Norway had a skills reform about twenty years ago. It’s now time for a new reform, aiming to strengthen the opportunities for learning throughout life for all. The Governemnt’s ambition is that the Norwegian systems for education and lifelong learning will respond flexibly and smoothly to changes in skills needs. To succeed in this, both the Government, the employers and the employees must contribute to the reform. An important part of the reform is therefore the National Skills Strategy, where the social partners take active part.

One of the measures in the reform is the Trade Programme (Bransjeprogrammet). All partners give their contributions: The social partners develop the learning content in the programme, the Government will pay for the delivery of training, the employers give paid working time, and the employees invest some of their leisure time.

Other essential actions are:

• A national digital career guidance service
• Efforts to improve the Norwegian system for validation of prior learning
• Efforts to strengthen the role of the Norwegian counties and regions in skills matters
• More funding to the SkillsPlus programme to strengthen the basic skills of people at work
• A module structured system of adult primary and secondary education (modulstrukturert voksenopplæring)
• Apprenticeship at the workplace (Fagbrev på jobb)

A white paper about the reform will be published in 2020.

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