oslo. She replies in an email:
– The previous city council had the unit price financing investigated, and was recommended a combination of unit price financing and group financing. It was not followed up. We will of course take this report, and other knowledge base that already exists about school funding in Oslo, into account in our assessment of how to ensure good basic funding for all schools.
The education agency must submit its report to the city council department by 1 January 2025.
