The Sprout

Denmark: The Students’ Paradise

Posted by archifCLICarchive from National - Published on 28/07/2008 at 15:02
0 comments » - Tagged as Education

Tweet

Educate the Danish way

There is one fact I need to tell you: Students study for free at the university in Denmark and we get monthly study money from the state. I shared this information with students from London to Ljubljana over Lille and each times the reaction is clear: ‘What! That is the students’ paradise.

These students from all around the European Union think that this system both could make their study situation better and improve the quality of the social diversity in the university structure of the entire EU. First of all they could spend more time on their studies, because they would not have to work that much besides their studies. Second of all, they believe that the admission to the universities could be more equal, because more youngsters from social low classes will be able to attend the universities.

A privilege for all students

I get 594 euros a month from the state and I loan 344 euros, also from the state. This means I have 938 euros to pay my rent (which is 363 euros), my insurances, food and syndicate membership. The numbers might be enormous in your eyes, but the prices are also higher in Denmark. You do not get a cappuccino for less than three euros in a cafe in the student cities in Denmark.
Though prices are high in Denmark, I do not complain and after all my expenses are paid for. I still have money left, because I do not pay for my studies. It gives me time to focus on my studies and at the same time I can devote some hours for volunteer work as a press staff in a social and legal help desk. But I decide myself how many hours I work.

It makes me feel both lucky and privileged to live in a welfare state like Denmark. The system did not come by itself, but it is the product of long political fight and focus on the need for good and free education for all youngsters. It costs a lot of money, of course, but it is a political priority and an investment in the society's future.

Free education for all EU-citizens

Imaging if politicians in the European parliament listened to reactions of the European citizens each time they heard the good students’ conditions in Denmark, and they actually took a progressive action.
Imagine, if the European Commission stated that free education should be a democratic right inside the European Union and all students would get study money each month? That would be one of the biggest changes in the EU-agenda and maybe a statement on the European level that youngsters from all the EU-countries could relate to.

It would cost billions of Euros, and EU would have to canalize some of the 55 billion Euros away from the agricultural support each year to make this project come true. It is a question of economical and political priorities.
It would be a radical change of topic and it would take long-term commitments from both member states, the European Commission and the European Parliament.

In other aspects of the education system, we have standards for common university structure and point-system. The EU also gives free stipends through programs like Erasmus Mundus, where students can study in another EU-country.

In the other direction

But the development goes in another direction these days. Last spring I meet a girl from Germany who had badges from a recent demonstration, where she and other students were protesting against enrolment payment at her university. They went from free education to self paid education. The politicians might say, that it is only a small amount of money and that it will not grow over the years, but the stories reveal another truth. In England the payment was doubled in 2006, and the last years we also had some 'accidents' in Denmark.

The Danish University Paper brought a story about Danish students who paid 5,100 euros to participate some Erasmus Mundus candidate level at the University of Copenhagen, though education is suppose to be free in Denmark. The question was, that the legislation about this Eramus Mundus candidate, under the frame of EU, demanded that all students had to pay for their education in Denmark. The bottom line was that Danish law and EU-standard was speaking against each other and the reactions were severe among the citizens.

The majority of politicians in the Danish national parliament are pro free education and still stories like this one still pop up, and in general the political willpower around EU talks about strengthening the universities, but the reality seems like a total different story.

Take the EU-agenda in your direction

In Denmark and in the other Nordic countries free education and state support to students are some of the ways to stop inequality. At the same time education is a common base for the society, rather than an individual struggle.

So I have a wish for you: If you like to the idea of free education and student money, tell it to your politicians in the national parliament and in the European Parliament. Make them see that it is not a luxury, but a necessary political priority for the European Union and a part of our future.

Thomas Gam Nielsen, 22 years old, Aarhus, Denmark