A necessary step in the right direction

A much-needed boost on the way to the social sciences and humanities programmes

The Danish government’s original proposal meant that the educational institutions would receive approx DKK 2,000 extra per social sciences and humanities student per year. The students may now look forward to an improvement of their conditions as the agreement has resulted in approx DKK 4,200 in 2010, after which it will increase continuously to DKK 5,000 per student per year from 2012 onwards.

- We appreciate that the government has acknowledged that it is imperative to correct some historical imbalances in the Danish value added funding system. In the long run, if we continue to hollow out education, it will weaken the productivity and competitiveness of the Danish businesses. Therefore, it is very positive that the government has decided to act now, CBS President Johan Roos says.

More lessons for students

Increased value added funding is to be used for an improvement of CBS’s study programmes by offering more lessons and individual counselling, for instance.

Nevertheless, Johan Roos only considers it the first step on the way to ensuring the quality of Danish education, because there is still long way to go before CBS will be able to match the resources spent on business economics programmes in other countries.

- We have laid a solid foundation, but that does not mean that the house is finished. Therefore, CBS is going to continue its efforts in getting the best possible education quality. It is a necessity if Denmark is to be competitive in the areas of knowledge and innovation in the future, Johan Roos says.

Earlier this year, a study conducted by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation and the Ministry of Finance showed that the university programmes in reality cost approx DKK 11,500 more than the amount given to the universities for each student, the so-called value added funding.