Norway

  • The Norwegian adult education system is well developed and equity is at its core. Adults can engage in education from folk high schools, distance learning and study association and participation in adult learning is high. Deeply rooted in the Norwegian tradition, adult education is perceived as a key factor for value creation in life and as a tool to support adults to adapt to changing life and world circumstances.

Norway country reports


Norway 2022

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Norway 2020

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  • Developments: Ambitious reforms on access and inclusion

     The situation of adult education in Norway has slightly deteriorated in the last year, but many new policies came into action. In 2019, the Norwegian government published a white paper on lifelong learning and issued a competence reform, see...

  • Challenges: Response to the crisis

    The adult education sector in Norway has been significantly affected by the pandemic, but NAAL was only slightly affected. The crisis resulted in less people attending the courses and a massive change to provide learning online. Although the ICT l...


2019

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  • Norway introduction

    With the changes that are happening in the government, there is a lot of space for dialogue and hope for the future policies. At the moment, the new strategic plan for education is being designed and civil society has its say in it. Regional devel...

  • Recent developments in Norway

    In recent years, there have been several strategic steps in Norwegian policies concerning adult education. In 2017 the current Norwegian Strategy for Skills Policy was adopted and will be active until the year 2021. Therefore, the government of No...

  • Links to EU and international policy in Norway

    Even though the EU Upskilling Pathways are not formally adopted by Norway, the national strategies of the Norwegian government are closely related to its ideas.

  • Challenges and recommendations in Norway

    The main challenge for the field of adult education in Norway at present is finding funds to finance governmental, and local, initiatives to strengthen the development and outreach of Skills policies. There is a need to widen the scope of educatio...


EAEA members view

General situation of adult education
happy face has slightly improved in 2022
Funding situation of adult education
coin pile with arrow pointing right has stayed the same in 2022

Participation in adult education

% of persons aged 25-64
19.6% participation rate last 4 weeks (European Labour Force Survey 2021)
60% participation rate last 12 months (European Adult Education Survey 2016)