The Minister of Education wants Russian time to start on 17 May – working to move the exam

Nordtun confirmed to Nettavisen on Monday that she wants to speed up written exams at upper secondary schools from 2026 onwards.

– My impression is that it may be possible to achieve this in a way that ensures that the students still learn what they are supposed to, and perhaps even get a better connection in the learning, says Nordtun.

From the beginning, the government is working to move the Russian celebration to after the exam. Speaking to Stavanger Aftenblad, the Minister of Education says that she wants the Russian celebrations to start on National Day.

– Solution oriented

Nordtun says she has had several conversations with the Directorate of Education and the civil service in the ministry about the matter.

– It is important for me to emphasize that there are many considerations and different interests that must be taken care of in order for us to make this happen. The examination process in Norway is very complex, but I find that all actors are solution-oriented in the conversations I have had so far, says Nordtun in a comment to NTB.

With the current regulations, students in upper secondary school are drawn to a written exam on 15 May. At the same time, the Russe celebrations will end on 17 May.

In 2017, the previous government carried out an investigation of the school year in upper secondary schools. The expert group advised against moving the exam to before 17 May.

– A collective working group believes that it is wrong to take the Russian holiday into account when planning the school year and the exam period and points out, among other things, that an earlier exam period will result in shorter training time and make it difficult to utilize the entire school year, they wrote in their conclusion.

– Has slipped violently

The Støre government has previously launched several measures to tighten up the rush hour. In addition to moving the celebration, they are considering a ban on exclusionary Russian clothing and have asked the Swedish Road Administration to look into banning certain types of Russian buses.

The Minister of Education has said that the government needs to slow down a bit.

– It has slipped violently. In recent years, we have seen many examples of many being excluded from the Russian celebration and from the community. We can’t have it that way. We have to do something about that, Nordtun told NTB before Christmas.

The government has initiated a wide-ranging project in the county municipalities called “Changed departure marking 2026”. The county municipalities are responsible for the upper secondary schools.

A review NTB carried out among the education management in all the counties in March showed that many of the counties want to move the Russian time and make several changes to the celebration.