Lögberg-Heimskringla - 15.09.2018, Page 2

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2 • Lögberg-Heimskringla • September 15 2018
70 percent of Iceland’s
university graduates are
women
ruv.is – Minister of
Education, Science and
Culture Lilja Alfreðsdóttir said
a lot of work clearly lay ahead
in reshaping the education
system. She said that many
things were very good, but
it was always possible to
do better. One example she
cited was that 70 percent of
university graduates are now
women. The ministry has
already begun formulating a
policy on education through
2030.
“This is the first policy
formulation covering all levels
of schooling. Our guideline is
quality education for everyone
on all schooling levels. We
are focusing on knowledge,
innovation, and meeting the
global challenges facing us.
Enormous technological
progress is going on. English is
much utilized. If we intend to
be prepared for these changes,
we need to be an educated
nation, a nation having good
reading comprehension
and deep knowledge in this
regard.”
The minister’s launched a
series of meetings throughout
the country on September 3rd
to present the policy to people
and solicit feedback. She said
she had particularly looked to
Norway, where they recently
carried out reforms in the
national educational system.
Norway’s successes in
education instructive
ruv.is – Over the last
10 years, Norwegians have
modified the emphases in
their education system. They
launched improvements
following their students’ poor
ratings in international surveys.
The education of teachers and
school administrators and
independent schools’ leeway
were subsequently increased
with good results.
Minister of Education,
Science and Culture Lilja
Alfreðsdóttir was in Norway
last month to acquaint herself
with Norwegians’ educational
reforms. She said they were
very instructive. “Enrolling
diverse groups of students
into a school system calls for
flexibility, rapid response and
resourcefulness. There we
can utilize the experience of
the Norwegians,” she said.
“Learning what has worked
well for others is always good.
Even though our systems and
the Norwegians’ are different,
we share our determination
to build up extraordinary
education systems with
outstanding teachers.”
Citizenship Act will be
amended
visir.is – Minister of Justice
Sigríður Á. Andersen plans
to introduce a parliamentary
bill amending the Citizenship
Act. The case of a Lithuanian
who has lived for years in
Iceland has provoked outrage.
He will not get Icelandic
citizenship because of traffic
violations. One consideration
will be whether the nature
of violations ought to affect
their impact, according to
the minister. In addition,
handling of applications for
citizenship in Alþingi has
started to resemble routine
administrative handling.
In August, TV2
News discussed a 23-year-old
Lithuanian who has lived in
Iceland for 17 years. However,
he will not get Icelandic
citizenship because of speeding
tickets he got when he was
younger. According to the
current act, to become a citizen,
an applicant for citizenship
may not have received fines or
been imprisoned. An exception
may be made to this after time
has passed, provided there are
no repeated violations.
“That can of course
happen, and it is natural to
consider whether all violations
have the same weight in this
respect. People mention traffic
violations, but I nevertheless
want to reiterate my position
now, in that regard, is that
traffic violations are not minor.
When there are repeated traffic
violations, whether speeding
or drunk driving, they are of
course not minor violations,”
said the justice minister.
Minister wants to reassess
whaling policy
ruv.is – Minister for the
Environment and Natural
Resources Guðmundur
Ingi Guðbrandsson is not
convinced that whaling off
Iceland is sustainable. “In
addition, the minister is also
doubtful about Icelanders’
interests in utilizing whales
are as great as is sometimes
maintained,” states his reply
to a formal query from
Reform Party chair Þorgerður
Katrín Gunnarsdóttir. He
indicated that he considered
it advisable to pause, reassess
Icelanders’ whaling policy,
and comprehensively examine
it from environmental
perspectives as well as social
and economic perspectives.
Þorgerður has also received
a reply to the same query
from Minster of Fisheries
and Agriculture Kristján Þór
Júlíusson in June. He stated
that he did not think it advisable
to drop Iceland’s policy on
whaling, stating that it was
based on maintaining the right
to sustainably utilize the whale
stocks of the country and other
living marine resources.
Geopolitically important
once again
mbl.is – Iceland has become
a more important partner from
the point of view of security
and defence due to its situation
in the North Atlantic, said Ine
Marie Eriksen Søreide, the
Norwegian foreign minister.
Speaking in an interview
with Morgunblaðið, she said
Norway had been trying, in
collaboration with Iceland,
the United Kingdom and
the United States, to draw
the attention of NATO to
the North Atlantic area. She
described this as having been
partly successful; a special
NATO exercise is to be held
in Norway under the name
Trident Juncture in October.
