"VAN" (Europe Bureau - Aleksey Vesyoliy) :: Education is a basic human right – universal, inalienable and indivisible. Every child has the right to learn. Unfortunately, millions of children around the world lack the knowledge and skills to realize their full potential and maximize their contribution to their communities. According United Nations statistics, over 265 million children worldwide are currently out of school and 22% of them are of primary school age. Climate change and air pollution are having a devastating impact on children’s learning. Many countries have a 19th century education system that does not facilitate 21st century learning.

Education contributes to many of the Sustainable Development Goals. It reduces poverty, drives sustainable economic growth, prevents inequality and injustice, leads to better health – particularly for women and children – and it helps to protect the planet. Education empowers children and adolescents.

The economic and social benefits of education depend on generating learning outcomes, and not just getting children into school. Even the children who are attending schools are lacking basic skills in reading and math. The reasons for lack of quality education are due to lack of adequately trained teachers, poor conditions of schools and equity issues related to opportunities provided to rural children.

With respect to access and retention, since 2000 around 75 million children have been enrolled in pre-primary education, 89 million more in primary education and 138 million more in secondary education. At least 175 million pre-primary school-age children and 262 million primary and secondary school-age children – one in five – are still not accessing education. To reach universal pre-primary, primary and secondary education in 2030, on average, countries will need to enroll 5.7 times the number of children currently in pre-primary, 1.1 times the number in primary and 2 times the number of children in secondary education, according the latest UNICEF data.

In 2030, around 63 % of the world’s children will be living in low-income countries, according UNICEF data.

Education is and has been regarded as one of the essential pillars of the Danish welfare state. 

Denmark – not counting the self-governing Faroe Islands and Greenland – covers about 43 000 sq.km and is ten times smaller than Sweden and eight times smaller than Germany.

Denmark has the lowest level of inequality in disposable income among the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development  (OECD) countries for which data are available. Poverty in Denmark is also very low. Only about 1 in 20 people in Denmark is affected by poverty defined as the share of people living with less than half the median income in their country annually (OECD average: about one in ten people). The financial and economic crisis did not affect poverty in Denmark as it did in other countries.

The Ministry of Education sets national priorities, and most education decisions in primary and lower secondary schools (Folkeskole) are carried out by the municipalities. Denmark’s education performance can be nurtured by setting clear education objectives to guide a decentralised municipal environment while maintaining equitable practices and supporting performance for low performers and students with immigrant background. Other priorities for Denmark include ensuring that teachers and principals have quality support, feedback and professional development opportunities and that principals take a more active pedagogical role.

The Danish education system has its origin in the cathedral- and monastery schools established by the Roman Catholic Church in the early Middle Ages, and seven of the schools established in the 12th and 13th centuries still exist today. Until the 16th century, the Roman Catholic Church was responsible for education. After the Protestant Reformation, Denmark was one of the first European countries to establish a national Lutheran Church, and the Church had a huge historical influence on Danish education. Since the 19th century, the Danish education system was especially influenced by the ideas of politician and poet N. F. S. Grundtvig (1783-1872), who advocated inspiring methods of teaching and the foundation of folk high schools.

The later development has been motivated by the national State and strongly influenced by the fact that Denmark was an agricultural society until World War II. Since then, a rapid development of the industrial and service sectors has taken place, and the development of the educational system may be regarded as a specific consequence of modernization. The result was a Free School Movement, which owes its origin to the ideas of N. F. S. Grundtvig—poet, clergyman and philosopher. Grundtvig criticized the grammar schools for being too academic and elitist, and was opposed to the rigid style of the Church. He defended a more joyous and lively religious practice. He believed in the "necessity of the living word for the awakening of life and the transmission of the spirit," as well as in the development of basic skills.

The Danish education system aims to ensure that all young people acquire knowledge and competencies which will qualify them to take active part in the Danish society and contribute to its further development. Education is compulsory between the age of six and 16. 

What is efterskole?

78% of all pupils in primary and lower secondary schools attend the Folkeskole and 2% attend special schools. About 20% of all Danish teenagers attend an efterskole (literally "afterschool", plural efterskoler). The Efterskole is a unique self-governing independent Danish Boarding School where students between the ages of 14 and 17 can choose to spend a year or two of their secondary school education.

