Johanne Mose Entwistle
Associated Partner / Head of Impact / Anthropologist
Aarhus
jme@aart.dk
+45 22 50 78 40
Impact case | VUC Syd
Helping young people back into education
The impact of the education centre
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53it translates to this amount of young people every year
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200percent more young people continue with their further education
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60.000.000the amount of DKK that the state saves if every third young person moves from receiving benefits to employment
VUC Syd’s education centre in Haderslev has attracted significantly more students, reduced dropout rates and motivated even more people to continue studying after completing their adult education course. It has given young people with school fatigue another chance in the education system. It has helped them move from benefits into the education system and given them the motivation and capabilities to continue studying at a university, technical college or other educational institution.
Creates immense value for society
In fact, no less than 200 percent of young people end up continuing their studies, corresponding to an increase of more than 1,000 young people each year. And if only every third student transitions from benefits to employment, the result would be an estimated annual added value of more than DKK 60 million for the Danish state. From a socio-economic perspective, the education centre will therefore have paid for itself in just three years.
We were expecting good results, but we have been taken aback by just how positive they are.Head of Development at VUC Syd / Qualitative insight from the Alexandra Institute’s anthropological field study of VUC Syd
Challenging the traditional conception of a college
All this has been made possible by viewing education from the perspective of young people’s life circumstances and meeting them on their own terms. The result is a new and different educational centre that challenges the traditional conception of a college built up around fixed classrooms. Instead, the education centre appears as an open and entirely digital learning environment bound together by a bright atrium and different learning zones.
From DR to BBC
The successful and innovative learning environment of the education centre has garnered considerable interest. Former Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt has visited the education centre, and it has also received mention in Danish and international media, from the Danish public service broadcaster DR to the BBC. In Denmark alone, VUC Syd has received more than 1,600 mentions in the media since its inauguration in 2013. This makes it one of Denmark’s most talked-about education centres and the most talked-about of all the 30 VUC education centres.
Sources
Annual statements from VUC Syd / Infomedia / The Economic Council of the Labour Movement / The Alexandra Institute, 2015 social survey of the education centre
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