An efterskole (literally ''"afterschool"'', plural efterskoler) is a unique type of

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

voluntary independent residential school for young people between the age of 14 to 18. At an efterskole, students can choose to spend one, two or three years finishing their primary education, and currently some 28,500 students attend one of approximately 260 such schools throughout Denmark. The schools are open to students from abroad. An efterskole usually offers a variety of "study lines", focusing on specific themes, such as general sports,

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

, sailing, golf, cooking, media, animation, theatre, music, dance, etc. Those particular lines offers practice and training on a professional level. Some schools are also focusing on helping pupils with dyslexia, or other educational issues.

Idea and organization

Common educational purpose

Each efterskole is a self-governing independent institution, and they all deal with both the educational and personal development of the students. They embrace a common educational focus on Enlightenment values, general education and democratic

citizenship Citizenship is a "relationship between an individual and a state to which the individual owes allegiance and in turn is entitled to its protection". Each state determines the conditions under which it will recognize persons as its citizens, and ...

Freedom of the efterskoler

Compared to public schools, efterskoler have substantial freedom in terms of e.g. choice of subjects, teaching methods and educational approach. These vary in accordance with individual schools political, religious or

pedagogical Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken as ...

orientation. The freedom of the efterskoler is assured by substantial state subsidies to both schools and students.

History

The first efterskoler were founded in the 1870s. The schools were closely related to the Danish

Folk High School Folk high schools (also ''Adult Education Center'', Danish: ''Folkehøjskole;'' Dutch: ''Volkshogeschool;'' Finnish: ''kansanopisto'' and ''työväenopisto'' or ''kansalaisopisto;'' German: ''Volkshochschule'' and (a few) ''Heimvolkshochschule;' ...

and the educational ideas of Christen Kold (1816-1870) and

N. F. S. Grundtvig Nikolaj Frederik Severin Grundtvig (; 8 September 1783 – 2 September 1872), most often referred to as N. F. S. Grundtvig, was a Danish pastor, author, poet, philosopher, historian, teacher and politician. He was one of the most influential pe ...

(1783–1872) who wanted schools to impart enlightenment values rather than formal

vocational training Vocational education is education that prepares people to work as a technician or to take up employment in a skilled craft or trade as a tradesperson or artisan. Vocational Education can also be seen as that type of education given to an in ...

. The Danish efterskoler came to play an important role for the Danish-oriented residents of the Danish-German borderland of

Schleswig The Duchy of Schleswig ( da, Hertugdømmet Slesvig; german: Herzogtum Schleswig; nds, Hartogdom Sleswig; frr, Härtochduum Slaswik) was a duchy in Southern Jutland () covering the area between about 60 km (35 miles) north and 70 km ...

when Germany introduced a law for language schools in 1888. To secure qualified teaching in Danish language and culture, the residents were forced to send their children to efterskoler in Denmark. The first efterskole in the region of

Southern Jutland Southern Jutland ( da, Sønderjylland; German: Südjütland) is the name for the region south of the Kongeå in Jutland, Denmark and north of the Eider (river) in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. The region north of the Kongeå is called da, Nør ...

was built in 1919. The attendance rate – from the

Danish minority of Southern Schleswig The Danish ethnic minority in Southern Schleswig, Germany, has existed by this name since 1920, when the Schleswig Plebiscite split German-ruled Schleswig into two parts: Northern Schleswig with a Danish majority and a German minority was ...

especially – increased dramatically during the

1920s File:1920s decade montage.png, From left, clockwise: Third Tipperary Brigade Flying Column No. 2 under Seán Hogan during the Irish War of Independence; Prohibition agents destroying barrels of alcohol in accordance to the 18th amendment, which ...

, when Germany experienced political extremism and economic meltdown. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

in 1945, the attendance rate from the region increased once again. The German minority of the region also has a dedicated efterskole in

Tinglev Tinglev (german: Tingleff) is a town with a population of 2,731 (1 January 2022)10th grade Tenth grade or grade 10 (called Year Eleven in England and Wales, and sophomore year in the US) is the tenth year of school post-kindergarten or the tenth year after the first introductory year upon entering compulsory schooling. In many parts of ...

; the rest attend 8th or 9th grade. This development has been criticised by the corporate confederation of Dansk Industri (DI) as a "waste of money" because of the state subsidies involved. In the first decade of the 2000s, the cost of attending an efterskole rose by 75%, and this development has been a matter of concern in Denmark. The prices for one year at an efterskole range from roughly 20,000 to more than 80,000 kroner.

References

Sources

* Raahede, Uffe: ''Grundtvig, Efterskolen og Medborgerskabet''. Forlaget-Aerligtalt, (2006),
Efterskoleforeningen
Official homepage of the national association of "efterskoler" in Denmark
Efterskole - About the Danish efterskole
Efterskoleforeningen. * * * Educations: *

External links

{{commonscat, Efterskoler
Efterskoleforeningen (Danish)

Efterskole (English)

EfterskoleTube
Education in Denmark School types Education in Schleswig-Holstein 1870s introductions 1870s establishments in Denmark