More foreigners go to Danish language classes after fees scrapped
The number of people learning Danish at public language centres significantly increased after a mandatory course fee was scrapped last summer.
Cours participants who would have been required to pay fees to attend Danish language lessons under old rules numbered 10,499 in early 2020, before the charge was scrapped.
In the second quarter of this year that number had risen to 18,707, the Ministry for Immigration and Integration said in a statement on Wednesday.
The course fee, revoked on July 1st last year, applied to foreigners termed self-sufficient or selvforsørgende, encompassing people in Denmark for work and study purposes.
The fee was scrapped following an agreement between the government and left wing parties.
Danish lessons at state-owned language centres are offered to foreign nationals who have recently moved to Denmark and reside legally in the country. Refugees as well as people who move to Denmark to because of offers of work or study learn Danish at the schools.
“I’m pleased that more foreigners are choosing to go to Danish language classes. It is key for successful integration that foreigners in Denmark learn Danish,” immigration minister Mattias Tesfaye said in the statement.
“That gives them a better chance to talk to colleagues, neighbours and their daughter’s coach at the local football club – in short, it makes it easier to become part of the community,” he continued.
“At the same time, employers gain more from foreign workers when they speak the language”, Tesfaye also said.
The fee for language lessons was introduced by the previous government on July 1st 2018, meaning people who attended Danish classes had to pay 2,000 kroner every time they began one of the six modules into which the full course of language study is divided.
Danish lessons had been free prior to 2018.
Introducing course fees “probably, to varying degrees, had an effect on the drop in course participants from 2018 to 2019,” the ministry said.
Course registrations in 2020 and 2021 were also impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, it noted, citing closures during lockdown periods and the effect of the pandemic on immigration in general.
READ ALSO: Are Danish language lessons worth 12,000 kroner? Here’s what The Local readers think (2018)
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Cours participants who would have been required to pay fees to attend Danish language lessons under old rules numbered 10,499 in early 2020, before the charge was scrapped.
In the second quarter of this year that number had risen to 18,707, the Ministry for Immigration and Integration said in a statement on Wednesday.
The course fee, revoked on July 1st last year, applied to foreigners termed self-sufficient or selvforsørgende, encompassing people in Denmark for work and study purposes.
The fee was scrapped following an agreement between the government and left wing parties.
Danish lessons at state-owned language centres are offered to foreign nationals who have recently moved to Denmark and reside legally in the country. Refugees as well as people who move to Denmark to because of offers of work or study learn Danish at the schools.
“I’m pleased that more foreigners are choosing to go to Danish language classes. It is key for successful integration that foreigners in Denmark learn Danish,” immigration minister Mattias Tesfaye said in the statement.
“That gives them a better chance to talk to colleagues, neighbours and their daughter’s coach at the local football club – in short, it makes it easier to become part of the community,” he continued.
“At the same time, employers gain more from foreign workers when they speak the language”, Tesfaye also said.
The fee for language lessons was introduced by the previous government on July 1st 2018, meaning people who attended Danish classes had to pay 2,000 kroner every time they began one of the six modules into which the full course of language study is divided.
Danish lessons had been free prior to 2018.
Introducing course fees “probably, to varying degrees, had an effect on the drop in course participants from 2018 to 2019,” the ministry said.
Course registrations in 2020 and 2021 were also impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, it noted, citing closures during lockdown periods and the effect of the pandemic on immigration in general.
READ ALSO: Are Danish language lessons worth 12,000 kroner? Here’s what The Local readers think (2018)
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