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Education is and has been regarded as one of the essential pillars of the Danish welfare state and has contributed to a relatively homogenous population and work force in Denmark. By international comparison, the Danish educational system today appears relatively coherent, comprehensive, and egalitarian. It is mainly controlled and financed by the State. School leaving, as well as the recognition …
The Danish Constitution from 1849 (section 76) states that education shall be compulsory (whether provided by the family or school) and free in public institutions.
Denmark is generally considered a progressive country. Several factors, however—the late modernization, the parallel existence of very different lifestyles, the decisive political influence of a self-conscious class of independent farmers with its own educational ideas—help to explain the contradictory trends in educational development and the comparative absence of planning. Legisla…
Primary & Lower Secondary Education: In Denmark, education—and not schooling—is compulsory for nine years, which means that education can take place in the public folkeskole, in private schools, or at home, providing that national standards are met and that an adequate range of subjects is offered to the pupil. Primary and lower secondary schooling is not separated in Denmark,…
Efterskoler & Ungdomsskoler: Efterskoler (continuation schools) are boarding schools for the eighth to the tenth forms, and are completed with either the Leaving Examination or the Advanced Leaving Examination. Previously, these schools catered to pupils who had encountered academic, social, or personal problems in the formal school system; however, this image has changed dramatically, and …
Denmark has five universities and a number of professional colleges that have gradually achieved university status (e.g., engineering and commerce). Mass university education has developed without overhauling the fundamental structure of institutions and programs. However, two of the universities are relatively new ones: Roskilde and Aalborg. These differ from the others in that the courses are or…
Almost all types of education are legally regulated, in most cases placing the responsibility for the direction and quality on the Ministry of Education. The Ministry of Labor has developed training and general education for the least educated and skilled members of the labor force, sometimes in competition with the Ministry of Education. In the new millennium, the trend is to bring all education …
Adult & Continuing Education: Adult education comprises at least three major sectors. One is the liberal adult education in folk high schools, in evening classes, and at university extensions. Today, the variety of forms in this sector consist of compromises and has been influenced by the traditions of the rural free school movement in the nineteenth century and the working class in the fir…
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