Folk high schools, long courses, 2001

The percentage of women at folk high schools is high. Over 63 per cent of the pupils are women. Among 19-year-olds the percentage is even higher. Of these, 74 per cent of the pupils are women.

Three times as many applicants are pupils

For the 2001/2002 school year, 15 600 persons, most of them female, applied for a place in folk high school main courses. That is, the number of pupils comprises only a third of all applicants. The preponderance of applicants and pupils alike comes from Norway. Whereas 83 per cent of applicants were born in Norway, 17 per cent of applicants were born abroad. Applicants born in India represented the largest share of foreign applicants whose country of birth was reported. Applicants born in Sweden make up the next largest group of foreign applicants. The figures show that whereas 70 per cent of Swedish-born applicants were women, women accounted for only 18 per cent of all applicants from India.

More than half the students are 19-year-olds

Whereas 19-year-olds account for 54 per cent of pupils, the age groups over and under 19 account for 22 and 24 per cent, respectively. Nineteen-year-olds also account for half of the applicants. The statistics on pupils at folk high schools show that most pupils by far are enrolled in full-year courses, whereas only 4 per cent of them are in half-year courses. Although folk high schools are basically boarding schools, a number of pupils do not live at school. As of 1 October, day pupils accounted for 8 per cent of the total.

Six per cent of pupils are members of special target groups (cf. Section 24 of the Adult Education Act). For the most part these are physically handicapped pupils, but pupils with weak educational backgrounds, non-native speakers and persons with special care responsibilities are defined under this provision.

Far from home

Only 2 per cent of the pupils attend folk high schools located in their municipalities of residence. Whereas 9 per cent attend folk high schools in their counties of residence, a whopping 89 per cent attend folk high schools in a country other than the one where they reside. This is completely different from all other kinds of schools.

Parents level of education

When looking at the parents level of education (on the basis of the parent with the higher education level), we see that 52 per cent of the pupils have parents with a university or college education as their highest level of education. Those pupils who have parents whose highest level of education is at the upper secondary level account for 46 per cent of all pupils, whereas only 2 per cent of the pupils have parents whose highest level of education is at the primary and lower secondary level. We have information on 82 per cent of the pupils parents highest level of education. Especially among immigrants the percentage of non-responses is high.

Most pupils from Hordaland

Without taking county population into consideration, it emerges that the interest in folk high schools is higher in Hordaland than in the other counties. 513 pupils come from Hordaland. By way of comparison, fewer pupils come from the more highly populated counties of Oslo and Akershus, with 439 and 246 pupils, respectively. The fewest pupils come from Finnmark (98 pupils) and Vest-Agder (148 pupils).

During the 2000/01 school year, 5 622 pupils took main courses at folk high schools. Of these pupils, 92 per cent completed the programmes they started. We find the same pattern regarding sex and age distribution, county of residence etc. for the pupils in the 2000/01 school year as for pupils as of 1 October 2001.

Tables:

• Table 1 Folk high schools. Applicants by gender, age and country of birth. 2001
• Table 2 Pupils in folk high schools by gender, age and county of residence. 1. October 2001
• Table 3 Pupils in folk high schools by gender, age and type of course. 1. October 2001
• Table 4 Pupils who completed a course in folk high schools, by gender, age and county of residence. 2000/01