In Denmark, it is a requirement that students have an apprenticeship in order to be able to graduate from their chosen vocational education. Vocational education is set up such that after completing the basics course, students switch between long periods of working at their apprenticeship and shorter periods in school. This is until the necessary apprenticeship and schooling periods have been fulfilled.
The Issue
According to the newspaper Berlingske, “only just under half of the young people in [vocational] educations have an apprenticeship at the end of the basic course.” Furthermore, in 2018, 56% of vocational students were apprentices in a company three months after completing the basic course. Thus, establishing the insecurity in attaining an apprenticeship and therefore creating uncertainty in whether these students will be able to complete their secondary education. This is a long-standing issue in Denmark, Pernille Rosenkrantz-Theil the Minister for Children and Education has stated, “It cannot be right that all the strong forces in our society have been discussing this for more than two decades and still have not solved the problem.” Without an apprenticeship, many students have opted to drop out of their vocational education.
Moreover, in an interview with apprenticeship consultant Brigitte Marholz Johansen from the vocational school EUC Sjælland, whose task is to pair companies with students for apprenticeships, I learned that a large contributor to the issue of lacking apprenticeships is vocational businesses. Brigitte explains that vocational businesses find an issue with the complicated paperwork and bureaucracy required to have an apprentice. Similarly, Brigitte notes that the approach desired by businesses for students to apply for an apprenticeship greatly varies from company to company - some masters want the student to come physically for an interview, others want a mere email application, and others want both, along with a one-week internship to see if the student is a good fit for the company. This confusion and complexity was corroborated by a group of vocational students, who also noted that often companies never responded despite informing that they would. Interestingly, another reason for the lack of company initiative to pursue having apprentices was a matter of generational differences which came with concern for attendance and work ethic.
All of this is quite contradictory, in light of Denmark's future need for more skilled workers. According to the leading governmental party, Social Demokratiet, “Danish companies will be short of 70,000 mechanics, electricians and other skilled workers by 2025. If the business community cannot get the manpower it needs, it will have to move abroad or reject orders. This makes Denmark poorer and costs jobs.” Taking this into consideration it appears conflicting that vocational businesses do not take responsibility to secure the future of their own industry by educating students in apprenticeships.
On a more regional level, an unfavourable sentiment towards vocational education has arisen. According to the OECD, “VET [Vocational Education and Training] has been neglected: it has received limited attention compared to other parts of the education system and is often seen as having lower status.” This is reinforced by the European Union which has prioritised increasing the number of tertiary graduates. Coupling this with the statement made by minister Pernille Rosenkrantz-Theil, “If we just imagine for two minutes that the same thing happened to highschool students, and that only half of the 11th graders who started after the summer sat back in October. There would be an outcry” it leads to the formation of the question: is there equity in education if Denmark and the European Union are enforcing highschool and tertiary educations over other educations?
All in all, this article aims to bring awareness to the national issue of insufficient numbers of apprenticeships in Denmark which is hindering students in getting their optimal education and actually completing it. Meanwhile, it also brought light to a matter of equity and discrimination between types of education. I hope that the Danish government and vocational education system can make amends and enforce company employment of apprentices to help solve this long-standing issue.