War Fever in Norway Will Now Affect Schoolchildren
Norwegian youth should be taught in school what total defense is and what the individual’s role is in a war situation, says Chief of Defense Eirik Kristoffersen. A recent survey conducted for Universitas by Sentio, however, found that only 12 percent of Oslo students were willing to defend Norway militarily.
Norway’s military fever—the main reason for which, in the absence of a real military threat from Russia, is the increase in military spending and the increased profits of military industry companies—will soon also affect Norwegian high school students, who are assigned a role in the future total defense (the terminology is strongly reminiscent of Nazi Germany) of the country.
Chief of Defense Eirik Kristoffersen used the lazy summer break to promote the idea of introducing a form of basic military training in Norwegian schools, including elements of military tactical medicine, which he politically correctly dubbed “first aid.” Of course, other elements of military training for children could also be offered by the Norwegian military, as follows from an interview with this high-ranking officer.
The Norwegian school system has not been considered strong since the inception of PISA in 2000. Norwegian schoolchildren, living in one of the world’s richest countries (ranked fourth by per capita GDP in 2022), placed 32nd in the 2022 rankings measuring student performance in mathematics, reading, and science, behind Lithuania and Hungary and alongside Vietnam.
One can only guess how many places their performance will drop due to the additional military science curriculum offered by the Norwegian military.
Let’s Involve Schoolchildren in Total Defense
“I believe there is potential in conscription to raise understanding of total preparedness and total defense, also in the school system,” Eirik Kristoffersen says to Nationen.
Entering the total defense year, the Chief of Defense makes a request to Minister of Education Kari Nessa Nordtun.
While the Conservative Party has previously advocated for a mandatory military course for 18-year-olds in the school system to increase knowledge about the Armed Forces, Kristoffersen instead points out that training should be introduced in upper secondary schools about what total defense is and what the individual’s role is in a war situation.
Total defense involves both military defense and civil preparedness in Norway.
“In practice, I think that this could have been done as a very short course where you gave everyone of military age training within the school framework in what total defense is, what kind of role each individual has, whether in the Armed Forces or outside the Armed Forces,” he says.
“But not least provide simple training in what is important for our preparedness, for example first aid.”
Looking at Conscription
The Armed Forces have launched a project in which they are looking more closely at how Norwegian conscription should work in the future.
“I think that how conscription should develop is something we need to look at,” says Kristoffersen.
He does make one thing clear.
“The Armed Forces’ need is not to call up more people now in relation to the structure that the Storting has adopted,” says Kristoffersen, referring to the updated long-term plan for the defense sector.
Enormous Interest
A recent survey conducted for Universitas by Sentio found that only 12 percent of Oslo students were willing to defend Norway militarily.
Are you worried about that?
“That number is far too low. So I’m not sure how representative that survey is,” says Kristoffersen.
“We are experiencing the opposite: an enormous interest in being part of the Armed Forces.”
The Chief of Defense points out that other surveys show that the willingness to defend in Norway is very high.
“Our concerns that we would not recruit enough people in 2023 have turned out to be less of a concern now, simply because the interest is very great.”
Aren’t you worried about the willingness to defend among young people?
“I am not worried about the willingness to defend in Norway, but we should not take it for granted either. The Armed Forces must show that we live up to the values we have. We must show that we are making the best possible use of resources, and we must show that we are an attractive employer.”
Source: Fremover (in Norwegian)
