Pupils in primary and lower secondary school, 1 September 2001

Minority language pupils, pupils with a mother tongue other than Norwegian of Samisk, amounted to 6,8 percent of all pupils by autumn 2001. Apart from pupils registered with "other" mother tongues, 148 different languages were represented among minority language pupils in primary and lower secondary school.

According to the Education Act, municipalities are to provide pupils with a minority language all necessary mother language training, bilingual education and additional education in Norwegian language until they are able to participate in ordinary classes. Not all of the minority language pupils need this additional training. By autumn 2001 almost 18 600 pupils received mother language training and/or bilingual education. The number corresponds to 3.1 percent of pupils in primary and lower secondary school. The proportion of pupils who receive such education has risen from 2.1 percent in the school year 1992/93, but has remains almost unchanged the last four of years.

Mother language training and bilingual education were given in 101 languages, and in languages registered as "other". Urdu was the largest language among the pupils receiving such training, with almost 3000 pupils. More than 1000 pupils also got education in or training in Vietnamese, Arabic, Somali, Albanian, Kurdish, Bosnian and Turkish.

38 900 pupils with additional training in Norwegian

By autumn 2001 almost 32 900 pupils, or 81 percent of all pupils registered as foreign language pupils, got additional training in Norwegian. This corresponds to 5.5 percent of all pupils in primary and lower secondary school.

14.9 percent pupils with 'Nynorsk'

The school year 2001/02 about 89 200 pupils in primary and lower secondary school used the Official form of Norwegian "Nynorsk", 509 900 used the Official form of Norwegian "Bokmål", while more than 1000 pupils used Sami. This figure corresponds roughly to that of the previous school year.

Not the same as immigrants

In addition to those pupils having Sami as their first language, 750 pupils had Sami as their second language. More than 700 pupils also got education in the subject "Sami language and culture".

Minority language pupils are not the same as persons in the immigrant population 6-15 years old. In primary and lower secondary school statistics, minority language pupils are defined as pupils speaking other mother tongues than Norwegian or Sami at home. Apart from pupils recieving additional training in Norwegian, mother language training and bilingual education, one has to assume that some registration is based on judgments. On the other hand, the immigrant population includes first-generation immigrants without Norwegian background and persons born in Norway of two foreign-born parents (more under "About the statistics" at www.ssb.no/innvbef_en/.

Tables:

• Table 1 Primary and lower secondary schools. Pupils in primary and lower secondary school. School years 1979/80 - 2001/02
• Table 2 Pupils in primary and lower secondary school, by county. School year 2001/02. Final figures
• Table 3 Avarage number of pupils in classes. School years 1982//83 - 2001/02. Final figures
• Table 4 New and closed schools by county. September 2000 - September 2001. Final figures.
• Table 5 Pupils in primary school, by grade. School year 2001/02. Final figures.
• Table 6 Schools, by school size (number of pupils). School years 1997/98 - 2001/02. Per cent. Final figures
• Table 7 Pupils, by school size (number of pupils). School years 1997/98 - 2001/02. Per cent. Final figures
• Table 8 Number of schools, classes, the total of pupils and foreign language pupils, by municipality. 1 September 2001
• Table 9 Foreign language pupils, pupils with native language training, biligual education and additional training in Norwegian, by county. 1 September 2001
• Table 10 Foreign language pupils, pupils with native language training and additional training in Norwegian. School years 19921
• Table 11 Minority language pupils, by mother tongue. 1 September 2001
• Table 12 Pupils receiving mother language traning or biligual education, by mother tongue. 1 September 2001
• Table 13 Pupils, by official form of Norwegian and county. 1 September 2001
• Table 14 Pupils with Sami , by county. 1 September 2001 (Corrected 5 June 2002)