Give students additional points for Folkehøgskole!
Two points for a year at a folk high school is not the main reason why about 6000 pupils apply to a folk high school each year, but when the government says that the points lapse, they also say something about what they think about the place of the folk colleges in the training course.
We have worked hard for many years to show that we are not a nursery for adults.
Not because daycare is a negative word. The learning that takes place in kindergartens is very important for human development and social training, and in this way the concept suits us well.
But because the concept of kindergarten has been a ridicule of the school battle and an underestimation of what students actually get with them in their backpack next.
Folkehøgskole is a good investment
Now that so many pupils drop out of the training run it is more important than ever to give them the breathing space they need to recalibrate their compass.
Not alone in a dorm or at Mom and Dad's house that they know so well, but with people from all over the country and the world that they don't know.
One thinks best and gets to know oneself best in interaction with others who give new perspectives to things.
We often have students who spend two years with us at Vefsn Folkehøgskole Toppen, because the one year makes a lot of sense and they want to be even safer before they throw themselves out of the plane with their own parachute.
In a long life perspective, this is a good investment. This bunch of people have to work until they're over 70 anyway to be able to retire. When else are they going to take those years where they invest in figuring themselves out?
In addition, we live in an extremely polarized world. The algorithms give us more of what we already know at SoMe. The media has to shout loudly with simple headlines to get clicks. “Deep fakes” make it hard to believe what we actually see with our own eyes, and it's easy to lose our footing.
Folkehøgskole is a world society in miniature
Here the Serb has to explain why he is Russia-friendly in the Ukraine invasion. The American needs to explain how Trump can have so many supporters and why abortion resistance is so great in a country that we until constantly like to compare ourselves to.
Here the Dutchman, the Swede, the Icelander and the Norwegian go on the same trip and can reflect on the cultural similarities and differences around the same bonfire in Børgefjell.
Here, Norwegians encounter reverse racism when they travel together on a study trip to South Korea and Gambia, and can discuss how this feels, and transfer it to how minorities in social life might otherwise feel.
It's not NOW to think that folk high school is a waste of a year
Now one should think that just as everyone benefits from discipline and the skills of defense to become good citizens of society, they also benefit from facing the world as it really is - in a safe environment at boarding school.
Debriefing together with good folk high school staff 24/7 counteracts prejudice and narrow-mindedness. Then you learn both about your own feelings and about the attitudes of others and we always ask questions about why things are the way they are.
We never give up, and we never give up!
We know that what we do on a daily basis is important for building the strength of character and courage to make good choices in life.
We know we help young people dare to take a stand and speak their own mind.
We know we deliver from us good fellow citizens and wise heads.
We just wish more people knew. Especially those who decide what to invest in going forward to build the country!
Also read the principal's reader post in ND Northern Norway debate.
