Norwegian schools are better than the rest in promoting social equality to their students, a new report has found.
The latest Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) survey may have placed Norwegian students behind their Scandinavian counterparts, and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) may class them as average at reading, science and mathematics, but Norwegian schools are top of the pile when it comes to reducing social equalities among school children.
The report has revealed that the background of students in Norway has the least impact on examination performance.
University of Oslo researcher Rolf Vegard Olsen explained that school communities in Norway are relatively inclusive. He noted that the difference between people from different social backgrounds in Norwegian schools is smaller now than it was in 2003.
Olsen went on to describe the effect of a child’s home background as “strong”, noting that students from more well-off families are offered greater support with school work and are benefitted from being surrounded by role models who show them the importance of knowledge. However, he said this effect is not as strong in Norway.