Denmark 
Søren Peter Nielsen, May 1997
 

Introduction Background information Initial vocational education and training Continuing Education and Training Trends ­ Current Issues and Problems Introduction It is CEDEFOP's intention during 1997 to launch the process for up­dating and revising the monograph describing the vocational education and training system in Denmark, prepared during 1992. As the stocks have been exhausted, it has been decided to reprint the present volume with this brief introductory note prepared by DEL (Danmarks Erhvervspødagogiske Laereruddannelse). Its purpose is to provide, in summary form, information on some of the changes which have taken place. It is structured in a similar way to the monograph and references to paragraph numbers below are to those in the monograph. [Back to the top] Background information Two trends have been central to development since the change of government in January 1993. On the one hand is the remarkable decline of unemployment and growth in employment, in both the ordinary (primary) and extraordinary (secondary) labour markets, and on the other the reorientation of labour market policies giving an increased importance to regional labour market organisations and local government, which are instrumental in the continuous change from passive to active interventions for the unemployed (para 1.2.7 and 2.3.39). The government's present strategy regarding employment policies is spelled out in the October 1995 "Danish Employment Programme" followed up by agreements on policy for the financial year 1996. Two main elements are defined in this programme. The first is the continued pursuance of a growth­promoting economic policy, which aims at a stable and sustainable growth accompanied by continued low inflation, maintenance of the balance of payments surplus and a reduction of public debt. The other element is an approach to labour market policies aiming at a general up­grading of the qualifications of the labour force to avoid mismatch problems and bottle­necks resulting from the increase in employment. As a result, major increases in spending on adult and other further education schemes have occurred during the period. The rate of unemployment has fallen significantly from more than 12 % in April 1993 to 9 % at the end of 1996. A striking trend is the reduction in the number of long term unemployed, reflecting the special efforts to assist persons without vocational qualifications. In Denmark youth unemployment is at roughly the same level as for the labour force as a whole ­ this can be compared to other EU Member States where on average youth unemployment is double the rate of unemployment for the population as a whole. During the period 1992­96 the number of apprenticeship contracts concluded on job­practice places has increased more than 30%, indicating an imminent shortage of young workers. For many years previously the low number of apprenticeship contracts had constituted a serious problem. This shortage of places led to the introduction of simulated job­practice schemes at vocational schools, which is gradually gaining acceptance as an alternative to workplace practice. With effect from January 1996 this scheme has been made an integral part of training provision. [Back to the top] Initial vocational education and training Virtually 100% of Danish pupils complete the "folkeskole" after 9 years of compulsory school (para 2.2.1). One possible explanation is the role played by the class teacher, which enhances the pupils' ability to thrive in the school environment and to benefit from the personal support provided. Another possible factor is the lack of streaming. Yet another important factor may be that an increasing percentage of pupils complete their compulsory education at so­called "efterskoler" (literally "after­schools"), i.e. continuation schools. 19,500 pupils were registered at these schools in the 1994/95 school year, representing more than 10% of the aggregate school population in the 9th and 10th classes. There are more than 200 of these. They are all boarding schools and offer the pupils an alternative, a different social and cultural environment. They constitute a very valuable option for young boys and girls during the maturing process, in particular pupils with motivation problems. Trends in the 1990's reveal an increase in the numbers opting for the (general education) upper secondary school, at the expense of courses in vocational education and training. Following legislative amendments in 1994, the vocational education courses at upper secondary level (i.e. HHX and HTX), which take place at commercial and /technical schools, have been separated from the ordinary VET courses and moved closer to the gymnasium- provided upper secondary education. Since 1993, the over-arching goal for educational policy has been the programme "Education and Training for All (Young Men and Women)", which is intended to reduce the rate of dropout from education/training to 5­10% compared with a rate of some 20 % in 1995. The use of guidance/counselling as a bridge between specific parts of education and training systems and between education/training and employment is a key feature of the steps being taken. The aim is that, by the year 2000, 90­95% of the annual intake will complete a youth training programme, as compared with some 77% in 1995. The dropout problem has been at the centre of educational policy measures since 1993, and an important part of the strategy to tackle it has been curricular and pedagogical renewal, emphasising in particular the development of teaching methods closely related to practice. Curricular decentralisation was introduced by the 1991 VET reform (para 2.2.4 and 2.2.5) with the aim of delegating competence to the vocational schools. In recent years the Ministry of Education, through its R&D programme, has concentrated on supporting pedagogical projects which develop a new concept of teaching/learning in which the focus has switched from the teacher to the learner. These efforts stress the need to develop extensive differentiation in learning, with the main emphasis on individualisation and democratisation, to be achieved