The Norwegian government has announced that many students are now attending online classes.
In a statement issued on May 10, the government announced that nearly ten percent of all students who are now enrolled choose flexible education opportunities rather than campus-based studies, according to reports.
In this regard, the Minister of Research and Higher Education, Ola Borten Moe, said that the demand for flexible education is growing.
“Many want to study where they live and combine education with work and family. This is a necessary development,” he also noted.
According to the government, Norway has a lot of human power and skills shortages, so there is a tremendous unmet need in the labour market.
“We now have an outstanding labour market. This means that we must get more people into work, at the same time as those who are already in work must be offered professional replenishment. Therefore, we must reach more people with flexible educations,” Borten pointed out.
In 2021 there turned out to be a little more than 29,4000 students in flexible education, which means there was an increase of 13 per cent from 2022. On the other hand, online offers are also responsible for growth.
The increase in online studies has been significantly noticed in the spring number of university applicants.
In addition, this year, Norway generally has received 34 per cent more first-choice applicants for solely online studies at the universities located in its territory than a year ago.
In 2021, Norway had 305,000 students enrolled in higher education, including police, defence, and private institutions, without funding from the Ministry of Education. It also means there has been a four per cent increase over 2020 with around 12,000 students.
