Reference year 2016
Understanding of apprenticeships in the national context
Apprenticeships as such are not defined but there is a definition of ‘apprentice’ in the Education Act, § 3-4, “Chapter 4. Upper secondary education and training in enterprises”. It reads that an apprentice is someone who has signed a contract in view of obtaining a trade certificate or a journeyman’s certificate within a trade where in-company training is offered. Otherwise, see question 3 below on apprenticeship variations and vocational programmes integrated in education at upper secondary level.
Videregående opplæring, yrkesfaglige utdanningsprogram (Upper secondary, vocational programmes).
“Act of 17 July 1998 no. 61 relating to Primary and Secondary Education and Training (the Education Act)”. With amendments as of 25 June 2010, 31 May 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014
The same legal basis applies to all apprenticeship variations. The “Reform 94” formally integrated the apprenticeship system in upper secondary education. The main features of Reform 94 were based on a Green Paper (the “Blegen Committee” - 1991) and a “Joint Declaration on vocational education and training in schools and workplaces” (1990), signed by The Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO) and the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO).
No apprenticeship schemes are under reform.
Against a background of mismatch between the number of pupil places in upper secondary education, and a mismatch between basic vocational training places in school and apprenticeships in a number of trades and crafts; Reform 1994 reduced the number of foundation courses in VET from 101 to 12 broader and theoretically oriented initial courses, while structuring several related trades in each of the vocational tracks (Michelsen et al. 2014: 67). In 2006, the “Knowledge Promotion Reform” introduced fewer vocational courses (9 instead of 12) and the courses became broader. Still, the 2+2 model was retained as the main model in vocational training (Nyen and Tønder 2015:211).