by focusing on the potential of the single student, and on his/her active involvement and responsibility for his/her own course of education/training ("responsibility learning"). Further, forms of learning closely related to the workplace have been incorporated on a large scale in the programmes conducted at the vocational schools, such as the setting up of simulated enterprises at the schools. The Danish Act on Vocational Training has been amended in line with the "Education and Training for All" plan, so that the first school period (para. 2.2.37), i.e. the introductory phase of vocational training, is made voluntary for all pupils, adding flexibility with regard to both content and form. This flexibility extends to the duration of the training, which can now vary in length from 5 weeks to 40 weeks, and which can be conducted at all vocational schools. At the same time, it can be incorporated in the so­called "bridge­building" activities. By making the system far more flexible, it has become possible (e.g. via bridging initiatives, schemes allowing choice between optional subjects and credit point systems) to individualise the composition of education and training courses to an extent hitherto unknown. The bridge­building sequence is composed of guidance and training components during a transitional phase between compulsory school and youth education and training. The aims are a) to give young people improved opportunities and a higher level of motivation to choose and complete an education/training programme and b) to develop their occupational and personal competences. The bridge­building sequence is to be 8­40 weeks in duration, and must be composed of between 2 and 4 elements. These can, for example, consist of the 10th class at school, initial parts of the approved youth education/training and specially designed introductory courses. The bridge­building sequence can be offered to young people who have completed the 9th class until they reach the age of 19 years. The structure of the overall configuration of the initial education and training system has been widened (para. 2.2.29), with policy aimed at easing the transition from compulsory school to youth education and training programmes. The principle applied is the differentiation of education/training, and today the system can be described as one which still bears the stamp of two main traditions: the so­called "Latin school", in the form of a modern 3­year general upper secondary education, and the "master­apprenticeship" principle, skilled worker level training in the form of a vocational training system based on the dual (twin­track) system. The system is augmented by a wide range of independent schools ("frie skoler"). The "Education for All" plan has also widened the courses on offer for young people, e.g. the setting up of the Basic Vocational Training (EGU) and the Voluntary Youth Training (FUU) programmes. These new programmes are based on two acts, which create a framework for flexible, individual sequences which can function on their own or serve as a path (possibly with credits) to an ordinary youth education or training programme. The FUU programme is school­based, relying mainly on the principles applied at the "free (i.e. independent) schools", with sequences lasting 2­3 years. The EGU programme is a twin­track programme, taking 2 (or possibly 3) years and organised at municipal level. Each of these programmes aims to attract 2­3 % of the annual group of school­leavers. They have experienced a successful start. The structure and content of the initial vocational education and training programmes offered by the commercial schools (Para. 2.2.79) have been reformed; courses have been extended from 3 to 4 years, and a remarkable renewal of the curriculum and the planning of these courses has taken place. Emphasis has been put on strengthening the personal qualifications of students, and new educational planning principles have been applied by the social partners and the Ministry of Education. In 1996 the government introduced a new labour market and youth education policy, "A Faster Route to Jobs and Training", targeting unemployed young people under 25 who have never completed education or training. The programme involves, among other measures, the creation of new, shorter courses of training, up to 18 months in duration, leading to employment and/or providing access to the ordinary vocational training system. This measure, based on the philosophy that the best social policy is an education/training policy, represents a quite considerable tightening of youth employment policies in that young people are no longer kept in storage by the social system. The rates of unemployment benefit for young people have thus been fixed at lower levels than student grants. Labour market policy has been renewed to induce young people to take up education and training, and it has become more difficult to achieve and maintain entitlements as a young, low­skilled worker. Whereas the trend in Denmark is marked by the creation of entirely new educational structures, in the other Nordic countries it is towards the introduction of flexibility and combinations within the framework of the existing structures. This educational differentiation represents a desire to give single pupil a broader choice, by structuring the programmes so as to offer a wider range of options. Diversity has been adopted as a principle, partly based on a Danish (Grundtvigian) tradition of independent schools. As the educational system has been designed, the entire structure must today be perceived as a large marketplace, where the flow of pupils is actually determined by supply and demand. [Back to the top] Continuing Education and Training Adult and continuing vocational training in the public sector framework account for about two­thirds of total measures and take place in a number of different education and training institutions. Nearly 1% of GDP was spent on the operation of adult and continuing vocational education and training in 1995. Approx. 