One-fifth of public school teachers are insufficiently educated

The number of uneducated teachers at Denmark’s elementary schools has doubled since 1997, according to a study conducted by the think-tank Kraka and the financial consultancy Deloitte. Most of them don’t have a higher education or a bachelor’s degree. 

Temporary teachers
There is a dearth of teachers in Denmark, which has resulted in insufficiently educated people filling their shoes as temporary workers until an alternative is found. 

Having a professional teacher is crucial for the students’ professional and social development, Andreas Rasch-Christensen, the head of the VIA University College, told Jyllands-Posten. 

Teachers given more rights
The schools state that they are increasingly using teacher substitutes – particularly as teachers have become eligible for more days off and often take sick leave as well. 

“The teachers have been given more rights, and that’s the reason for substitutes. It is not okay, but it is a condition,” explained Claus Hjortdal, the chair at Skolelederforeningen, the school boards’ association.

Last year, the former education minister, Merete Riisager, set up a committee to look into this issue. Hjortdal has now requested her successor, Pernille Rosenkrantz-Theil, to resume the work.