Ministers face hearing on tougher Danish requirements for care training

Two Danish ministers are due to answer questions at an open parliamentary hearing about Danish-language skills in social and healthcare training programmes and language requirements in elder care, DR reports.

Education Minister Magnus Heunicke and Minister for Children, the Elderly and Housing Jacob Mark are being asked how the government plans to improve trainees’ Danish. Marlene Harpsøe, the Danish Democrats’ spokesperson on elderly affairs, called for stricter language requirements, saying too many workers have inadequate Danish. She did not specify what changes her party wants.

DR sought an interview with Heunicke about how the government would ensure graduates have stronger Danish skills, but the minister was unavailable.

An analysis by the Rockwool Foundation found that the number of social and healthcare workers in elder care rose by 8,400, from 83,700 to 92,100, between 2011 and 2025. The increase was largely due to foreign workers: their number rose by 11,400, while the number of workers with Danish citizenship fell by 3,200. The foreign share of the workforce increased from 6 to 18 per cent.

Sara Lei Sparre, a senior researcher at VIVE, said language difficulties occur in some workplaces but vary depending on staff composition and how easily employers can recruit trained workers. She said staff are taught non-verbal ways to help residents when spoken communication is difficult.

FOA’s social and health sector chair, Tanja Nielsen, said more people with backgrounds other than Danish are enrolling in the programmes and that further language support may be needed. This could include longer time in school, more Danish lessons during workplace training, or intensive lessons alongside work in a care home or home-care service, she said.

Applicants to the social and healthcare assistant or helper programmes generally need an average grade of at least 02 in Danish in their final primary-school examinations, or an equivalent result. Schools can assess applicants who do not meet the requirement, and may offer a Danish-as-a-second-language preparatory course.

Some older residents in Aalborg told DR they had managed to communicate with home-care workers despite occasional language difficulties. Gerda Lund Pedersen, 88, said she had once spoken English with a foreign worker. Birthe Christensen said she sometimes asked workers to repeat themselves, but they eventually understood one another. Inger Bech, 75, said she sometimes used gestures and demonstrated what she needed when a worker’s Danish was limited.