A significant joint funding initiative is helping Guttas Campus (a Norwegian programme offering intensive learning camps and mentoring for boys) support more boys in Northern Norway to complete their secondary education. Kavli Trust is contributing three million Norwegian kroner to launch Guttas Campus North.

About the project

– We cannot stand by and watch a quarter of our boys drop out of secondary school. We need every single one of them, said Mayor Kari-Anne Opsal at Guttas Campus’ open information meeting in Harstad yesterday.

The Mayor highlighted that school dropout rates in Northern Norway follow the same pattern seen elsewhere in the country. The numbers are far too high, with significantly more boys than girls failing to complete upper secondary education.

Not attending upper secondary school is a major risk factor for long-term exclusion from the labour market.

13 days of intensive learning camp

Since 2017, Guttas Campus has been established in Oslo and Vestland county, offering boys in Year 10 the opportunity to strengthen their academic and social skills before starting secondary school.

– We can see that it works.

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

The programme consists of a 13-day intensive learning camp, which focuses on personal development across seven character strengths alongside academic subjects. This is followed by a one-year mentoring programme with weekly support at a local mentoring centre.

The aim is to help more boys complete upper secondary education.

So far, Guttas Campus appears to be succeeding: almost without exception, the boys show significant improvements academically and socially immediately after the learning camp. The vast majority of participants are now enrolled in secondary education.

– The positive results were a key factor in Kavli Trust deciding to support Guttas Campus as it launches its first branch in Northern Norway. We can see that it works, says Hanne Eide Andersen, Head of Communications at Kavli Trust.

On Thursday, an information and press meeting was held in Harstad, where a donation cheque for three million Norwegian kroner was presented by Kavli Trust.

– The funding will be used over three years, Eide Andersen explained.

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

Joint funding initiative

The first learning camp in the north will take place during the first two weeks of the summer holidays at Grøtavær Residential School, Harstad municipality’s own camp school. There is space for 27 boys, and the municipalities of Narvik, Harstad, Ibestad, and Tjeldsund are participating in this first phase of the initiative.

Participation costs for the boys are funded equally by the municipalities and private partners, including Kavli Trust and other foundations.

NAV (the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration) is supporting Guttas Campus Northern Norway with 600,000 NOK, Narvik Sparebank with 500,000 NOK, and Sparebank1 Nord-Norge presented a donation of 700,000 NOK at the Harstad meeting. The latter contributes through its social investment programme Samfunnsløftet (“The Community Lift”).

– It is fantastic to pull together for young people in this way and to support a programme specifically tailored for boys, says Trond Harila of Sparebank1.