Art Theft on Campus
Highest-educated in Europe
Norway ranks fourth on the OECD’s latest listing of education levels worldwide, only bested by Canada, Japan and Korea. 39.7% of the population
of Norway aged 25 to 34 has completed higher education. The chairman of the
Storting’s Committee for Education, Rolf Reikvam, says that Norway must be
wary of introducing student fees for higher education, as this is could lead to a drop in the number of students at universities and university colleges. Bjørn Haugestad, state secretary at the Ministry of Education and Research, does not believe that school fees necessarily reduce the share of population in higher education. Canada, Japan and Korea – the three countries ahead of Norway on the list – all have school fees.
Although the University manages one of the greatest art collection inthe country, the recent theft of two lithographies shows that security is inadequate. Only staff and master students have access to the room in question, and the matter has been reported to the police. Ulla Ulberg, who has been in charge of the University’s art collection since the autumn, is working to update the security plan for art at the University. She notes that the balance between security and accessibility is a fine one. The University’s database lists 1,100 works of art, but it is likely that there are more than 2,000 works of art in 100 buildings.