It will involve nearly 40,000
people from 30 states that
are either NATO members or
collaborating partners. About
70 naval vessels and 130
aircraft will also be involved.
Søreide said Iceland’s
participation in operations
of this type contributed to
the organization’s defence
credibility in the area.
Iceland in front ranks of R&D
mbl.is – Icelandic
universities are ranked seventh
on the OECD’s recent list of
countries spending most on
research and development.
There are 42 states on the
list. Switzerland ranks at the
top with 0.9 percent of GDP
allocated to this category.
Iceland’s contribution is 0.67
percent.
Number of working
immigrants increases
kjarninn.is – Around
mid-year, the number of
immigrants working in Iceland
was 38,765 (18.6 percent of
working people), according
to recently published figures
from Statistics Iceland. This
means that more immigrants
are working on the Icelandic
labour market than the
population of Kópavogur. At
the start of the year, 35,966
people lived in Kópavogur,
making it the second most
populated municipality in
Iceland. The number of
working immigrants is now
more than four times what
it was at the start of 2005
and twice what it was at the
start of 2015 – just three and
a half years ago. Since the
start of 2017, the number of
immigrants in the Icelandic
labour market has increased
by 11,544. In the first half
of this year their number
increased by 5,310.
Social Democrats’ following
increases
mbl.is – As before, the
Independence Party had the
highest support (nearly 23
percent) of the Icelandic
political parties, according
to a recent Gallup poll. The
Social Democratic Alliance
increased its following to
19 percent. It is the party’s
highest rating since January
2015. The Pirates’ support is
about 12 percent and the Left-
Green Movement’s following
is about the same. The Reform
Party’s rating is 10 percent, the
Centre Party’s about 9 percent,
the Progressive Party’s 8
percent, and the People’s Party
about 6 percent. About half of
voters support the coalition
government, which consists
of the Left-Green Movement,
Independence Party, and
Progressive Party.
10,000 emails on whaling
received
mbl.is – The Icelandic
government received more
than 10,000 emails from
individuals on the Hvalur
company’s decision to resume
whaling on July 6. This is
considerably fewer than
in 2006 when commercial
whaling resumed, according
to the foreign minister’s reply
to a query in Alþingi. Some
of these 10,000 emails came
after a mixed-breed whale
was harpooned off Iceland.
A flood of spam emails
inundated government offices
right after the announcement
of the commercial whaling.
“It appears that not many
individuals sent them, but
rather spamming software
was employed the same way
as after the announcement of
scientific whaling,” stated the
foreign minister.
Grants to return home
voluntarily
Morgunblaðið – The
Ministry of Justice has
published draft regulations
authorizing the Immigration
Agency to make payments to
those who apply for protection
in Iceland if they withdraw
their applications or if they
are turned down. The payments
would be intended to pay their
fares to their home countries or
to assist them in reestablishing
themselves there, to a
maximum of 1,000 Euros.
The justice minister, Sigríður
Á. Andersen, says the grants
are a prerequisite for a new
collaborative agreement with
the International Organization
for Migration, which provides
services to migrants.
Private consumption up 5
percent
ruv.is – Private
consumption in Iceland
increased 5.1 percent in the
second quarter of 2018, when
compared to the same period
last year. GDP increased by
7.2 percent (annualized) in
real terms during the quarter.
At the same time, national
expenditure (the combined
figure for consumption and
investments) increased by
6.6 percent. Statistics Iceland
states that the main source
of economic growth will be
private consumption and the
formation of capital. GDP
the first six months of this
year increased by 6.4 percent
in real terms, compared to
the first six months of 2017.
At the same time, national
expenditure increased by 6.2
percent. Private consumption
increased by 5.3 percent,
public consumption by 3.1
percent, and investment by 7.6
percent. Exports increased by
4.5 percent and imports by 4.1
percent.
Reprinted with permission
from Icelandic News Briefs,
published by KOM PR.
GOVERNMENT OF ICELAND
SCHOLARSHIP
(Icelandic as a Second Language)
Approximately 15 scholarships are available
for the 2019-2020 academic year.
These scholarships are intended for students of modern Icelandic.
Students must have completed at least one year of University study,
and must also have prior knowledge of Icelandic according to the requirements
for BA study in Icelandic as a second language
(Icelandic knowledge on level with the courses Icelandic Online 1 and 2).
The scholarship covers registration fees and a monthly stipend
that should cover room and board for one person from Sept to April.
A dorm room will be available to rent.
Applications must be received in Iceland on or before December 1, 2018.
Detailed information and application form are available at:
www.inlofna.org (under Scholarships – Iceland, Ministry of Education)
NEWS BRIEFS