Today’s big topic: Vietnamese intern Hieu came to a Danish nursery to learn about plants, but was bitterly disappointed: »It was just about working«
Do Trung Hieu interned at a nursery on the island of Funen from July 2024 to December 2025. He was there as part of his degree program in plant science, but felt like cheap labor.
What’s happening?
Do Trung Hieu arrived from Vietnam on the outskirts of Odense in July 2024 brimming with anticipation. Ahead of him lay an 18-month internship at one of the country’s largest market gardens, EasyCare Plants, which specializes in tropical houseplants.
He had applied for an internship in Denmark as part of his master’s degree in plant science and was looking forward to learning more about methods used in a professional greenhouse. But according to Do Trung Hieu, there was little training or education to speak of:
»It was just about working. There was no kind of mentor or teacher, and if I asked questions, I was just told I shouldn’t ask so many. It really got to me«, he tells Politiken in a WhatsApp call from Vietnam.
During his first month at the Danish nursery, he learned how to operate the automated irrigation and fertilization systems. Over the next 17 months, he learned »nothing«, he says.
Why it matters!
The purpose of the agricultural internship scheme is to allow foreign students to come to Denmark and learn more about how to run a farm or a nursery. One requirement is that they must be enrolled in a relevant program of study in their home country.
But over the years, and especially in recent months,the program has faced criticism in Parliament, where several parties say it has become, above all, a shortcut for the agricultural sector to get cheap labor.
The labor union 3F is also critical of the scheme. Allan Busk, chairman of its “green” group, says he is not surprised by Do Trung Hieu’s experience. It is a major problem, he says, that interns in many places are treated like ordinary employees.
An agricultural intern’s hourly wage is 79.86 kroner in the first part of the internship period and 107.25 kroner in the last part. Working hours are 37 hours a week.
Last year, 2,160 agricultural interns received permission to come to Denmark. Records obtained by Politiken show that a number of companies make heavy use of the scheme, with as many as 36 interns over the past 18 months. Cross-referenced with information from the CVR business register, it shows that at several companies interns account for a third of the total workforce.
Still curious? Read the full article here.
In other news
– The failure rate in 9th grade has gotten stuck at an alarmingly high level
Far too many students are still leaving Denmark’s public schools without passing the final exams in both Danish and math. For the third year in a row, it applies to every ninth student, according to an analysis by the Economic Council of the Labor Movement. That suggests the share who fail has leveled off at an alarmingly high level.
As a society, we should be ashamed of that, says Gordon Ørskov Madsen, chairman of the Danish Union of Teachers. For young people who leave public school without a passing final exam, it is about far more than a number on a piece of paper. They have not acquired some of the most basic skills they need for the rest of their lives
Read the full story here.
– Norway is raking in profits from oil prices but investing only modestly in Europe
While most people fear an economic crisis because of the war in the Middle East, Norway is getting richer. High oil and gas prices are delivering enormous profits for Norway’s oil giants, and most of the money ends up in Norway’s sovereign wealth fund.
Quarterly earnings reports from Norway’s largest public-private companies, Equinor, Vår Energi and Aker BP, show multibillion-kroner profits exceeding expectations. Norwegian analysts predict an even better result next quarter, when high oil and gas prices will fully hit the bottom line. Norway’s dizzying earnings are coming as most European countries are on their knees, prompting Norwegian economists to demand that Norway take greater responsibility for investing in Europe’s security – specifically by providing more money for Ukraine’s fight against Russia.
– The latest count of the wolf population shows 49 adult wolves in Jutlandby the end of April
That is according to a status memo from the Natural History Museum Aarhus and the National Centre for Environment and Energy at Aarhus University, published on the website ulveatlas.dk. A year ago, by comparison, the estimate was 42 adult wolves. The 49 wolves are divided among seven packs, three pairs without pups and a solitary, territory-holding male wolf. No new packs have been added since the last count. But new pairs have formed – male and female wolves that have not yet had pups.
The three pairs did not have pups last year. But the expectation is that these three pairs will attempt to breed this year. Combined with the other seven packs, the wolf population could therefore grow markedly by the time researchers take stock again in a year.
Talk of town: Experts: Investigate Denmark’s enormous cancer burden – and do something about it
Danes are Nordic champions – in a truly terrible way – when it comes to how many people get cancer and die from it. And we may even be Western European champions.
That comes down to our Danish lifestyle, which could be changed if politicians want a healthier population, where fewer people develop cancer and die from malignant disease.
That is the view of a number of experts Politiken has spoken with. They are now calling for a major, independent investigation of cancer incidence in Denmark in an international perspective, as well as a focus on societal initiatives and measures that would ensure fewer Danes develop cancer and die. If politicians dare to act.
Jesper Fisker, chief executive of the Danish Cancer Society, supports an investigation into Denmark’s high cancer incidence and death rate, as well as measures that would bring down the record number of cancer cases.
»It just must never become something that gets shelved, because we already know a great deal. For example, we don’t lack knowledge in the area of tobacco, which causes an awful lot of cancer. What we need is political will: Phase out tobacco now, and raise prices sharply«, he says.
He supports a deeper look into why cancer incidence is so high in Denmark compared with the rest of Europe.
Read more about the experts calling for action here, and learn what causes the high cancer incidence here.
This newsletter features stories originally published in Danish. AI was used to shorten and translate the articles into English, after which a member of the editorial staff reviewed and refined the content.