2022

Expert group is to examine the impact of gender on learning and development

June 2022

The Danish government wishes all children and youths, regardless of their gender, to have equal opportunities to become as skilled as they can. Yet, there are big differences between boys’ and girls’ academic results. Therefore, the Minister for Children and Education has set up an expert group to examine the reasons for gender differences in academic results in the education system.

The expert group is to examine the impact of the form, content and organisation of the instruction on the pupils’ learning and general motivation. Furthermore, the expert group is to identify if there are factors that contribute to the gender differences even before the children start in school. The work of the expert group is to result in recommendations on how to reduce the impact of gender in day care, primary and lower secondary education, and upper secondary education.

For instance, the recommendations can aim at the following themes:

• Content and measures in day care;
• Pedagogy and didactics;
• The form and organisation of the education;
• The content of the education;
• The teachers’ knowledge and competencies;
• Structural conditions such as legislation or the organisation of the education system.

As a basis for the work of the expert group, the Ministry of Children and Education has completed an analysis on the academic differences between boys and girls and how they develop during primary and lower secondary education and in the transition to upper secondary education. For one thing, the analysis illustrates an increasing difference between boys’ and girls’ results in the mandatory tests in the Danish public school’s leaving examination from 2008 to 2019. The analysis also illustrates that more girls than boys complete upper secondary education.

The expert group includes pupils, teachers, pedagogues, headmasters, representatives of the social partners, researchers with particular insight and knowledge within the area, and other stakeholders with a special focus on gender.

The expert group is to complete their work and report to the Minister for Children and Education by spring 2023.

New antisemitism action plan to increase knowledge about Holocaust and antisemitism in the schools

January 2022

In light of vandalism against Jewish burial sites, the Danish government has launched an action plan against antisemitism. The action plan is interdepartmental and includes 15 initiatives to prevent antisemitism taking root in Denmark. Five of the 15 initiatives aim at increasing children and youth’s knowledge of Holocaust and antisemitism. These five initiatives include:

1. Obligatory education in Holocaust in primary and lower secondary school and general upper secondary education;
2. Continuing and developing the education in the recollection of Holocaust and other genocides;
3. Preparing teachers to evade exclusion in the school;
4. Expanding youth-to-youth dialogue between religious beliefs;
5. More information on Jewish life and culture in Denmark.

The objective of the initiatives is to prepare pupils on how to resist antisemitism and other forms of discrimination. The purpose of the initiatives is to teach the pupils to interact in a diverse society and understand that their actions and statements can have negative implications for other people. The action plan obligates the educational institutions to ensure that the pupils obtain knowledge and skills, which remove prejudices and myths and call for tolerance and mutual respect between people. This includes working systematically with critical thinking, in relation to for example propaganda and fake news, and challenging extremist and xenophobic attitudes and values.

The action plan also encompasses other initiatives to prevent antisemitism including more research on antisemitism, prevention in specific environments, protection of Jews and Jewish institutions, improved instruction regarding anti-Semitic incidents and focus on the fight against antisemitism in the foreign policy.

For more information: Action plan against anti-Semitism

2020

The Minister of Children and Education wants to improve the education of children placed outside their family home

January 2020

In the wake of the Prime Minister's New Year speech, the government has decided to set up a cross-ministerial task force focusing on education of placed children. The task force is going to propose ways to improve the education of placed children attending an intern school at a children’s home/24-hours care centre for children.

A study from 2018 shows that too many placed children attending an intern school do not receive the education they are entitled to. The intern schools do not meet the required minimum limit of teaching hours. Although different initiatives have been put into action, there is still room for improvement.

Intern schools are schools placed in children’s home/24-hours care centre for children. The pupils attending the schools can have social and behavioural problems. Therefore, the municipality refers the pupils to the intern schools.

In order to tackle the problems relating to the intern schools the Minister of Children and Education has launched a task force aimed at improving the education for placed children. The task force will examine why the children do not receive the education they are entitled to. Furthermore, the task force must propose ideas on how to organize and plan the education to ensure that it meets the pupils’ needs.

In addition to the task force the Minister, also strongly emphasises that the municipalities must ensure to meet the children’s right to attend school and that the education must be of a certain quality.

The increased focus on the quality of the placed children’s education follows the Danish Government’s ambition to pursue a child-, youth-, school and education policy, which will make Denmark the world’s best country for a child.

For more information (in Danish): The Education for placed children at intern schools must be improved