703 new school starters

Today marks the start of the 2019/2020 school year, and 703 pupils will go to school for the first time.

The two largest school intakes are in the two largest cities – the Skúlatrøð school in Klaksvík will welcome 76 new pupils, followed by the á Fløtum school in Tórshavn with 73.

Most of the new school starters – 607 – are born in 2012.

More than 7,000 pupils

The recent increase in pupils with a non-Faroese background has pushed the total number of primary school pupils beyond 7,000, and this number is likely to increase even further in the coming years, according to the Ministry of Education.

In total, there are 44 primary schools across the country. Three of these have more than 500 pupils, 16 have between 100 and 500 and 25 schools have less than 100 pupils.

Out of the 44 primary schools, three are independent schools, totalling 197 pupils.

Two of these independent schools also have services for pre-schoolers.

Translated by prosa.fo