The City of Oslo The Education Authority
Circular no. 4/2005
[engelsk]
To: All primary schools Case no.: Date issued: 200500116-1 03 February 2005
The Department for Pupil Administration and Planning From: Case processing Jan Petter Nielsen officer: Telephone: (+47) 23 46 70 48
Replaces:
Circular no. 2/2001
LEAVE FROM SCHOOL
Rules for leave of absence from school for pupils outside of school holidays and official days off in the school schedule
Section 2-1 of the Education Act: Rights and obligations for primary school education states in the first and fifth paragraphs: "Children and young people are obliged to attend primary and lower secondary education, and have the right to a public primary and lower secondary education in accordance with this Act and regulations pursuant to the Act. The obligation may be met by means of the publicly maintained primary and lower secondary schools or by means of other equivalent education." (…) "If a pupil is absent without permission from compulsory tuition, his or her parents or those who have the care responsibility for the child may be liable to fines if the absence is a result of deliberate or negligent actions by them. Public prosecution is not instituted unless so decided by the municipality." In the remarks to Section 2-1 of the Education Act, Proposition to the Odelsting (Parliament) no. 46 (1997-98), from the Royal Ministry of Education, Research and Church Affairs (Norwegian acronym KUF), it is stated that: ”Norwegian citizens who settle abroad do not have any right or obligation to primary education pursuant to Norwegian legislation. However, persons who are resident in Norway but who have short holidays or similar stays abroad must be included under the primary school obligation, so that in these cases a leave of absence must be applied for.”
Postal address: Pb 6127 Etterstad, 0602 Oslo Bank giro: 6004 06 56033 Org.no. 971 189 223 MVA
Office address: Strømsveien 102 Tel.: 22 66 70 70 Fax: 22 65 79 71
IT Section, Ensjø Skedsmogt. 25, 0655 Oslo Tel.: 22 08 73 00 Fax: 22 08 73 20
Planning Department Fyrstikkallèen 3 B, 0661 Oslo Tel.: 23 06 09 70 Fax: 23 06 09 98
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Section 2-11 of the Education Act: Leave of absence from compulsory education states: "When it is deemed appropriate, the municipality may upon receipt of an application grant individual pupils leave of absence for up to two weeks. A pupil who belongs to a religious community outside the Church of Norway has, upon application, the right to be absent from school on those days his or her community has religious holidays. This right is conditional upon the parents ensuring the necessary tuition during the period of leave so that the pupil is able to keep pace with the tuition in his or her class when the period of leave has come to an end". DECISION-MAKING AUTHORITY – CRITERIA The decision-making authority in cases that concern leaves of absence has been delegated to the principal/headmaster. The Education Act does not lay down any criteria for assessing applications for leave of absence when the applications are to be processed. Nor are there any provisions governing the number of leaves a pupil may be granted in the course of a school year or throughout the compulsory school period. The condition laid down by the Education Act is that a leave of absence may be granted "when it is deemed appropriate". Thus each application must be dealt with according to best judgement; the assessment should attach importance to educational considerations, and also to whether and to which degree the pupil has been granted leave previously. DURATION OF A LEAVE OF ABSENCE The Education Act's provision relating to a maximum leave of absence of two weeks (ten school days) cannot be deviated from. Thus the principal/headmaster must reject all applications for a leave of absence for more than two weeks. The principal/headmaster may nevertheless grant a leave of absence for two weeks of the period of time applied for and reject the remaining time. In such cases the parents/guardians must confirm whether or not they wish to avail themselves of the two weeks of leave, and which two-week period of the time originally applied for that they would prefer for the leave. See also Attachment 2. To exercise some degree of flexibility, the principal/headmaster may also grant leave just prior to and/or just after one of the school's holidays, but such that the pupil's absence does not exceed ten school days. INVALID ABSENTEEISM Should the parents/guardians choose to leave, either without having applied for, or without having been granted a leave of absence for the (whole) period they applied for, the pupil's absence will be deemed invalid absenteeism for any portion of the application that was not granted. After two weeks of invalid absenteeism the pupil will be removed from the school's register of pupils. When/if the pupil returns, s/he is to be reregistered at the school in the regular manner. The pupil may then regain his/her place in the school if it has a vacancy. In such cases, the principal/headmaster determines whether the pupil will