It is several months since Line Norheim gradually began to plan the summer holidays. She quickly realized that she was facing an impossible calculation.
While the daughter Leyla has eight weeks off from school, Norheim has only three holiday weeks available.
– I have had to do tricks and fix a bit to make it go up, says Norheim.
As a single mother, she has no one else who can take care of her daughter when SFO is closed and she has to go to the office to work.
– It is not ideal for an eight-year-old to be alone at home because his mother has to go to work, but that is the situation for us this year, Norheim says.
– REJOICES; Leyla is looking forward to the summer holidays and is not afraid to be home alone for a few days. Photo: Kristian Myhre / TV 2
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Divides the holiday
At home in Stavanger, mother and daughter have already started making a list of things they want to do together this summer.
– Go on a picnic, swim, play games, throw a frisbee, says Leyla.
She is also looking forward to being at SFO with several of her classmates. But SFO is only open in June and August.
– I think it is very inflexible that SFO is closed all July, says Norheim.
To avoid the daughter being alone for too long at a time, Norheim has decided that she will work one day every week in July.
– So there will be 16 days of holiday and five days of work in between to make it go up so that we have enough funds to live on.
– MORE TIME: Line Norheim wishes she could have even more time with her daughter this summer. Photo: Kristian Myhre / TV 2
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Have practiced being alone
Norheim works as a case officer in NAV and does not have the opportunity to have a home office to be with his daughter during the holidays.
– It will probably go just fine, but it does not feel good that she has to be home alone because I have to be in the office, Norheim says.
In recent weeks, Leyla has had to practice what it is like to be alone at home while Norheim has been to the store.
– There will probably be quite a few phones and Facetime during the day so I know that everything is going well, says Norheim.
Leila does not think it will be a problem to be without mum for a few hours, and says that she is looking forward to being alone at home.
– It will be fun, because then I can do what I want, the 8-year-old says with a clever smile.
Ask politicians to take action
Even though the small family has found a solution for what they are doing this summer, Norheim thinks it’s a shame that it should be so difficult to get the holiday solitaire to go up.
– THE PLAN READY: Mother and daughter have the plan ready for what they want to do together this summer. Photo: Kristian Myhre / TV 2
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– I think the politicians should come more on the field and show understanding that everyone has different lives. Not everyone has someone who can take the baby for two weeks while working. Not everyone has enough funds to take a week of unpaid holiday, says Norheim.
She hopes that in the future it can be easier to plan the summer holidays.
– For us, it would have helped a lot if SFO was not closed all of July. Then we could have chosen more ourselves when it is appropriate to have a holiday, says Norheim.
Shared opinions about summer vacation
This year, several municipalities, including Oslo and Bærum, have a full nine weeks off school this summer. It has set fire to the debate that the holiday is too long.
Conservative parliamentary representative Margaret Hagerup believes it is time to have a proper debate about the length of the holiday.
– The government should start work where they obtain new and look at existing knowledge about the consequences of the summer holidays, Hagerup says.
TV 2 has been in contact with all the parliamentary parties to hear what they think about the topic. Most people think there are several problems with the current holiday scheme, but there are divided opinions about what should be done.
This is what the various parties think: Is the summer holiday too long?
Labor Party:
Summer holidays are important for children and for teachers. Both for children to be able to completely relax and be children, but also for teachers to take the necessary time off. Instead of cutting back on summer holidays, the Labor Party believes it is important to strengthen the team around the student during the school year.
Right:
The Conservatives believe it is important to look at how the school year is structured to give students the best possible prerequisite for learning in combination with holidays. This applies to the entire school year, not just the summer holidays. This does not necessarily mean that the students will have less holiday, but that the holidays may also come at other times.
Center Party:
No, the Center Party’s goal is for even more students to thrive at school and get through the school year. Today’s summer vacation is an important break for many students, which helps maintain motivation for the rest of the year. We want to preserve that.
Progress Party:
We believe that today’s summer holiday is so well established that it should be retained, and we do not experience any popular demand for shorter summer holidays. However, we support good schemes and offers such as summer school and other activities, both for the young people who need extra effort, those who want increased challenges, and for those families who experience the length of the holiday as a challenge to make the logistics go up .
The Socialist Left Party:
The school holiday is part of the working time agreement in the school. In other words, it is the parties in working life who negotiate how long it should be. SV does not want to intervene against the parties in working life and control this from the Storting. What we should rather do is offer meaningful activity for the children during the summer holidays.
Christian People’s Party:
This is a topic KrF is very concerned about and we have a solution that will remedy the stretch the parents of young children are facing in connection with the summer holidays. KrF believes that all parents of young children should have an extra holiday week so that the family has as much time together as possible during the summer holidays, and that they do not have to work and have holidays in shifts.
Green Party:
I do not think the problem is that the school holidays are too long. But it is an advantage if parents and children can have as much time together as possible when the kids have time off. Therefore, we will, among other things, introduce an extra holiday week for parents with children up to 12 years. It can be unfortunate if children stay for long periods without a good framework around them because the parents are not present.
Left:
I think the summer holidays are an important break for children and young people. Having time to have other experiences, to rest, play and feel mastered outside the classroom is important. That said, it is important that this is something everyone gets, including children who do not have parents who can afford to go on vacation. Therefore, the municipalities, in collaboration with the voluntary sector, should ensure good and accessible holiday offers.
Red:
What the researchers point out is not primarily a problem with the summer holiday scheme, but a symptom of Difference-Norway. It is obvious that poor families do not have the same opportunities and resources as rich families, and it has consequences for all parts of people’s lives, from health to education.
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Both Krf and MDG believe that families with young children should get an extra week of paid time off each summer.
– All parents of young children should have an extra holiday week so that the family has as much time together as possible during the summer holidays, and that they do not have to work and have holidays in shifts, says Olga Marie Brathaug in Krf.
In addition, almost all parties say that they want to strengthen free offers and activities for children during the summer holidays to even out differences and ensure that all children have a good offer.
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