PROPOSED AMENDMENT IN LEGISLATION
The Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training has issued a proposal in which they propose amending the regulations to the Education Act governing validation of prior learning. If the proposal is approved, it will be possible for candidates to go through the validation process in other languages than Norwegian and Sami (the national languages). The proposal is now circulated for public consultation, with a deadline on 10.10.2019. The actual amendment is intended to take effect on 01.01.2020 if approved.
The Norwegian trials in VISKA have worked with refugees who have arrived quite recently and do not yet have sufficient command of Norwegian or Sami. They have gone through validation in their mother tongue, with the help of interpreters, or in English. The proposed amendment would shift this possibility from a pilot/project stage to more general availability, thus extending access to validation to new groups of people.
A government whitepaper (Meld. St. 16, 2015-16) emphasises that it is important to make sure immigrants’ competence can be put quickly to use in working life, and that good qualification pathways are crucial to successful integration. Validation is an important factor in achieving this and can contribute to faster integration in working life and society.