In this curriculum you can read about the framework and facilities for learning and teaching that have been shaped in the spirit of current laws, regulations and international agreements. Within the framework, six basic elements have been developed that form the core of the educational policy. They concern the practices, content and learning environment at all school levels and create important continuity in the Icelandic school system. These fundamentals are literacy, sustainability, health and well-being, democracy and human rights, equality and creativity.

It is important to systematically cultivate the knowledge, skills and attitudes that strengthen the ability of individuals in the future to become critical, active and competent participants in an equal and democratic society. These basic factors are intended, among other things, to remedy this. The average citizen needs to be educated well enough to be able to exercise reasonable restraint on those in power, whether they are in the financial sector, politics, the media or in other fields. In fact, schools are the only institutions in society that can provide all rising generations with the opportunity to prepare for participation in a functioning democracy, to train critical and creative thinking, and to meet different social and cultural situations.

It is an old truth and a new one that there will be no real development in school work without the help of teachers and school administrators. Educational policy, organization, study materials and school buildings can be adjusted for a long time, but if changes are not followed up in the schools, they will not be effective. The introduction of new thinking in school work is based on good cooperation between the education authorities and those who bear the brunt of school work.

I have the hope that this curriculum will have a positive impact on schooling in the country in times of reconstruction of society and encourage school staff, parents, guardians and students to familiarize themselves with the content of the curriculum and work in its spirit.

Katrín Jakobsdóttir, Minister of Education and Culture