also be able to return to the same class s/he was in before leaving. It cannot be expected that the school will provide extra tuition to recover what has been lost during the period of absence. With respect to procedures for invalid absenteeism, we also refer to the Education Authority's two letters, dated 26 May and 25 August 2004. SPECIAL DOCUMENTATION – RETAINING THE PLACE IN SCHOOL Neither the principal/headmaster, the Education Administration nor the County Governor (administrative appeals body) may grant a pupil a leave of absence for more than two weeks, as no exemptions from this rule have been authorized in the Education Act. Even if the two-week rule cannot be deviated from, it may nevertheless occur that there may be reasonable grounds to decide that the absence should not lead to the pupil being removed from the school's register. In individual cases where special documentation exists, the
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principal/headmaster may confirm that the pupil will be allowed to retain his/her place in school during a period of absence of more then two weeks, but without defining the absenteeism as a leave of absence: When undertaking the right of access (child/parent visitation rights). The employer of the parents/guardians has ordered them to take their holidays outside school holidays. The employer of the parents/guardians has ordered them to work/attend courses/further education in another municipality/another country for a period of time. However, this period must not be longer than the remainder of the school year at that particular time, alternatively up to one school year, depending, among other things, upon the capacity of the class level. Staying abroad in connection with an adoption. Participation in a TV/film production, cultural activities or sports arrangements. Other special considerations.
The parents/guardians must ensure that the pupil is given the proper instruction in such cases. See also Attachment 3. REPLYING TO APPLICATIONS FOR LEAVE As the decision-making authority has been delegated to the principal/headmaster, all applications must be answered in writing by the individual school. Three templates have been enclosed for the individual decision and reply letter that the school may use. The templates shall be used on the school's paper with the school's letterhead and all the fields with red text in the electronic version must be adapted to each individual pupil case. Attachment 1: The principal/headmaster grants leave of up to two weeks. Attachment 2: The principal/headmaster rejects the application for a leave of absence for more than two weeks but grants a leave of absence for two weeks. The parents/guardians must inform the school which two weeks they prefer to use, if they decide to take the leave. If the principal/headmaster does not deem it appropriate to grant a leave of absence for two weeks the same template should be used, but the text must be adapted to the individual case. In such cases the principal/headmaster must also give grounds as to why the absence is not deemed appropriate. Attachment 3: In those cases where special documentation exists, cf. the bullet points above, the principal/headmaster may confirm that the place in school may be retained but without defining the absenteeism as a leave of absence. In such cases only an ordinary reply letter is used; it is not necessary to reach an individual decision with information on the right of appeal.
In the event of an appeal, the following documents must be sent to the Education Administration: The principal/headmaster's cover letter. The application from the parents/guardians. The principal's/headmaster's decision, with reasons. The appeal from the parents/guardians, with reasons. Any documentation.
The Education Administration requests schools to inform parents/guardians about the procedures and legislation in force concerning applications for a leave of absence from school. Bearing in mind the time it takes to process an application, parents/guardians should also be encouraged to apply well in advance before
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the planned leave is to start, and at any rate prior to entering into committing agreements, such as booking and paying for airline tickets. As a stage in the information activities regarding parents/guardians in Oslo schools, the Education Administration will ensure that this circular (minus the attachments) is translated into the Arabic, English, Somali, Tamil, Turkish, Urdu and Vietnamese languages. If needed, schools may also have this translated into other languages. Both the circular and the translations will be posted on the Education Authority's website at address: www.ude.oslo.kommune.no under the menu keys "Lovverk, rundskriv og skjema" – "Rundskriv" (Circular). Yours sincerely
Astrid Søgnen Director General
Sidsel Sparre Head of Department
Attachment:
1) Template for individual decision – granting the application for leave 2) Template for individual decision – rejecting an application for leave of absence 3) Template for a reply letter – retaining the place at school