– A great victory

During the debate on the Quality Reform held on 7 March, the governing parties had a change of mind on the importance of external examiners in all degree level examinations. Now, the Storting has decided to reintroduce the requirement of external examiners – to the joy of Per Anders Langerød, President of the National Union of Students in Norway (NSU).

– It looks like we are getting back the external examiner. We have been working on this for a very long time and consider it to be a great victory.

Langelød recounts the number of times NSU have tried to raise the issue before the Ministry of Education and Research, but to no avail.

– They barely mentioned it when they delivered their status report in November, but the Opposition has taken interest and yesterday they forwarded the motion that was voted on.

– Undermines the credibility of higher education

Anders Anundsen, Member of the Standing Committee on Education, Research and Church Affairs (KUF) from the Progress Party (Frp) agree that this is an important issue and emphasises that the external examiner system maintains the quality of higher education.

– There has been a tendency to undermine the structure of examinations. Some claim that the number of students failing their exams will go down with the introduction of a prospective payment system into higher education. They fear that education establishments will let unqualified students graduate in order to receive more money. I’m not saying that this will be the case, only that this is a weakness in the system. External examiners would make up for this and ensure that standards are kept, Amundsen says.

Ine Marie Eriksen Søreide (H), Head of the committee, stresses that there are no records that show that today’s system allows unqualified students to pass their exams. However, she believes that the Bachelor’s degrees at the various institutions vary too much in quality.

– What a Bachelor’s degree actually contains varies a lot, and many feel unsure of their examination results. The Bachelor level is often considered to be a beginning rather than a completed course of study. External examination may lead to a change in this attitude, she adds.

Bjarne Hodne, Chair of The Norwegian Association of Researchers (Forskerforbundet), agrees with Søreide that this could lead to a much needed common praxis for evaluation across the universities and university colleges in Norway. He also believes that the system will be of use to the academic staff.

– This would ensure dialogue between related research communities and set a standard when it comes to the examination structure.

Langerød states that the external examination system is vital when it comes to protecting the rights of the students.

– The decisions that are made are so important that people other than the ones who have been in close contact with the students should take part in the evaluation.

– May take a while

Anna Ljunggren (Ap) thinks that it is great that NSU is happy with the result, but warns that this is not something that will happen in the twinkling of an eye.

– It is a signal to show that we are positive about this, but it is important to keep in mind that this is a long-term project. Other economic considerations, such as the basic allocation, must be taken into account as well, Ljunggren says.

Langerød is prepared to wait for a while, but he is certain that the external examination system will be implemented.

– Reforms always take time, but we will follow this closely and make sure that it is carried out to the best for the students.