Fewer apprentices

Preliminary figures indicate that approximately 3 700 fewer apprentices were registered in upper secondary education in 2009 compared with the previous year. For the first time since 2004 the number of apprentices decreased, and is now on the same level as it was in 2006.

As per October 1 2009, 34 000 apprentices were registered in upper secondary education, which is a decrease of 10 per cent from the previous year. Variations in the size of the age cohorts do not explain the change. The decline is most pronounced in large education programmes such as electricity and electronics, building and construction and technical and industrial production.

Fewer pupils attend programme for restaurant and food processing

Preliminary figures as per 1 October 2009 show that 75 000 pupils were registered as attending upper secondary level 1 (vg1). In some of the vocational education programmes there has been a decline in the number of pupils. The number of pupils in vg1 restaurant and food processing has dropped by approximately 20 per cent since 2006. Another programme with a considerable reduction in the number of pupils was the vg1 programme for building and construction, which decreased by 11 per cent compared with the preceding year.

Source: Statistics Norway