There is a correlation between the distance young people have to travel to get to their educational institution and the dropout rate at these institutions.

This is the finding of an analysis by the regional government interest organisation Danske Regioner of a DTU study into transport habits. Journey times in the municipalities with the highest dropout rates are as much as twice as long as those in the regions where most young people complete their education program.

Can’t afford not to act
Carl Holst, the regional municipalities chairman for the region of southern Denmark, told Jyllands-Posten that something needed to be done to make vocational training programs more accessible when the contracts for these courses go out to tender in 2017.

“I think we need to strongly consider doing something about the distance to the education programs,” he said.

“That can be done, for example, by looking at some of the efforts being made to run the basic courses in several places.”

Holst also told the newspaper that co-operation between public transport providers and educational institutions – for example by introducing new bus routes – can be part of the solution. Such programs in southern Denmark have reduced transport time by 10-14 minutes on average and up to 45 minutes for some students.

The construction of student residences and digital learning should also be investigated, according to Holst. “It’s so important that we actually can’t afford not to take in all good suggestions,” he said.