Denmark to propose school day ends an hour earlier
School children in Denmark could be finished with lessons an hour earlier if changes to be proposed by the government on Monday are adopted.
Students at Denmark’s elementary schools or folkeskoler could find themselves hearing the bell for the end of lessons an hour earlier under proposals scheduled to be presented by the government on Monday.
Education Minister Mattias Tesfaye wants to reduce the number of school hours for all age groups by 200 per year, approximately an hour each day, newspaper Berlingske reports.
That may not even be the extent of added after-school hours, with the government to propose allowing schools to cut an additional 1,500 hours per year, distributed between all age groups. That proposal is designed to enable schools to plan their own schedules to a greater degree.
Resources saved by shortening the school day could be used to include a second teacher in some lessons, according to Berlingske.
Tesfaye said he was not concerned the measure would damage the quality of education, despite a school reform from as recently as 2013 having argued that Denmark’s school day should be made longer.
The Danish school day usually begins at 8am and finishes between 2pm and 3:15pm, depending on the age of the students.
“We have confidence that our school leaderships can see whether a teacher is good enough and exactly how many hours their class needs. A class with studious pupils and one with energetic ones don’t necessarily have the same needs,” Tesfaye said.
In addition to changes to opening times, the government wants to drop a requirement for teachers at to have degrees or other forms of further education in the subjects they are teaching.
Current rules demand that 95 percent of lessons at schools are taken by teachers who are trained in the subject at hand.
“In some places it’s perhaps more important that small children meet fewer adults than that they meet an adult who has studied the subject,” Tesfaye told Berlingske.
The comments by Tesfaye come after Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen hinted during last week’s opening of parliament that reforms could be on the way to schools.
A change to the rules governing schools would require support from all the parties signatory to the current elementary school agreement or folkeskoleforliget.
That means each of the three parties in the coalition government alongside the opposition Danish People’s Party, Liberal Alliance, Conservatives and Social Liberals.
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Students at Denmark’s elementary schools or folkeskoler could find themselves hearing the bell for the end of lessons an hour earlier under proposals scheduled to be presented by the government on Monday.
Education Minister Mattias Tesfaye wants to reduce the number of school hours for all age groups by 200 per year, approximately an hour each day, newspaper Berlingske reports.
That may not even be the extent of added after-school hours, with the government to propose allowing schools to cut an additional 1,500 hours per year, distributed between all age groups. That proposal is designed to enable schools to plan their own schedules to a greater degree.
Resources saved by shortening the school day could be used to include a second teacher in some lessons, according to Berlingske.
Tesfaye said he was not concerned the measure would damage the quality of education, despite a school reform from as recently as 2013 having argued that Denmark’s school day should be made longer.
The Danish school day usually begins at 8am and finishes between 2pm and 3:15pm, depending on the age of the students.
“We have confidence that our school leaderships can see whether a teacher is good enough and exactly how many hours their class needs. A class with studious pupils and one with energetic ones don’t necessarily have the same needs,” Tesfaye said.
In addition to changes to opening times, the government wants to drop a requirement for teachers at to have degrees or other forms of further education in the subjects they are teaching.
Current rules demand that 95 percent of lessons at schools are taken by teachers who are trained in the subject at hand.
“In some places it’s perhaps more important that small children meet fewer adults than that they meet an adult who has studied the subject,” Tesfaye told Berlingske.
The comments by Tesfaye come after Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen hinted during last week’s opening of parliament that reforms could be on the way to schools.
A change to the rules governing schools would require support from all the parties signatory to the current elementary school agreement or folkeskoleforliget.
That means each of the three parties in the coalition government alongside the opposition Danish People’s Party, Liberal Alliance, Conservatives and Social Liberals.
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