Government plans to move higher education places in Denmark
The planned changes in education can have both positive and negative impacts so it is important to focus on implementation that is going to work well.
Anders Bjarklev, chairman of Danish Universities
The Danish government presented a new initiative aimed at moving study places from bigger cities to smaller towns to help decentralise public services and allow easier access to higher education.
The plan will introduce 25 new higher education programmes in smaller towns across the country and put a limit on how many students can be accepted for higher education programmes in the cities like Copenhagen, Aarhus, Odense and Aalborg.
2,000 new study places will be created at the new study centres and 1,000 places at existing higher education institutions. Moreover, 4,500 places will be moved from the bigger cities by limiting the number of study places in their universities.
The plan also includes introducing new welfare sector-related courses in smaller towns to increase qualifications in teaching, nursing, social work and educational assistants.
The changes will be phased in from 2022, gradually. The Ministry of Education stated allocating DKK 2 billion towards the realization of the plan to help to relocate educational programmes and establishing new ones.
The government stands by this initiative to bring a more even distribution of education programmes between larger cities and smaller towns and help boost local communities.
Some higher education institutions do not share a positive view on government plans. The rector at the University of Copenhagen’s Henrik C. Wegener has been concerned that the plan could have an impact on the quality of education and research and even lead to the closure of some programmes.
The Danish Universities reacted in the press release on the initiative explaining the importance of the Danish universities to educate graduates for business life throughout Denmark and supporting continuously new initiatives, where students, researchers and businesses from all parts of the country are brought together.
Anders Bjarklev, chairman of Danish Universities said: “It is worrying that the plan aims to limit young people’s opportunities to educate themselves and choose where they want to live. There is no evidence that we can move students’ desires to study in the big city to tenders in smaller cities. It is important that we do not cut back on well-functioning education in Denmark. The planned changes in education can have both positive and negative impacts so it is important to focus on implementation that is going to work well. “
