NOVA Rapport 3/2002

Summary
This report presents the results of NOVA’s evaluation of a trial scheme
involving free day care centre provision for all five-year-olds in a district of
Oslo known as «Gamle Oslo». The report was commissioned and funded by
the Ministry of Children and Family Affairs. The trial started in August
1998. It was subsequently extended to include four-year-olds.
The aim was to get more children with an immigrant background to
start at a day care centre, and to lay a basis for better integration and
language training. According to the project plan a further wish was to «view
the project in conjunction with Norwegian language tuition for mothers with
an immigrant background».
Gamle Oslo was selected as the location since it has highest proportion
of children with an immigrant background and the lowest proportion of
children at day care centres of all districts of Oslo.
NOVA’s task was to investigate recruitment to the facility, how much
use is made of it, and to describe parents’ experience of having a child at an
experimental day care centre. The evaluation is based on qualitative interviews
of a sample of parents of five-year-olds, 28 in all. A group of parents
(20 persons) of four-year-olds were also interviewed. The results of the
evaluation are as follows:
Information abut the scheme had been disseminated from many different
quarters: by mail, via public and private bodies, through the media and
home visits. All the indications are that the information reached all or
virtually all relevant families. Virtually all families who received the offer
took it up (four declined). Almost all had an immigrant background. The
number of Norwegian children at the experimental day care centre was low
throughout, and gradually declined. At most the proportion was about 10 per
cent, in the past two years 2–3 per cent. The results confirm that the objective
of getting more immigrant children to start at a day care centre has been
achieved.
Families made use of the facility in different ways. We can distinguish
between five: daily use (12 per cent), regular use (31 per cent), use including
some absence (27 per cent), use interrupted by long absences (19 per cent),
and so-called long-term absence (15 per cent). Once children started
attending the day care centre, most of them spent virtually the entire opening
hours there, i.e. more than 3hrs 45min. Attendance at the experimental day
care centre averaged 64 per cent.
– Gratis barnehage for alle femåringer i bydel Gamle Oslo – 195