Norwegian sector leaders have criticised a government proposal to charge fees for exam resits, warning that the plan could discourage students from completing their degrees.

Announcing the?, the Ministry of Education advised a change to university regulations, enabling them to charge students to retake passed exams. The new regulations would be accompanied by a NKr22 million (?1.6 million) cut to higher education institutions, which the ministry said would be covered by the income from fees. ?

Charging for resits, the ministry said, would help ¡°achieve better throughput in higher education¡±, a prediction disputed by Bj?rn Stensaker, vice-rector for education at the University of Oslo. ¡°I don¡¯t see how the proposal will lead more students to finalise their degrees,¡± he told?³ÉÈËVRÊÓƵ. ¡°On the contrary, the fee might deter them.¡±

Noting that higher education in Norway is free for domestic students, Professor Stensaker said the proposal to introduce resit fees ¡°challenges this principle¡± and ¡°could be interpreted as a step towards introducing tuition also for Norwegian students¡±.

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Last year,?Norway introduced tuition fees for students from outside the European Education Area, a move met with dismay across the sector. ¡°One could argue that the current government sees?students as a source of income when cuts in the higher education sector are to be implemented,¡± Professor Stensaker said. ¡°This is a significant?shift in Norwegian higher education policy.¡±

Kaja Ingdal Hovdenak, president of the Norwegian Student Organisation (NSO), called the resit fee ¡°a step in the wrong direction¡±, echoing Professor Stensaker¡¯s suggestion that it could represent a slow creep towards domestic tuition fees.

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Urging the government to focus instead on why students might need to resit exams ¨C for instance, she said, they might need to work to support themselves, leaving insufficient time for study ¨C Ms Hovdenak said the fees would increase pressure on already-struggling students.

¡°I¡¯m worried that this will have consequences for many, many students, but the people who are from lower-income families or don¡¯t have economic support will be punished the most,¡± she said. ¡°It should be free higher education and the same opportunities no matter where you come from or who you are.¡±

Charging students to improve on a previous passing grade, Ms Hovdenak added, could have an unintended consequence: students could deliberately fail exams in order to retake them for free. ¡°If they don¡¯t feel they had enough time to prepare for the exam, and they have to pay to get a better grade, I think many people will fail on purpose,¡± she said.

Marit Reitan, pro-rector for education at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), said it was too early to determine whether a resit fee would be a ¡°desirable or appropriate measure¡±, with a ¡°thorough analysis¡± of the proposal required. The NTNU Welfare Council, which represents students¡¯ interests, ¡°has expressed strong criticism of the proposal¡±, she said.

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¡°We also believe that such an arrangement will incur significant administrative costs,¡± Professor Reitan said, noting that between 2,000 and 4,000 students typically retake exams every term. An ¡°important aspect¡± to consider, she added, ¡°is that the proposal places costs on the students, and in principle, the proposal for an exam fee is not in line with the principle of free education¡±.

emily.dixon@timeshighereducation.com