Free after-school hours on Svalbard would cost NOK 1.2 million

Giving pupils in grades 1 to 3 in Longyearbyen 12 free hours a week of after-school care would cost NOK 1.2 million a year. Education Minister Kari Nessa Nordtun gave the figure to the Storting (the Norwegian parliament) in a written answer on Thursday 12 November. Half a year would cost NOK 0.5 million, in 2027 prices.

Adding grade 4 would bring the cost for grades 1 to 4 to NOK 1.8 million a year and NOK 0.8 million for half a year.

On the mainland, the free hours are known as core time. They were introduced for grade 1 in autumn 2022, extended to grade 2 in August 2023 and to grade 3 in August 2024, the Ministry of Education said in May 2024.

The minister said welfare services are more limited on Svalbard than on the mainland, and that there is no statutory right there to 12 free hours a week. The ministry based its estimate on the number of pupils and the monthly fee for a part-time place at Longyearbyen School in the 2025/26 school year.

Sunniva Holmås Eidsvoll of the Socialist Left Party asked for the calculation on 30 October. She wrote that the cost could be covered by adding it to the state grant to the local council (Longyearbyen lokalstyre).

The council's after-school programme takes grades 1 to 4. In 2026 a full-time place costs NOK 2,635 a month and a 60% place NOK 1,839, according to the council.

Earlier: Free after-school care hours in Svalbard: question on cost (2 November 2026)

Coverage: Stortinget