Aarhus parade puts vocational students in the spotlight

Four vocational schools joined forces for the first time for a celebration in the city of Aarhus, honouring young people taking vocational education, DR reports.

The event, called Faglært, began in central Aarhus, where students from vocational programmes paraded through the city towards Tivoli Friheden. Participants included students training to become electricians, social and healthcare assistants and carpenters.

“The parade is important because it makes professional pride visible and shows that vocational education is a great path to take,” said Jimmi Ludvigsen, project and partnership manager at Aarhus Tech.

Faglært is scheduled to return over the next two years, giving vocational students their own annual celebration.

“It is not about being the little brother of the graduation truck tradition. It is simply about creating our own tradition,” Ludvigsen said.

The organisers hope the event will change perceptions of vocational education and encourage more young people to choose it as a genuine option rather than as an alternative to upper secondary school or a plan B.

One participant, 19-year-old Bjørn Bach Danielsen, is studying to become an electrician at Aarhus Tech. He said he hoped the parade and the subsequent celebration at Tivoli Friheden would make vocational education more attractive.

“I hope more people will see these programmes as a real choice and not as rejecting upper secondary school or as a plan B,” he said.

According to Arbejderbevægelsens Erhvervsråd, Denmark will be short of almost 100,000 people with vocational qualifications by 2030.