Chapter 12: National Policies and Practices on ICT in Education: Denmark

The Danish educational system has been decentralized to strengthen the ability of the individual educational institutions to make independent decisions. Decision-making in the different educational institutions is shared by the Danish Parliament, the Ministry of Education, 14 counties, and 275 municipalities. The social partners in the educational process (e.g., teachers’ unions, student organizations, parents) and the educational institutions themselves also play a part as decision-makers.

The model used to finance Denmark’s educational institutions is an important element of ensuring a high degree of freedom for those institutions. The model employs the so-called “taximeter principle” to calculate for each institution a grant that is based on a specific sum of money per student. The total sum for the entire student population of the institution is allocated as a framework grant to be spent freely by the institution, subject to provisions laid down for the content of that institution’s individual programs. In 1998 the annual expenses of the Danish education system amounted to €B1.8 or 6.5% of the GDP (Ministry of Education, 2000). The three levels of the country’s education system—primary, upper secondary and higher education—accounted for respectively €B5.4, B2.4 and B2.38 of that total (Ministry of Education, 2000).