The Nordic resource center Sámi Giellagáldu is responsible for language planning. Literacy in North Saami is rare, and speaker attitudes toward the standard orthography is often negative.

In the core area in central Finnmark Province, where North Saami has an official status, many children learn the language and are likely to continue to use the language in adulthood, and in the adjacent parts of Sweden and Finland, there are also child speakers.

"All ages."

"In 1988 the Norwegian Parliament, adopted an amendment, Section 110 A, to the Norwegian constitution. This amendment states that the Norwegian state has the duty and responsibility to provide and ensure the conditions for the Sámi people to preserve and develop their culture, language and way of life. According to the Sámi Act the Norwegian and Sámi language have equal status, which in practice means the area of, Sámegiela hálddášanguovlu ‘the Administration Area for Sámi language’.

"North Sámi is used in a wide range of domains. It is used in the media, in administration, in churches, in schools and in everyday life. However, the speakers of North Sámi do not have the same opportunities to use North Sámi both inside the Administration Area for Sámi language, and outside the area. In many domains, for example, with authorities, the use of North Sámi is only possible inside the administration area."

"A new education act was approved by the Norwegian parliament making education in Sámi an individual right for all Sámi children in the whole country . . . Both [Sweden and Finland] have Sámi language acts which give speakers of Sámi the right to use Sámi in contact with the authorities in the Sámi administrative areas. Sámi varieties are used as languages of instruction in some special Sámi schools in Sweden (grades one to six) and in Finland in public schools in the Sámi home area (grades one to nine)." However, Rasmussen & Nolan note that even when Sámi pupils have the right to Sámi-medium education, there may not be any offered by schools and parents may be unaware of their legal right to request education in Sámi.