Kavli Trust joins partnership for boys and education in northern Norway

A major local fundraising effort is underway as Guttas Campus ('Boys Campus') begins its mission to help more boys in northern Norway complete upper secondary school. Kavli Trust is contributing three million Norwegian kroner towards the establishment of Guttas Campus North.

“We cannot stand by and watch a quarter of our boys drop out of upper secondary school. We need all of them,” said Mayor Kari-Anne Opsal during Guttas Campus’s open information meeting in Harstad yesterday.

The mayor referred to school dropout rates in the north that mirror those seen elsewhere in the country — far too many young people, and significantly more boys than girls, do not complete upper secondary education.

Failing to attend or complete upper secondary school is a major risk factor for exclusion from working life later on.

13 days of learning and growth

Since 2017, Guttas Campus has been established in Oslo and Vestland, offering boys in Year 10 an opportunity to strengthen both academically and socially before entering upper secondary school.

Read more: Kavli Trust’s collection page about Guttas Campus

“We can see it works”

Kavli Trust has supported the establishment of the initiatives in both Oslo and Vestland.

The programme consists of a 13-day intensive learning camp, where personal development through seven key character strengths is emphasised alongside academic progress. This is followed by a year-long, weekly mentoring scheme through local mentor centres.

The goal is to increase the number of boys who complete upper secondary education.

So far, Guttas Campus seems to be succeeding: almost without exception, the boys show significant improvement both academically and socially after the camp. The vast majority of participants are now enrolled in upper secondary school.

“These positive results have been an important reason for Kavli Trust’s decision to also support the launch of Guttas Campus North. We can see that it works,” said Hanne Eide Andersen, Head of Communications at Kavli Trust.

On Thursday, an information and press meeting was held in Harstad, where the gift cheque of three million kroner in support from Kavli Trust was presented.

“The funding will be distributed over three years,” Andersen explained.

The support for Guttas Campus is part of Kavli Trust’s strategic focus on strengthening children’s and young people’s mental health, with particular emphasis on education and life skills.

A collaborative effort

The first learning camp in the north will take place during the first two weeks of the summer holidays at Grøtavær School Camp, Harstad municipality’s residential school camp.

There will be space for 27 boys, with the municipalities of Narvik, Harstad, Ibestad and Tjeldsund joining forces for this first round.

Participation for the boys is funded half by the municipalities and half by private contributors, including Kavli Trust and other foundations.

NAV (the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration) supports Guttas Campus North with NOK 600,000, and Narvik Sparebank contributes NOK 500,000, while SpareBank 1 Nord-Norge presented a gift cheque of NOK 700,000 during the Harstad meeting, as part of its social investment programme Samfunnsløftet (“The Community Lift”).

“It’s fantastic to join forces like this for our young people and to support an initiative tailored for boys,” said Trond Harila from SpareBank 1 Nord-Norge.