Landshagir - 01.11.2012, Page 357

Education
LANDSHAGIR 2012 STATISTICAL YEARBOOK OF ICELAND 2012
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increase is greatest among those complet-
ing a diploma after a Bachelor degree, or
by 37.0%. The number of graduates who
completed a master’s degree increased
by 25.4%, and never before have more
students completed a master’s degree in
one school year. There were 1,102 gradu-
ates with a master’s degree in 2009–2010.
There were 33 Ph.D. graduates during the
school year, 17 males and 16 females. Ph.D.
graduates were 5 more than in the previ-
ous year, an increase of 17.9%. Never before
have more students graduated with a Ph.D.
degree in Iceland in one school year.
The proportion of licensed teachers in compul-
sory schools never higher
The proportion of licensed teachers has
never been higher since Statistics Iceland
started its data collection in 1997. The
proportion of licensed teachers was 80-87%
in 1998-2008. In the autumn of 2010 it was
92.3% and 95.5% in the autumn of 2011.
In 2011 there were 213 teachers teach-
ing without a teaching licence, which is a
big drop since the autumn of 2002 when
931 were teaching in compulsory schools
without being licensed.

The proportion of licensed teachers is
highest in the Capital Region outside of
Reykjavík, where 97.5% of teachers hold a
teaching licence. Only in the Northwest
(88.0%), East (87.8%) and in the Westfjords
(84.3%) is the proportion of licensed teach-
ers under 90%. The proportion of licensed
teachers outside the Capital Region has
increased rapidly in recent years, from
being under 50% in the last decade of the
last century in a few regions.
More children attended pre-primary schools
than ever before
In December 2011, 19,159 children attended
pre-primary schools, more than ever
before in Iceland. The number of children
increased by 198 (1.0%) from the previ-
ous year. In spite of this increase, the
proportion of 1-5 year old children attend-
ing pre-primary schools has not changed
from the previous year and is around 82%.
However, the proportion of one year old
children attending pre-primary schools has
decreased from 35% to 29% of the corre-
sponding age group. The children’s daily
attendance has also changed in that the
proportion of children staying in school for
7 hours or longer per day increased from
previous year.
Education attainment
In 2011, 55 thousand people aged 25–64
had completed tertiary education, more
than one out of every four inhabitants
in Iceland. The share of the population
with education at the tertiary level has
increased since 2003, when it was 27%.
Around 38% of inhabitants have completed
upper secondary education or education
at the post-secondary non-tertiary level,
which includes educational programmes
with a minimum duration of two years
after basic education, a total of 60 thou-
sand persons. Over 47 thousand persons
have only completed basic education, a
slightly lower proportion of the population
(29%) than in 2003 (34%).