Big changes are coming to Danish schools. The Danish government announced wide ranging proposals to reform the educational system for the older classes by 2030.
One announced reform is to scrap the optional 10th grade, so that more students choose a new vocational course after compulsory schooling ends in 9th grade. After uproar from boarding schools, these institutions will be allowed to keep their 10th grade classes, albeit without an end of school test.
This decision will affect more than just Danish schools. There are around 20 international schools in Denmark who teach students between the ages of 5 to 16. If they are aligned with International Baccalaureate, International Curriculum Association or Cambridge International Education systems, there is a logistical issue they must solve: all of these international programmes are 11 years long while Danish schooling is only ten.
How do you fit 11 years into 10? There are three legal possibilities: drop the first year of primary, register the first year as a daycare with the kommune or register the last year as 10th grade.
There is also a workaround to fudge the numbers by skipping or holding back children through the Danish grades on the paperwork after the very first year but not changing their class in practice.
By my estimation, around 40 percent of international schools and departments in Denmark align their very last year with 10th grade. If 10th grade no longer exists outside of boarding schools, what will they do?
The schools have until 2030 to work it out and it makes sense it is not a huge political priority for the government to cater for a handful of schools. However few they are, the impact on the affected schools will be significant.
Registering the youngest class as daycare is a lot more admin, since kommuner have much more stringent rules and policies about everything from curriculum to fire alarms. Dropping the first year would create staffing implications and crunched curriculum time. Fiddling the books with sneaky workarounds does not suit everyone’s ethical temperament, and the stakes are high because if you fudge it incorrectly, then the Education Ministry could withdraw government grants.
This situation underlines the need for a system built for international schools instead of trying to squeeze schools into the existing framework.
Many Danish kommuner are banking on attracting and retaining significantly more international workers by 2030. Around 15 percent of those migrants bring their children, so this will likely mean hundreds of more schoolchildren in the international system.
These schools need a structure that works for them, one that handles their specific challenges and avoids piling on unnecessary administrative headaches as they try to squeeze their square peg into the Danish round hole.
