Teachers’ union representatives across Denmark say the task of including pupils with special needs in mainstream classes is lowering teaching quality, as Education Minister Magnus Heunicke is called before a parliamentary hearing on the folkeskole.
Local teachers’ union chairs from several parts of the country name inclusion as a key reason pupils have become academically weaker, DR Nyheder reports. The interviews were published on Tuesday, September 22. They follow historically poor PISA results for Denmark’s public schools.
DR has previously reported that 15-year-olds in Denmark have never performed worse in reading and math. In Odense, the task of accommodating all pupils and their different starting points is hurting academic quality, according to Charlotte Holm, chair of Odense Lærerforening. She says one teacher alone cannot reach every pupil, and that some pupils are repeatedly left waiting.
Teachers report the same pressure in Himmerland, where several pupils do not receive the support their teachers believe they need. Morten Kamstrup Mikkelsen, chair of Himmerlands Lærerkreds, says inclusion is the single issue that dominates inquiries from members. When a few pupils take up too much of a teacher’s time, the plan for what the class should learn collapses, he says.
Minister called to hearing
Heunicke, a Social Democrat, was summoned later Tuesday to a parliamentary hearing about the challenges facing the folkeskole. Gordon Ørskov Madsen, chairman of Danmarks Lærerforening, also points to inclusion as one of the largest daily challenges for teachers. He describes the inclusion task as underfunded and unsuccessful, with pupils who need special support not receiving it.
According to Madsen, standing alone with 25 pupils is unsustainable when some have diagnoses, social problems or learning and concentration difficulties. A survey by Danmarks Lærerforening in March 2026, with 1,168 participating teachers, found that 53 percent experience daily that inclusion negatively affects teaching quality.
School researcher Andreas Rasch says the concept of inclusion is not the problem, but its implementation. As noted by Rasch, the decision taken years ago was not wrong, and neither is the current ambition. The missing element, he says, is investment.
Spending on special education
Anders Winnerskjold, a Social Democrat and chair of KL’s children and education committee, stresses that municipalities have spent more in recent years on special classes and special schools. An analysis by Arbejderbevægelsens Erhvervsråd finds that about 28 percent of the folkeskole’s total budget goes to the roughly 7 percent of pupils attending special schools.
Winnerskjold says his clear recommendation is to invest in mainstream education if both areas are to succeed. He hopes part of the folkeskole boost announced by the government can strengthen the general school system. That would allow more adults around the youngest pupils, with one adult supporting a struggling child and another planning lessons.
