Helsingør opens 11th and 12th school years for struggling students

Helsingør Youth School has opened a new programme for students who need more time after compulsory schooling, DR reports. Eleven students are starting in the 11th and 12th school years.

The programme is aimed at students who have experienced school refusal or other wellbeing difficulties and may need time to catch up on learning they have missed.

“Some young people who have experienced school refusal or other forms of poor wellbeing need more time. It is not necessarily because they need a different programme. Time is the important factor,” said Nadja Rahr, head of the Youth School’s X classes.

The school year will be tailored to each student. Support could focus on additional learning in a particular subject or on personal and social development, Rahr said.

Andreas Rasch-Christensen, a school researcher at VIA University College, said the programme could help students move on to further education and later enter the labour market.

“I can certainly see this being something that could be done elsewhere in the country,” he said.

Rasch-Christensen said the challenge was that municipal 10th-grade programmes are already set to be abolished in 2030 and replaced by EPX, a new vocational and professionally oriented upper-secondary education programme, under a political agreement reached by the previous government.

He said experiences from Helsingør should be considered at national political level if the programme proves successful.

The Helsingør city council has allocated 830,000 kroner for the programme this year and two million kroner annually after that.