The Danish Education System by Liv Christensen

The Danish educational system
My name is Liv Nordin Christensen. I attend my second year at Ordrup high school. This also means that I am on my 12th year of education. Below I have attempted to explain (shortly) how I got to this point.
In Denmark we have got a compulsory education lasting nine years. Afterwards it is up to the individual student to decide whether he or she wants to continue with any further education.
These first nine years of education usually take place in elementary school. Even though there are only nine years duty-bound most children go to elementary school for 10 years, because they chose to take a year in a preschool class. This year works as a transition, that makes the children ready for “real” school. This begins when the child is about 6-years-old, which also means that it ends when about 16-years-old. It is also possible to choose homeschooling but that is not seen very often.
The intention of elementary school is that the student gets to learn the most basic things such as reading, spelling and arithmetic. But besides that the elementary school has the purpose of teaching the students about the Danish as well as other countries’ culture.
In the Danish elementary school there can be maximum of 30 students a class but it is most often set to about 20. The year has 202 days of school and 163 days of vacation.
In many ways the Danish elementary school is like many other countries, but the differences exist. As an example you can look at the relations between student and teacher. Even though the teacher is the authority, every student has the right to speak their mind and discuss every relevant topic with the teacher. Also students and teachers address each other by their first names.
These equal terms between student and teacher can also be seen as the Danish students don’t wear uniforms. They may simply come and be as they are.
At the end of elementary school, 60 % of the country’s youngsters chose to continue in high school. There are three sorts of this: the original high school, the technical high school or the commercial high school. Each one has some basic subjects but the principal subjects are different.
While there in elementary school is a close cooperation between school and home the students in high school have to take responsibility for their own actions and schooling. The rules are more strict and in contrast to elementary school the student can get kicked out if he or she has (for example) too much absence.
A high school education lasts for three years and ends with a certificate. To get this the students are tested both orally and in writing, where the lowest grade to pass is 02.
If the student passes he or she will receive the certificate, which can subsequently be used when applying for both short, middle-range and long further and higher education.