Break in the working hours negotiations in schools
"Working hours in schools are not just about the teachers' everyday lives. It is also about the quality of the teaching, society's need for competence and trust in the common school.
These are the words of Kjetil Tysse-Hostad (pictured), negotiator and senior adviser at NITO, after the teachers' unions broke off their working hours negotiations with KS on 20 January.
The break means that the working hours agreement in schools, SFS 2213, will now be part of the spring's main settlement.
"When the employer side wants greater flexibility without at the same time securing time for the core tasks, it is a serious signal. Teaching, preparation and professional follow-up cannot be something you can cut back on when it suits you," says Tysse-Hostad.
What is SFS 2213?
- SFS 2213 is the working hours agreement for teaching staff in municipal and county schools.
- Regulates, among other things, teaching time and time for pre- and post-work.
- The agreement is negotiated between KS and the organisations that organise teachers.
- After the break in January 2026, the agreement will become part of the main settlement.
Teaching must have a clear framework
In the negotiations, KS has wanted major changes to the working hours agreement. They want more flexibility in how the teaching is organised, and open up for different agreements for different parts of the school system.
"There is reason to question the direction. When teaching is referred to as something that can be adapted without a clear framework, we risk that the quality of teaching itself is weakened," says Tysse-Hostad.
He points out that both teachers and vocational teachers are under constant cross-pressure between more tasks, increased documentation requirements and expectations of more individual follow-up.
"Then it becomes crucial to protect the time that actually goes into planning, implementing and evaluating teaching. It's not being rigid - it's being professional.
Vocational and natural sciences are crucial
NITO organises, among other things, vocational teachers and subject teachers with high technological and engineering expertise. These teachers play a key role in educating the skilled workers and technologists of the future.
"If Norway is to succeed with restructuring, green industry and technological development, we must take vocational and science subjects in schools very seriously. This requires teachers who have the framework to do their job properly," says Tysse-Hostad.
He warns against using the completion reform as a justification for extensive changes to the working hours agreement.
"The goal of more people completing upper secondary school is absolutely right. But the solution is not to make working hours more unclear. On the contrary, it is to strengthen the quality of the ordinary education offer.
The agreement works well today
According to Tysse-Hostad, both experience and evaluations show that the current working hours agreement works well for the most part.
"The agreement ensures a minimum of predictability and protection of the quality of teaching. When KS wants to reduce this protection, without showing how quality is actually to be safeguarded, the distance becomes too great.
He believes the breakup was not unexpected.
"When the employer enters negotiations with the aim of changing basic principles, without taking into account the teachers' working day, it is difficult to find common ground.
Now the case goes to the main settlement
The fact that the working hours agreement will now be part of the main collective agreement makes the matter even more important, according to NITO.
Tysse-Hostad is clear that NITO will contribute constructively in the future.
"We expect KS to return to the negotiating table with a real will to find solutions that strengthen both the teachers' working conditions and thus also the quality of teaching. It should be a common goal.
