On the island of Harøya along Norway's western coast, kindergarten manager Irene Breivik takes a break from office work. She tidies outdoor clothing in the closet while contemplating an unfair situation.
The number of children in her kindergarten has declined in recent years. Yet despite living 97 kilometers from the urban center, she and other island residents cannot participate in Norway's student loan forgiveness program.
Their community belongs to Ålesund municipality, which is classified as urban rather than rural. This classification excludes them from debt relief available to 189 rural municipalities.
"It's unjust," Breivik states. "We live so far away that the program should include us too." She believes politicians did not examine the map carefully before deciding which areas would qualify.
The government initiative aims to prevent population decline and attract skilled young workers to rural areas. But the program uses municipal boundaries rather than actual geography to determine eligibility.
Sandøy municipality merged with Ålesund in 2020. Yet Harøya remains distant from shopping centers and hospitals. The journey to Ålesund's city hall takes ninety minutes by car.
Travelers must pass through neighboring Haram municipality, which qualifies for the program despite being closer to urban amenities. Haram residents can erase 25,000 kroner annually from student debt.
Breivik has student loans from four years of study. She has made payments for two decades and now contributes extra monthly to eliminate the debt faster.
Local politician Ann Elin Harnes leads Sandøy's municipal committee. She supports the debt relief concept but criticizes its implementation.
"In practice, we're much more remote than neighboring municipalities," Harnes explains. "Municipal boundaries alone shouldn't define what counts as rural."
Recruiting workers to island communities presents ongoing challenges. Shortages affect healthcare workers, kindergarten staff, and industrial employees.
The loan program creates another recruitment obstacle, Harnes suggests. Why would people choose Harøya when nearby municipalities offer financial benefits?
Economist Haakon Vennemo acknowledges the system could be refined. But using methods other than municipal boundaries would increase bureaucracy significantly.
"There's a fundamental trade-off in many such questions between keeping things simple and reaching absolutely everyone," the Vista Analysis professor notes.
Research shows student loan forgiveness worked effectively in Northern Troms and Finnmark. Yet Vennemo doubts it alone solves population decline.
The government recently faced criticism for proposing to reduce participating municipalities from 189 to 88. They reversed this decision after public backlash.
Research and Higher Education Minister Sigrun Aasland declined interview requests. In written correspondence, she acknowledged debt relief would help more people.
Officials used Statistics Norway's centrality index to select participating municipalities, she explained.
Breivik hopes her three children will study and return home, as she did. But she fears the loan program might influence their decisions.
"For them, moving to a neighboring municipality might be more tempting," she reflects. "They would have more monthly spending money. That makes a difference."
Finding adequate staff for Harøya's kindergarten and other workplaces remains challenging. The island's exclusion from debt relief compounds recruitment difficulties in this remote community.
The situation highlights how well-intentioned policies can create unexpected inequalities when implementation overlooks geographical realities.