Training and development in the Danish context: challenging education?

There have been many new initiatives within the Danish educational system during the last few years. These initiatives are based on an unshakable belief that “…within a knowledge and service society continuous competency development is decisive … for companies’ ability to compete” (Ministry of Education, 1997, p. 22). In other words, there are new demands on both companies and employees. This paper seeks to describe the nature of education and training provision in Denmark. Labour market policies and infrastructure are examined, the education system is described and analysed and recent empirical data on corporate training and development are discussed. Finally, an attempt is made to indicate key challenges facing the Danish learning environment into the future.