3% of working hours are spent on CVT. Adult vocational training support (the so­called VUS­allowance) is paid to persons with low level education/training qualifications who participate in general and specific training activities which take place during normal working hours. The allowance corresponds to the maximum rate of unemployment benefit plus full or partial reimbursement of participation fees. This scheme was made permanent as from January 1994. To prevent long­term unemployment, there has in recent years been a shift towards measures geared to the individual unemployed person and requiring an early analyses of his/her needs for improving his/her qualifications or for undergoing retraining. The expenditure on labour market policy measures has in recent years amounted to a little more than 6.5 % of GDP. While the share going to passive parts of this policy is falling, expenditure on active measures ­ education and job offers ­ is increasing (1.5 % of GDP in 1995). Regionalisation and decentralisation of labour market policies combined with individualisation of training offers to the unemployed linked to the formulation of individual action plans have been salient features of the labour market reforms of 1994 and 1995 and have lead to greater flexibility. Job­placement and job rotation schemes between the unemployed and the employed with in­built training programmes are considered major successes in Denmark. Radical changes in the continuing vocational training (CVT) structure have taken place since 1992 (Para 2.3). The government has presented a broad range of initiatives to strengthen CVT with the aim of making it a natural and recurrent part of working life. A basic principle of these changes is that CVT activities should be demand­driven with a view to increasing competition among training providers and ensuring that they satisfy the needs of both the participants and the employers. Through their labour market contributions the social partners will be co­financing the increase in activities. The basic philosophies behind the CVT offered through the AMU system (labour market training under the Ministry of Employment) and the Open Education system (under the Ministry of Education) are the following: A course fee is introduced in connection with all adult, vocational and advanced education/training activities. The fee is fixed on the basis of the need to give priority to formal training activities for persons lacking qualifications. Special measures for persons with low level qualifications will be strengthened. Barriers to adult vocational education and training will be dismantled through better guidance and information by including the introduction of a new function as counsellor within the adult vocational training system incentives to long­term planning of VET activities in the enterprises. Development of more and new training opportunities, as well as improvements in the quality of CVT courses; there should be more competition between both public and private providers of these. During the last three years very substantial changes have taken place in the AMU system. In 1994 "The Active Labour Market Policy" strategy was launched implying fundamental changes in the functioning and administration of the labour exchange offices and in the AMU system. This was continued during 1995 with new government proposals for labour market and VET policies in the programme "A faster route to jobs and training". This has meant radical changes in the AMU system from January 1, 1997. There are now four types of courses offered through AMU system: a) competence conferring courses, the so­called "plan courses" provided in a modularised structure; b) longer, coherent courses combining different types of education and training; c) individual assessment of competence courses and d) company­oriented courses. The role of the social partners has been weakened in the overall supply and demand of courses on offer and has been replaced by free admission of participants determined by the AMU centres' own decisions. At the same time, a certain level of user payment has been introduced as a regulation principle. [Back to the top] Trends ­ Current Issues and Problems Education as a continuum ­ life­long learning ­ is a high­priority area in Denmark. The Minister of Education has launched a "10 point"­plan based on the principles of free admission, demand­led provision of courses, and partial payment by the users of the educational system. An overriding initiative is the issue of quality in VET. In 1995 the Ministry of Education published a strategy plan called "A strategy for systematic quality development and assessment of results within the sector of vocational education", which intends to establish a framework for future quality assessment activities at all levels of the VET system. The VET quality strategy plan is a comprehensive and advanced measure. In 1997 the emphasis will be on supporting the 120 vocational schools' continuous, internal search for quality development, in particular through the use of self­evaluation tools and other systematized methods, including surveys of students' examination results, evaluation reports from (external) examiners, surveys of user satisfaction, etc. A new, parallel, competence system for adult and continuing education and training activities is under consideration. In 1996 a discussion paper was presented by the Minister of Education which pointed out that in order to induce more adults to take part in CVT it is necessary to establish a mechanism which can assess and give credits for participation in general adult and CVT courses. The aim is to give adults on the labour market the same possibilities as young people to take on new occupational and educational challenges. Adults should be given the chance to get accreditation for occupational experience as well as to participate in courses conferring personal qualifications. The social partners are expected to play a central role in the discussions, in particular in the definition of goals concerning practical skills and the assessment of practical work experience. Note prepared, at the request of the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (CEDEFOP) by Søren Peter Nielsen of Danmarks Erhvervspaedagogiske Laereruddannelse (DEL), Copenhagen [Back to the top]