For every primary school, special buildings shall be erected
or rented. In the country, however, in the infant-school districts
and the primary-school districts that have less than 20 scholars,
school may be held in rotation in the houses of the inhabitants
of the district, where sufficient room can be procured. Ambulatory
schools are steadily decreasing. Whereas in 1837, 92 °/o of the
children attending school in the country were taught in ambulatory
schools, in 1895 this was the case with only 2 °/o.
The syllabus of subjects in the primary school is religion,
the Norwegian language, arithmetic, elementary geometry, writing,
singing, geography, history (including a knowledge of the administration
and local government of the country), botany, zoology and
the elements of physics with the fundamental features of hygiene
(including instruction in the effects' and dangers of the intoxicating
liquors), manual work, drawing and gymnastics (in which may
be included preparatory rifle practice). In undivided schools in
the country, the introduction of manual work, gymnastics, and
drawing is a voluntary matter; if the school be divided into classes,
only one of these subjects is compulsory, but in the towns all
three subjects are compulsory. Dissenters are exempted from instruction
in religious knowledge.
The standard to be attained is fixed by law only with regard
to religious knowledge. In this subject the standard aimed at is
a thorough knowledge of the main substance of Bible history and
church history, and of the Catechism, according to the Evangelican
Lutheran creed. In the other subjects, it is left to the School
Board to fix the standard in the school plan. In most of the
rural municipalities, the standard of the various subjects and the
time-table are determined principally in-accordance with a «normal
plan», which was sent round, after the act of 1889, by the
Ecclesiastical Department, as a guide, and was drawn up after
conference with the school directors.
In the most northerly counties, the population of several
municipalities consists .partly of Finns and Lapps. This necessitates
the use of Finnish and Lappish in several schools, as an auxiliary
language in-the instruction of children of these nationalities.
In accordance with the «normal plan»-; the subjects and timetable
in most rural municipalities, are arranged somewhat in the
following manner:
Lessons in the. School-week.
-Sub j e c t s
Undivided
School
School
with 1 Cl.
for each
Div.
School with
3 Classes
. School with several
Classes
1st 2nd 1st 2nd
1st
Div. 2nd. Div. 1st Div. 2nd Div.
Div. Div. Cl. Cl. 1st 2nd 3rd 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th
........ Cl. Cl. Cl. Cl. Cl. Cl. Cl. Cl.
Religion . . . . 8 9 7 . r k 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7
Norwegian . . . 8 7 8 7 8 7 7 10 8 7‘ 7 7
Arithmetic . 5 6 5 6 ! 5 6 6 5 6 6 6
Geography . i 2 2 2 2 i i 2 2 2
History . . . ■ 2
i b
2 3 2 2
[ 2 r 3 2 2 2
Science . . . . J 2 u 2 J 2 2 j J 2 2 2
Writing . . . H 5 4 5 ' 4 ! 6 4 2 5 5 4 3 2
Singing . . . . 2 2 "2 2 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
Manual Work . ..
Drawing . . . .
—- 12 r
— 2 2
2
— 2
1
22
2
2
Gymnastics. . 1. s % — 17*9 2 2 9 2 2 2
Total 30 36 30 36 30 36 36 30 30 36 36 36
In the towns, where the school terms are of longer duration,
and where absences are less frequent, it has been possible
to set a higher standard than in the normal plan for the country
districts. In Kristiania,. where the primary school is considered to
be among the best and has been the model for a number of
other towns, the subjects and lessons are arranged according to
the table on p. 272 (the figures in parantheses refer to girls).
It is decided in the school plan whether yearly and leaving
examinations are to be held, and if so, how they are to be arranged.
The form of the leaving certificate of the school is also
determined in the school plan.
The pupils. In the. country, the number of pupils in each
class must not exceed 35, and in the towns 40, except temporarily
or from urgent pecuniary considerations, and must never exceed
respectively 45 and 50. In the country, boys and girls are generally
taught together, in the towns, as a rule, separately. Out of
the rural school districts in 1895 5923 in number B- 69 per