Conference Agenda

In Norwegian Sámi districts “all children at the primary and lower secondary level have the right to receive education both in Sámi and through the medium of Sámi,” and “outside Sámi districts, if at least ten pupils in a municipality wish to receive (them), they have the right to such education as long as there remain at least six pupils in the group” (Education Act, 1998, Chapter 6, Section 6.2). Similarly, Sámi students “in upper secondary education and training have the right to receive Sámi instruction” (Education Act, 1998, Chapter 6, Section 6.3). However, in the administrative area, many students remain in Sámi-medium instruction only until 7th grade, and in many schools with only a few non-Sámi pupils, Norwegian dominates as a medium of instruction. Moreover, after only a few years in Sámi-medium instruction, many parents move their children to Norwegian-medium instruction, fearing that their children will end up with fewer opportunities in higher education or the labor market. Outside of the administrative area, Sámi-medium instruction is also limited, with few children enrolled in it. In Alta schools (Northern Norway), Sámi is offered as an addition to the other required classes and is sometimes scheduled at the same time as Norwegian or English classes. The lack of integration of Sámi classes in the school curriculum has had a significant impact on the students’ motivation to learn Sámi, especially when starting lower secondary education, and hence, many children quit or wish to quit the Sámi language class. One of the main reasons for this is that Norwegian linguistic legislation resulted in a territorialized language policy through which the most robust language rights are only available to the Sámi in the Sámi administrative area, even though many of Norway’s Sámi population lives outside of the Sámi core area (e.g., the Alta municipality).