UC Syd in Aabenraa has opened a new pedagogue training cohort taught in German, enrolling 18 German-speaking students who must pass a Danish test after one year to continue.
The new class started its first week of teaching this week, DR reports. At the UC Syd campus in Aabenraa, instruction during the first two semesters is delivered in German. The cohort consists of 18 German-speaking students on the pedagogue program.
According to DR, the class was created because of the shortage of pedagogues in Denmark. Figures from the union BUPL, cited by DR, show that Danish daycare institutions are short of 4,000 pedagogues. The German-speaking students are intended to help close that gap in the future.
UC Syd rector Alexander Von Oettingen told DR that the institution has an obligation as a welfare education provider to supply the teachers, pedagogues and nurses that are needed. He added that when it is difficult to recruit enough students locally, it makes sense to look to Germany. The hope is that the students will both train and settle in Denmark.
Danish test after one year
Alongside their regular subjects, the 18 students receive Danish lessons. After the first year of the program, they must pass a Danish language test in order to continue their studies in Denmark. Danish is described by UC Syd as a precondition for completing the education.
Von Oettingen said there is no leeway on that requirement. Per his statement to DR, students who do not pass the Danish test after one year will be removed from the program. The full pedagogue education runs for three and a half years.
One of the new students is 53-year-old Hilmar Krieg. He gave up his job as a self-employed haulier in central Germany to start the pedagogue program in Denmark, according to DR. Krieg said he speaks a little Danish, but that the language will be his biggest challenge.
Aabenraa lies in Southern Jutland, close to the German border, and UC Syd operates campuses across the region. The new cohort is aimed at recruiting from just across that border. German and Danish are related languages, though the differences between Danish and German remain significant for new learners.
DR notes that the students on the new class are greeted with hallo and guten Morgen rather than hej and godmorgen during their first semesters. The switch to Danish teaching follows the language test at the end of the first year.
UC Syd has not published figures on how many of the 18 students it expects to pass the Danish test. The institution states that the German-language cohort is intended to address the shortage of pedagogues in Danish daycare institutions.
