Despite significant financial efforts from the government to attract more young people to choose welfare education programs, the results have been lacking. Instead of seeing an increase in the number of applications for programs such as teacher, educator, and social worker, new figures from the Danish University Colleges show a downward trend. Only the nursing education is experiencing a modest increase of one percent compared to last year.
Overall, there has been a six percent decrease in the number of first-priority applications for the four major welfare-focused programs. The most significant decrease is seen in the educator program, where the number of applications has been reduced by 10 percent. This is despite educators being among the groups that received a pay raise through the government’s financial boost.
In a press release from the educators’ trade union (BUPL), the new figures are discussed with concern. Chairman Elisa Rimpler states that the education will not be able to attract the necessary students until a significant professional and financial boost occurs. Even though educators will receive an additional 1800 kroner per month from 2026 through the government’s agreement, Rimpler believes that it is not sufficient.
“We need an attractive education that enjoys greater prestige. The educator program ranks at the bottom when we ask young people which professional programs are most attractive. This is completely unsustainable because the direct consequence is that too few choose the education, and we do not have enough educators for the children,” says Elisa Rimpler.
It is not a new trend that fewer people are applying for the major welfare programs. In 2015, the four professional programs had a total of 18,474 applicants. That number has now fallen to 11,873, which corresponds to a 36 percent reduction.