Norway Imposes Near-Ban on AI Use in Elementary Schools

The Norwegian government issued new regulations prohibiting AI use for pupils in grades 1–7 (ages 6–13), with limited supervised use permitted for lower secondary students (ages 14–16). The policy responds to a broad decline in national education test scores and follows a 2024 ban on smartphones in schools, which also restored expanded classroom discipline powers to teachers. Norway's approach contrasts sharply with the AI-integration strategies pursued by most OECD nations, positioning it as a test case for whether restricting classroom AI access preserves core literacy and numeracy skills.