Nordic Projects to Combat School Dropout : Good practice in helping young people complete upper secondary education

The aim of the report Nordic Projects to Combat School Dropout is to improve and inspire new initiatives for young people, and to create enriching contacts between actors and organisations in the Nordic region. The Nordic Web Resource on Dropout from Upper Secondary Education was a project commissioned by the Nordic Council of Ministers and run by the Nordic Welfare Centre between 2012 and 2015. The aim of the project was to compile good examples of initiatives aimed at increasing the proportion of young people in the Nordic region who complete upper secondary education. On the Nordic web portal, a large range of successful projects from the Nordic countries were presented. The initiatives had been evaluated externally, and showed positive results. Some activities were specifically chosen because of their innovative character or value as sources of inspiration. Despite bureaucratic and cultural differences between the Nordic countries, the situation regarding young people at risk of dropping out of school is strikingly similar. The differences are sometimes greater between municipalities and schools than between countries. By learning about successful initiatives in the Nordic countries, it is possible to find inspiration and tools to improve the work on helping all young people to complete their upper secondary education. In this publication, ten projects are described that were presented on the Nordic good practice web portal. Some of the projects have been completed, while others continue. Some activitieshave been incorporated in ordinary work