Unlike regular high schools in the context of formal upper secondary schooling, the concept of ‘folk high schools’ in Norway give a different experience. These schools do not pose any barriers in age nor educational qualifications instead opens its doors to students who are eager to absorb growth individually, socially and academically within diverse communities where everybody lives in the campus in close contact with staff and their fellow students. However many of the students who do enroll are in the age groups of 18 to 25 because a year at a folk high school in Norway is usually taken between secondary high school and higher education.

Free of degrees or exams the Norwegian folk high schools instead concentrate in nurturing every student into a more ‘whole’ person. A finely blended curriculum offers outdoor life activities, theatre, sports, music, creative arts, media, communication, globalization etc., for international students it is a chance to savour the real Norwegian culture which is much more than reindeers, skiing, Lamb and Cabbage stew

There are over 70 such schools in Norway, each offering a diverse programme of subjects.

Located in the North of Bergen Åsane Folkehøgskole was created by IOGT Norway and modeled on their 3 dimensional thinking of temperance, brotherhood and peace. FORUT which is one of the recognized aid organisations in Norway collaborates with this school. With 8 different subjects ranging from writing workshops, visual art, martial arts, theatre, international solidarity and development studies, equestrian sports and music, life at Asane is never a drab.

Just after a week, the mighty Indian Ocean revolting and leaving its infinite trail of destruction along the coastlines of the island, back in December 2004, Ketil Hofslett responsible for the class for international solidarity and development studies was visiting Sri Lanka. He left home with a pledge to bring back a group of students the following year as an experience for the Norwegian youth to interact with Sri Lankan youth and exchange ideas plus look into possibilities of establishing stronger ties between Åsane & FORUT. The youth centre located in Negombo on the Western Coast of Sri Lanka was what eventually materialised out of the collaboration.

The initial experience had left a remarkable experience on the visiting group in 2005 and each year a group of Åsane students lead by their committed guru-Ketil Hofslett arrives in Sri Lanka to experience a mix of typical local life, culture and be involved in a short sting with FORUT’s development work. Annually, home-stays in the districts of Puttalam, Negombo, Anuradhapura, Moneragala, Hambantota and Matale have accommodated a pair of Åsane students letting them sample typical life, leisure, work and culture with different communities and be foster daughters or sons for local parents. During their stay, they help with the daily chores and learn to blend in with the family, thus learning what it is to live in a totally contrast culture and community. In comparison to the thinking they possess when they arrive, by the time they leave their perspectives have changed with so many new things learnt and experienced, many new friends, been a daughter, son, sister, brother to the local family and shared views with the family.