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They want language tests for four-year-olds. Every fourth student in Oslo has problems with Norwegian
1 in 4 first-grade students required special Norwegian language education. stock.adobe.com/licencja standardowa
25% of children who started first grade in Oslo last year need extended Norwegian language education. The Progress Party (FrP) considers these numbers alarming and proposes mandatory language tests for four-year-olds, following the Danish model.
According to the Oslo Education Authority, 1 in 4 first-grade students required special Norwegian language education when they started school in 2024. For the Progress Party, this is a clear signal that the current integration policy is not yielding results.
“This is not just a language problem, it's a system failure. We risk creating a two-tier society where more children will start school with serious deficiencies,” says Julianne Ofstad, Deputy Mayor of Oslo.
It concerns children who start school without knowing Norwegian well enough, and who may therefore struggle to keep up with learning, which will affect their future life, even beyond education.
FrP emphasizes the importance of early efforts in foreign languages as an investment in the future. The party currently proposes that all four-year-olds in Oslo undergo language tests, as is done in Denmark. Children with insufficient language skills are directed to mandatory language training before starting school.
Start as early as possible
It is also important to take more visible actions to encourage more children to start learning the language in kindergarten. Social services have the right to order parents to send children to kindergarten if it is in their best interest. According to Ofstad, this option is currently rarely used.
She warns that the Progress Party in Oslo will propose mandatory language tests for all four-year-olds, targeted language training for children with special needs before starting school, and that social services must make greater use of the Child Welfare Act (art. 4-4), ordering them to stay in kindergarten.
Sources: FrP, NTB, NRK, barnehage.no