Statistics from the education ministry, Undervisningsministeriet, show that 78,000 young people in Denmark between the ages of 15 and 24 have not started or completed an education after finishing lower secondary school. That’s 14 percent of young people in the stated age group.
The government’s target is that 95 percent of year groups get an education and the education ministry expects that 93 percent of young people who completed lower secondary school in 2012 will have an education by 25 years later.
But the education minister, Christine Antorini, is keen on focusing on current youth figures.
“Almost 80,000 young people are without an education and that is too many,” Antorini told Jyllands-Posten newspaper.
“So it’s important that we don’t just look at future projections but at the current situation where many youths are not being educated.”
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Campus solution
In some areas of the country vocational schools and upper secondary schools have merged into a sort of campus and Antorini is eager to hear about their experiences if they can help educate more youngsters.
Mark Jensen, the head of youth education centre UU Danmark, agrees with Antorini’s plan to garner experiences from the campus solution.
“If you want to be a painter but have ended up in a business school, then one can simply speak with the student counsellor and can easily change,” Jensen said. “Then people won’t be dropping out on that account, and that means a lot.”
