School environment - chapter 9A

This chapter applies to children in primary school, upper secondary school and pupils who participate in after-school programs and homework help programmes. What do you do if the child is not safe and well at school?

All pupils have the right to a safe and good school environment that promotes health, well-being and learning.

The school must have zero tolerance for abuse and bullying, violence, discrimination and harassment. It is the school's duty to work continuously and systematically to promote the health, environment and safety of pupils so that the requirements in or in accordance with chapter 9 are met - this is the principal's responsibility.

ATTENTION! It is the student's own perception that determines whether the school environment is safe or not. This means that even if the school staff believe that the school environment is safe, it is nevertheless the student's experience that must be taken as a basis and be decisive.

The school's duty and responsibility

The school has an activity obligation to ensure that pupils have a safe and good psychosocial school environment. Psychosocial school environment refers to the interpersonal relationships at school, the social environment and how students experience this, as well as how students experience the learning situation. Everyone who works at the school must monitor whether the pupils have a safe and good school environment, and intervene if they see/know about bullying, abuse, violence, discrimination and harassment if possible. If it is not possible to intervene directly, all employees have a duty to report. This means that they must notify the headmaster if they suspect or know that the pupils do not have a safe and good school environment, and the school must then investigate the matter as soon as possible. Security is also about knowing that the school will take action if something happens. If the school environment is safe, but not good, the school must also act. It is sufficient for a pupil to express that they do not have a safe and/or good school environment, or that there is a suspicion, for the school to draw up an action plan to ensure that the pupil has security and a good school environment. The school must also ensure that the students involved are heard. The school's basic consideration in the work must be "what is best for the students". The action plan from the school must be in writing and it must document what is done from the first to the fifth point, and it must contain the following:

Which problem the measures are to solve
What measure has the school planned
When the measures are to be implemented
Who is responsible for the implementation of the measures
When the measures are to be evaluated

If someone who works at the school suspects or is aware that another person who works at the school violates, bullies, uses violence, discriminates or harasses a student, the school has a heightened duty to take action. Anyone who suspects or has knowledge must immediately notify the headmaster, who must notify the school owner. Investigation and measures of the third and fourth points must be implemented immediately. If there is someone in the school management who is behind the violation, then the person who has suspicions or knowledge directly informs the school owner.

The state administrator's handling of the activity obligation in individual cases

If the pupil does not have a safe and good school environment, the pupil or the parents can report the matter to the State Administrator (formerly the County Governor) after the matter has been raised with the headmaster. The state administrator decides whether the school's activity obligation has been fulfilled. If the matter has not been raised with the headmaster, or less than a week has passed since the matter was raised with the school, the State Administrator will reject the matter - unless special reasons make the matter unreasonable. The school and school owner must (without prejudice to the duty of confidentiality) present all information that the State Administrator believes is necessary in order to be able to resolve the case and the State Administrator must ensure that all involved students are heard. "What is best for the child" must be a fundamental consideration in the State Trustee's proceedings. If the State Administrator concludes that the school has not fulfilled the activity obligation, the State Administrator can decide what the school must do to ensure that the student has a safe and good school environment. A deadline is set for when the decision will be implemented and the State Administrator must follow up on the matter. The state administrator can adopt reactions according to the school's rules of order (Section 9 A-10. Rules of Order), or that a student has to change schools (according to § 9 A-12. Change of school). The decision from the State Administrator is a single decision and can be appealed in accordance with the rules in the Public Administration Act. School owners do not have the right to appeal.

To read more about the Statsforvalteren press here.

The physical environment

The schools must be planned, built, arranged and run so that safety, health, well-being and learning are taken into account for the pupils. This must be in accordance with the professional norms that the professional authorities advise at all times. If certain environmental conditions deviate from these norms, the school must be able to document that the environment nevertheless has a satisfactory effect on the health, well-being and learning of the pupils. All students have the right to a workplace that is adapted to their needs. The school must be designed in such a way that consideration is given to the students at the school who have functional variations. If measures regarding the physical environment are requested from a pupil, parent, one of the councils or committees at the school, the school must deal with the matter as soon as possible in accordance with the rules on individual decisions in the Administration Act. If the school has not, within a reasonable time, taken a position on the matter, it will be possible to appeal in accordance with the regulations in the Administration Act as if a single decision had been made.

Student participation in working with the school environment

The student must take part in the planning and execution of the work for a safe and good school environment. The Student Council can appoint representatives to look after the students' interests vis-à-vis the school and the authorities in school environment matters. To read more about participation and rights about this print here.

Duty to provide information and right to speak

The school must inform the pupils and parents about the rights in chapter 9A, about the activity obligation and about the possibility of reporting the matter to the State Administrator. If the school knows something about the school environment that could harm the student's health, they must notify the student and parents as soon as possible. The collaboration committee, the school committee, the school environment committee, the student council and the parents must be kept informed about what is important for the school environment and be included in the work and the school environment measures. They have the right to access all documentation relating to the systematic work, and have the right to express themselves and come up with ideas on all matters that are important in the school environment.

Compulsory fine

In order to ensure the implementation of the activity obligation, rules of order and a change of school for a pupil, the State Administrator and the appeals body can determine a compulsory fine (fine) for the school owner. The decision on a compulsory fine becomes effective when the school owner does not meet the deadline for implementing a decision on this, and the fine lasts until the decision is fulfilled. A decision on a compulsory fine does not take effect if it becomes difficult to comply with the decision and the person responsible cannot do anything about it. School owners do not have the right to appeal about compulsory fines.

To read more about compulsory fine print here.

Relevant legislation and information

Legal data – Chapter 9 A. The pupils' school environment

Udir - school environment

We at Løvemammaene are very happy that this chapter exists and is as clear as it is. We believe that it is absolutely necessary to be able to maintain the pupils' well-being in everyday school life. Unfortunately, we know that not all schools in Norway either provide enough information about the existence of this section, or do not follow it as it is intended, and therefore it is not legal! Before a parent reports 9A to the principal, we recommend having spoken to the teacher and/or principal first. Here, the schools must deal already with the notification to report 9A, but if the schools do not take the notification seriously and do something about it, it must be reported in writing. Then the schools MUST take action!

If you receive an action plan that you do not see the purpose of, that is not good enough or that the measures have already been tried out without success, you give feedback to the principal and ask for a new action plan that is suitable for your child. If the school does not listen to your concerns about measures that do not work or that the plan of measures is tested without positive results, you therefore report it to the State Administrator. We would like to emphasize that it is perfectly fine to report 9A, both to the headmaster and to the State Administrator. This is about the best interests of the child and all parties must be equally concerned about that.

If you should experience violation or harassment by the school towards you parents, experience very poor cooperation or have a high level of conflict with the school, read here. We have created a document about various agencies parents can contact and which way to go.