Norwegian schools to reintroduce absence rules next academic year

The absence limit, which can see children not receive a grade in their subjects if they miss too many lessons, will be reintroduced for the next academic year in Norway, the government announced.

"Students will no longer be able to use self-declaration or confirmation from a parent to document absence due to health reasons," the government wrote in an announcement.

If high school students in Norway miss more than 10 percent of lessons in a subject, then the student will fail the subject and not receive a grade. Students can have an authorised absence with valid documentation, such as a doctor's note.

During the pandemic, the government introduced rules which meant there were exemptions from the documentation required for a health-related absence.

"Throughout the pandemic, we wanted to avoid students with symptoms of respiratory disease who attended school in fear of high absenteeism. I am very happy that society is back to a more normal everyday life, also in schools too. This means that we will return to normal rules and routines for attendance in schools," Minister of Education Tonje Brenna said in a government announcement.

The Socialist Left Party, which supports the government on budgetary matters, has called on the education ministry to tweak the rules to ensure that pupils don't need to get a doctor's note every time they are sick.