Postponed elimination of Norwegian course
The formal discussions over the proposal to exclude self-financing non-Norwegian speaking students from Bachelor’s programs have been put on hold.
– We would like this arrangement to continue. These students are important for the University, Iselin A. Rud-Goksøyr says, who is responsible for international relations in the Student Parliament.
She is relieved after the proposal to exclude self-financed Bachelor students is now subject to review. Thus, the decision of whether or not their Norwegian course is to be eliminated is postponed.
Have to listen to students
The proposal applies to self-financed Bachelor students, and not to students from quotas or exchange students. Every year, the University of Oslo accepts some 60 or 70 of these students. Attempts were made to implement a similar system in 2002, but this caused a great deal of dismay in the Student Parliament back then as well.
In the final edition of Universitas before Christmas, we reported that documents indicated that student politicians were kept in the dark regarding a possible decision.
A document reads as follows according to our reports: «Student Administration holds that any considerations as to the elimination of the course should primarily be made by central University authorities, partly because this is an institutional matter, and because the use of resources mainly lies in the hands of central authorities and the Department of Linguistics and Scandinavian Studies».
However, all faculties and relevant institutions, among them the Student Parliament, may now have a say in the matter. The deadline for the review is 31 January.
– Valuable students
Ricardo Duque, leader of International Student Union Oslo, hopes that the proposal will be modified following the review.
– Bachelor students who come here are just as valuable as Master students, and arrangements have to be made so that they will learn Norwegian. These students are here for a long time. They become a part of the atmosphere, and it would be too bad if the University were to lose them, he says.
Students accepted in 2005 are not going to be excluded even if the proposal from the Student Administration were to be adopted.
