The number of applications for teacher training plummets: – Great concern

The number of applicants for teacher training has almost halved in ten years. – Dramatic, says the Education Association. – Great concern, says the minister.

– Unfortunately, we see a development that is demanding. Overall, the decline is significant.

Director of the Directorate for Higher Education and Skills, Sveinung Skule, has just presented this year’s number of applicants to higher education. He has arrived at teacher training, and things look anything but bright.

Ten years ago there were 14,000 applicants for teacher training. This year, the number was down to 8,200. That is something close to a halving in ten years. At the same time, the number of study places within teacher education is being cut.

– It’s not weird. Last year, places were empty, says Skule.

It is bad news for a profession that is struggling with large dropouts, recruitment and a negative focus on, for example, violence against teachers and wages.

Admits that the grade requirement is not important

Research and Higher Education Minister Oddmund Hoel (Sp) believes that some of the things that have sent the applicant numbers into a downward spiral could be:

• An international development.
• That being a teacher is demanding.
• Character requirements for entering the education.

The grade requirement was introduced by the previous government, and is something the current government often points to as a nightmare for teacher education.

– Are grade requirements the reason why fewer people apply for the education?

– It is not important that fewer people apply, but important that fewer people enter.

– But is the grade requirement really the big challenge for the application?

– No, the grade requirements themselves are not what makes the big difference.

More are seeking higher education

Nearly 150,000 people have applied for a study place at higher education this year. It shows recent figures from Samordna recording. This is nearly 6,500 more than last year.

There are a record number of study places that are open. More and more people want flexible studies. There is a positive increase in health subjects, and a continued decrease in applications for teacher training.

– Last year, the proportion of female applicants was over 60 per cent for the first time. There has been growth for ten years, and it has leveled off this year for the first time. It is a concern that the proportion of male applicants has decreased, says Skule.

The gender balance is skewed. Health professions attract women with 77 per cent. It is the opposite in technology subjects, where there are more male applicants.

– Here at Oslo Met, there is a gratifying increase in applicants and in the nursing professions there is an increase in male applicants. An important trend is that more people want to study flexibly, he says.

The number of applicants for this study has almost tripled since 2016, he says.

Almost every fifth applicant has health subjects at the top of their list, and this year even greater interest than last year. In nursing, there is a positive development and an increase of 10 per cent. There have been several years of decline, but now we are up to around 10,000 applicants, and we have 5,400 places, he says.

– One part of the joy is that not all counties have this upswing. In the northern counties, applications are falling.

Study places are given priority

Minister Hoel says it is good to see that many will apply for higher education. And the applicants face a record number of study offers.

– As a nation, we should be happy that the number of applicants is increasing, he says.