Cuts in expertise slow down the restructuring
By Kjetil Lein, President NITO and Kent Gudmundsen, Secretary General of the Norwegian Competence Association.
The Government proposes to halve the subsidy for schemes that promote continuing education. It is difficult to understand when the labour market is to be restructured faster than ever.
Artificial intelligence is changing tasks in almost all professions. The green shift requires new technology and new skills. The security policy situation is the most serious in generations. All of this is happening at the same time, and everything points in the same direction: skills in working life must be renewed, continuously and on a large scale.
Nevertheless, the government proposes to halve the allocation to one of the few schemes that have been built precisely for this purpose and affects over 100,000 annual participants. The study association scheme under the Ministry of Education and Research provides short, work-relevant courses throughout the country. People take them alongside work, and the initiative lies with the employee himself. The scheme is partly financed: the state contributes, and the participants and organisations take the rest. For every krone the government spends, a lot of learning and value creation is thus triggered, and is an effectivecompetence policy scare. The cut therefore hits harder than the budget item indicates.
The workforce that will transform Norway is already in work
Norway lacks engineers and technologists, and we need more study places and a boost in science in schools. We stand behind that. But a student who chooses science subjects today will have completed their education well into the 2030s. The companies lack expertise now, and they cannot wait that long. If we are to succeed, we must also raise the skills of those who are already in the jobs. For an engineer, professional updating is not a good thing. It is a prerequisite for being able to do his or her job in five years.
The same applies to emergency preparedness. The Storting has asked the Government to investigate emergency preparedness courses under civilian auspices, including for adults. It is in the workplaces that preparedness is built or weakened, every day. Decisions are made about value chains, purchasing, warehousing and digital systems. Emergency preparedness expertise cannot stop at the school gates. The infrastructure to reach adults already exists. This is what the Government is now proposing to halve.
Not just for those who are in work
This is not just about those who have jobs. The study associations' courses are also a low-threshold offer for those who are excluded. Many people take their first step back to learning on a course, in their own local environment and without admission requirements. This is often where the road to work begins.
The study associations are working to make this road shorter. The social partners have themselves requested certificates of competence, and the recommendation has been included in the Competence Reform Committee's NOU 2025:1. The certificates will highlight and document what people have actually learned, so that employers can read it. At the same time, together with several vocational schools, we are building systems for assessing prior learning. The goal is for more people to find their way on to formal education, whether it is a trade certificate, vocational school or higher education. This is the modernisation that the labour market has asked for. It will be difficult to implement with funding halved.
This is not a scheme that can withstand an adjustment in the margin. A halving will weaken the offer across the country, both for employees who need professional replenishment and for those who are trying to enter working life. We therefore ask the Storting to fully reverse the cut in the budget negotiations.
In these times, we should discuss how the scheme can be invested more in. None of the restructuring Norway is facing will be made easier by fewer learners.