Education Minister Magnus Heunicke has received hundreds of proposals from parents on how to improve the Danish folkeskole, days after Denmark’s weakest PISA results to date.
The gathering took place Thursday evening in the assembly hall at Engskolen in Herlev, west of Copenhagen. Heunicke, of the Social Democrats, had billed it as Denmark’s largest parents’ meeting. According to DR, the hall was well filled with parents who came to talk directly with the minister.
Ahead of the meeting, DR’s P4 regional stations asked parents across the country what they would tell the minister. Those contributions were handed to Heunicke after the meeting ended. DR reports that he accepted the material and said he intends to read all of it.
The Ministry of Education states that the meeting ran from 7:30 p.m. to 8:45 p.m. in the Engskolen auditorium in Herlev Municipality. The invitation was open to all parents of folkeskole pupils, with or without registration. The stated purpose was to discuss the falling academic level in Danish schools.
The event followed the latest PISA survey, published earlier in the same week. As reported by TV2, the study showed a historically low academic level among Danish pupils. DR notes the findings covered reading and mathematics.
Respect for teachers a recurring theme
Per DR, one topic returned repeatedly in the input collected from parents. It concerned pupils’ lack of respect for rules and for the teacher. Heunicke described this as a clear problem that needs to be addressed.
He said the teacher is no longer the authority that teachers once were. According to the minister, it is very important to help teachers regain that position. He also said parents care about their own children without doing so at the expense of others.
Topics raised during the evening included inclusion, screen time and how to create calm in classrooms. Heunicke said he wants whole classes and schools to flourish, with better conditions and pupils who are happier and learn more.
Iben Husted Nielsen, a mother of three, was among the parents who attended in Herlev. She told DR that the evening confirmed many of the concerns her family already had about conditions in the folkeskole. She described it as positive that the minister listened.
She also pointed to funding as a starting point for change. As stated by Nielsen, the minister himself said far more money must be channeled into the folkeskole. The ministry says Heunicke will now work further with the input from parents, alongside the debate over testing in schools.
