The government's education plan: near-cancellation of the teacher specialization requirement, a shorter school day in primary schools, and more...

The government is presenting to the Danish parliament this week its plan for changes in the education sector, which includes several key points, including less government control over primary schools (i.e., from grades 0 to 9), the elimination of the requirement that 95% of teaching in primary schools must be done by a teacher specializing in the subject matter, and a reduction of the school day by one hour, according to a statement by Minister of Children and Education Mattias Tesfaye to the Berlingske newspaper, as reported by TV2 and Ritzau.

More specifically, the Minister of Children and Education, Mathias Tesfaye, and the government will shorten the school day by 200 hours per year for all students, which corresponds to reducing school hours by about one hour per day. The school day could also become shorter because the government is also proposing that schools be able to cancel an additional 1,500 hours per year spread over all periods of the school year. In this way, schools can organize the school day themselves to a greater extent without government intervention. However, according to the plan, the resources saved through a shorter school day should remain in the school and could, for example, be used to hire teachers for some teaching hours, according to sources.

Mathias Tesfaye is not afraid that shorter school days will harm professionalism. He argued otherwise in the 2013 primary school reform, when the school day was made longer: “We are confident that our school administrations can assess whether a teacher is good enough and exactly how many hours a class needs…”.

Prime Minister's speech at the opening of Parliament and the topic of primary schools

The government's upcoming primary school initiative or plan occupied a large part of Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen's inaugural speech to parliament on Tuesday. The plan is also the first initiative in an agenda of less government and parliamentary control over primary schools.

The ruling Finnish Liberal Party also announced on Sunday that school boards should be strengthened and have a greater influence on public schools, and this must be done by inviting people from the local business community to join the boards and other matters, according to sources.

Participating parties

The Liberal Alliance, the Radicals, the Conservatives, and the Danish People's Party are all parties to the Primary Schools Agreement, which must be settled in the Danish Parliament.