The first efterskole was founded in 1851 by Kristen Kold (1816-1870), based on the educational ideas of the famous Danish poet and priest N. F. S. Grundtvig (1783-1872), who founded the Danish folk high schools. While Grundtvig intended the folk high school to be for adults offering enlightenment for life, rather than just formal educational training, Kold wanted to reach young people when they entered puberty. Grundtvig wanted schools to arouse in the students an understanding of themselves and their place in life.

It is written in the “Efterskoleloven” (Danish Rule of Law on Independent Continuation Schools and their activities) under §1 that the primary objective of the efterskole is to ensure enlightenment and democratic culture, as well as offering courses that focus both on educational and personal development as well as the general culture of the learners.

Efterskole embrace a common educational focus on enlightenment for life, general education and democratic citizenship.

Students live together at the school and may spend their weekends there too, means the Efterskole can also help to develop students’ social and interpersonal skills.

The Danish efterskole often represents a philosophy of offering such a variety of educational subjects, sports and activities that there is an opportunity for everyone to excel at something, and thus gain an experience and confidence to develop their talents to their own advantage and to the service of others. It is inherent in the culture of many efterskoles that they be a reflection of societal diversity and thus shall offer a variety of opportunities for personal, professional and cultural development.

An efterskole typically offers the same compulsory subjects and final examinations as state schools. In addition to this, many schools focus on special subjects such as sport, music, theatre or other subjects. As a result, many students share interests with their fellow students as well as with the teachers, and common interests of this kind promote a powerful sense of togetherness and shared values at the efterskole.

A central element of any efterskole is the focus on democratic citizenship.

One aspect of this is, that all students perform practical chores for themselves and for the common good, cleaning their own accommodation, making their beds, helping to prepare the meals, washing up and so on. From this experience grows a sense of responsibility and an appreciation of the meaningfulness of contributing to the common good.

Teachers at an Efterskole are responsible for the supervision and personal well-being and development of students as well as teaching. This establishes a positive personal relationship between the teachers and students. Through dialogue and debate students work on defining their own individual needs, values and identity.

The primary aim of the self-governing educational institutions is to ensure a high level of educational quality, a range of educational options for young people and adults and broad geographic coverage throughout the country. The institutions have the independent responsibility for educational opportunities and development as well as the pedagogical development.

One of the things that is unique about the efterskole is the teacher-student relationship. The teacher is responsible for both teaching and supervision outside of school hours. This means that teachers and students are together all day from the time the students wake up until they go to bed. This often opens up for a close, personal and non-formal relationship between students and teachers.

Many students acknowledge that the positive learning environment and good relationship with their teachers at an efterskole give them a new appetite for learning. This positive motivation remains with the students when they continue on to upper secondary education, where both their teachers and researchers testify to the significant effects of the efterskole with higher grades and a lower dropout rates compared to other students. Researches have shown that young people, who have attended an Efterskole, are better prepared to succeed and complete upper secondary and higher education.  They gain maturity, independence, self-confidence and enhance their self-esteem and self-worth particularly through interaction with other students.

In the eyes of many Danes, a year at an efterskole is much more than a school year. A majority come to see it as the best year of their lives. It is a ‘journey of self-discovery’ that both in academic and personal terms prepares young people for adulthood. It is commonly said that, “one year at efterskole equates to seven years of human life.”

Currently there are more than two hundred efterskole attracting around 28 000 students from all levels of society. The schools are open to students from abroad. The size of an efterskole can vary from 35 to 500 students but is on average 100-120 students. Most schools are located in rural areas or near provincial towns with only a few being located in a city. After a period of stagnation and sometimes decreasing number of students in modern times, the number of students has increased every year for the last 25 years. Today, 150 years later, the efterskole is still for students age 14-17. The prices for one year at an efterskole range from roughly 20 000 to more than 80 000 kroner. The schools and students receive substantial state subsidies.

  For further information about efterskole in English, please visit www.efterskole.dk/english

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Publication author: Sintija  Bernava
Chairwoman of the Board of Non Governmental Organisation "Donum Animus" (Latvia)
"Donum Animus" is the only  Non Governmental Organisation from Latvia holding Special Consultative Status of the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations

Please read full story with pictures at EUNetwork!