Get your Politiken Edition subscription

Børns Vilkår calls the rise in school absenteeism »alarming« and says municipalities aren’t doing enough. KL pushes back, arguing the problems are complex.

A growing number of students skip more than a quarter of the year

Ellemarkskolen in Køge is one of many Danish schools struggling with high student absenteeism; in 2023/24 it was 9.9%. File photo. Foto: Annika Byrde
Ellemarkskolen in Køge is one of many Danish schools struggling with high student absenteeism; in 2023/24 it was 9.9%. File photo. Foto: Annika Byrde
Listen to the article

Across the country, there are elementary school students with such high absenteeism that they miss over 50 days of school. This amounts to a quarter of the school year.

And the trend is worsening. In 2010/2011, 1.4 percent of students had more than 50 days of absenteeism. By 2023/2024, this figure had risen to 2.6 percent, according to new data from Børns Vilkår based on figures from Statistics Denmark.

This is for subscribers' eyes only

But don’t you worry. Your Politiken Edition subscription is just one click away. We are looking forward to bringing you a handpicked selection of Politiken's stories - translated into English.

Subscribe now
Already a subscriber? Welcome back. Sign in here
Edition 2

Most read

    1

  1. The chemicals are everywhere: Not a single soil sample from Denmark is clean

    2. 2

  2. The central bank of Denmark: Foreign labour has filled half of all new jobs over the last 12–13 years

    3. 3

  3. Expectations for the consent law were high. It has fallen far short of working the way politicians wanted

    4. 4

  4. Experts warn politicians: In reality, our prosperity rests on a colossal injustice

    5. 5

  5. The Wegovy pill exceeds every expectation. But Novo is holding back its cheers

    6. 6

  6. Are there really people walking around feeding wolves treats?

© All material on this page is subject to the applicable copyright law.Read policy