Educational and Vocational Guidance in Denmark

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3. The Education SystemThis chapter gives a brief overview of the Danish educationsystem in order to help the reader understandthe complexity and variety of the many guidance servicesdescribed in chapter four.In Denmark it is possible to study, train and improveone’s skills throughout life. Education is compulsoryfor children from the age of 7 to 16 years; i.e. primaryand lower secondary school. Eighty-nine per centattend the public Folkeskole with the remaining elevenper cent attending private schools. Eighty-three percent of young people continue their education andattend a youth education programme with forty percent of young people going on to higher education.The ordinary education system – from primary schoolthrough higher education – is free of charge.However, one third of the labour force has only completedprimary and lower secondary education.Hence, the Danish Parliament recently reformed thesystem of adult education and continuing training, amajor objective of which is to offer adult educationand continuing training to all adults at all levels; fromthe low-skilled to university graduates.The Danish education system is divided into the followingmain areas:* Primary and lower secondary education* General and vocational upper secondary educationleading to:- Upper secondary school (gymnasium) leavingexamination - (studentereksamen)- Higher preparatory examination(højere forberedelseseksamen, HF)- Higher commercial examination(højere handelseksamen, HHX)- Higher technical examination(højere teknisk eksamen, HTX)* Commercial and technical vocational educationand training* Higher education which is divided into:- Short-cycle higher education- Medium-cycle higher education- Long-cycle higher education* Adult education which in turn is divided into:- General adult education(almen voksenuddannelse, AVU)- Adult vocational training programmes(arbejdsmarkedsuddannelserne, AMU)- Adult vocational education and training- Open education at all levels, from uppersecondary vocational training to universitylevel- Folk high schools.The main characteristics of the ordinary education systemare shown in the following model.Although there is a wide range of training and educationprogrammes, not all young people are able tochoose a course of education or start in a job immediatelyafter finishing the Folkeskole. Therefore, thereare other possibilities of training which are more individuallyadjusted to the young person concerned.Some of these education and training possibilities willbe mentioned in brief below.Vocational basic training (erhvervsgrunduddannelse,EGU) takes two years, but can be extended with practicaltraining for up to one year. EGU is designed togive the young person technical skills and to developmaturity so that it becomes easier to find a job or starton an ordinary vocational training programme. Thetraining alternates between theoretical teaching at a17
vocational college, production school or similar, andpractical training on the job. This training programmecan consist of individually chosen subjects, but mayalso be offered as a training programme for at particularindustrial sector in cooperation with an educationalinstitution.wishes or in reaction to specific labour marketchanges. This makes educational and vocational guidancean essential tool in many people’s lives, particularlywhen considering a change of career or a returnto education and learning.Open youth education (den fri ungdomsuddannelse,FUU) normally takes two years. It is an individualtraining scheme. This means that young people,together with a guidance counsellor, prepare theirown personal training programme. The purpose is todevelop the student both personally and vocationally,giving him or her more opportunities for continuing ineducation or training or for finding a job. A youngperson can draw up a training scheme at a recognisedschool, which will be responsible for the training. Itcould be a youth school, a youth boarding school, aschool for arts and crafts, a folk high school for youngpeople, or a production school. At least half a yearmust be spent at a school. The rest of the scheme mayconsist of e.g. practical training, project work or educationabroad.At a production school (produktionsskole) there is bothpractical and theoretical training. As a rule most of thetraining takes place in workshops where many differentproducts are made. The trainees are also giventhe opportunity to go to classes in Danish, Arithmetic,IT and other subjects. A person (young or adult) maystart at a production school at any time and continuefor up to two years.Via the “dual” (ordinary and adult) education system itis possible for every Dane – throughout life – tochange between employment and education and/or tocombine the two according to individual needs or18
Page 1 and 2: Educational and VocationalGuidance
Page 3 and 4: Educational and Vocational Guidance
Page 6 and 7: PrefaceTo meet the many requests fo
Page 8 and 9: 1. Structure of Educational and Voc
Page 10 and 11: 1.3 Purpose of guidanceThe starting
Page 12 and 13: Organisations involved in coordinat
Page 14 and 15: CompositionR.U.E. is an agency unde
Page 16 and 17: ance practitioners in such a way th
Page 20 and 21: 3 years2 yearsHigher1 2UpperSchool1
Page 22 and 23: 4.1 Primary and lower secondary sch
Page 24 and 25: 4.2 Youth guidanceThis covers:• Y
Page 26 and 27: Group Services Legal Authority Type
Page 28 and 29: • Guidance at production schoolsT
Page 32 and 33: • Educational and vocational guid
Page 36: 4.8 The Prison Service• Guidance
Page 39 and 40: where the participants choose subje
Page 41 and 42: 6. Closing RemarksThe purpose of th
Page 43 and 44: Bibliography* Landsarbejdsrådet (2
Page 45 and 46: Confederation of Salaried Employees
Page 47 and 48: Appendix two:Examples of R.U.E. Pub

Educational and Vocational Guidance in Denmark

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