The Danish Education System by Katinka Bach

The Danish Educational System


Dear reader. I’ve decided to use this chance to give you an inside in the function of the Danish educational system. At the age of one to three years children are placed mostly in day nursery and after that they move to a kindergarten. The most common age to start in primary and lower secondary school is about six. In the kindergarten you don’t get professional and technical lessons. But you learn to bond with other children the same age as you. The beginning of the real education system starts afterwards.

In Denmark we have nine years of compulsory education but school attendance is not compulsory. So basically it’s okay to have private lessons at home and not join the school. Most children choose to go to the public primary school for ten years but institutions like private schools, free basic schools, boarding schools and continuation schools are also a possibility.
Now a days it’s getting more and more common to attend the continuation schools. About ten years ago people with professional and mental problems were the ones who attended those schools. But now continuation schools have developed with focus on any form of activities like dance, music, acting, sports, design etc. so now they are for everyone. You also get to learn a lot about yourself, your skills and how to help other people. It also raises your professional level so you can do better in the upper secondary school. The Danish teaching method is generally based on dialog between student at teacher, group work and other forms for mutual communication.

The most common thing to attend afterwards is what we call “gymnasium” witch in a way is a mixture of high school and collage. You start when you are about 16-17 years old. It depends on which kind of education you want and how long you’re supposed to study. In “gymnasium” you study for three years. But there are some upper secondary schools where you only have to study for two years. These schools are called commercial upper secondary schools. Here you have other kinds of subjects like design and international economics. It gives you a good academic ability.

If you pass your upper secondary school leaving examination you’re almost free to study what ever you want. But of course it depends of your marks. After the examination many people chooses to take a year off. Typically they travel or work. To get a higher education you must take a further and higher education which exist in a lot of forms and ways. So as you can see there are a lot of choices to make concerning the educational system. Some people find the system very confusing while others enjoy the fact that there are so many ways to go.

About 23% of all working people in Denmark are employed in public companies and about 67% works for privately owned companies. The government has high expectations concerning the education system and the general level of the Danish students. So there is a lot of pressure on the young people about their choices of making an education and about completing it. At the time there is a lot of focus on individuality and the skills of the single human being. The global world has a huge influence on the societies all over the world and time after time it has been confirmed that knowledge is power. So the Danish educational system continues to develop but I don’t think that the present basic phases and elements will change in the nearest future.