Kindergarten teachers want first-aid law
The majority of councils don’t have any first aid guidelines for their daycare personnel, according to a survey by Politiken newspaper. But, despite two kindergarten teacher unions, BUPL and Landsforeningen for Socialpædagoger (LFS), asking for guidelines, the education minister, Christine Antorini (Socialdemokraterne), has no intention of changing current laws that would force teachers to learn first aid. Figures from Statens Institut for Folkesundhed, the national board of health, showed that each year over 20,000 children suffer injuries at daycare that require a visit to the emergency ward. Although most of the incidents are minor, a mandatory first aid course could help teachers assess injuries and administer aid quickly. In the case of cardiac arrest, the chance of survival is reduced by ten percent for every minute that passes if resuscitation is not administered. – Politiken
Bread dearer than ever
Considerable price increases in recent years means that bread is more expensive than ever in Danish supermarkets. A University of Copenhagen reports indicated that the when the price of wheat and grain rose, the price of bread rose significantly almost immediately, while the price of bread only fell slightly and over time when the price of wheat and grain once again dropped. In 2007 and again in 2011, the price of grain rose dramatically and in both cases the price of bread rose shortly thereafter. When the price of grain subsequently nose-dived, it took seven months for the price of bread to fall and when it did, it did so only slightly. Grain only makes up five percent of the cost of a loaf of bread and the price of bread has rises far more than it does in Germany and Sweden, the report found. The news comes in the wake of Danes being subjected to towering coffee prices. – Jyllands-Posten
Book industry fighting for survival
The Danish book industry could be a thing of the past unless price regulation is reinstated, according to Lars Boesgaard, the managing director of Denmark’s second largest publisher, Lindhardt and Ringhof. It was just two years ago that fixed book prices were abolished, but in an open letter the culture minister, Marianne Jelved (Radikale), Boesgaard pointed new model of having a waiting period of up to four months where fixed prices for new books were permitted. Boesgaard argued that this would give booksellers a fair chance to sell an equal portion of bestsellers as internet sites and supermarkets. Jelved said she would look into the issue. – Berlingske
Call for better regulation of EU subsidies
Danish regulators are calling for better control of EU rural development projects after the claims that many of the initiatives fail to live up to expectations. Each of Denmark’s five regional councils has a growth forum that works out a regional business development plan. The forums then recommend projects to regulators with Erhvervsstyrelsen, which then in turn approves them before acquiring funds from the EU. Between 2007 and 2013 Denmark will receive a total of 3.8 billion kroner as part of the project. – Børsen
Weather
Cloudy with the chance of flurries. Highs reaching 1 C. Temperatures falling to -1 C overnight.
