Scan Magazine | Special Theme | Nordic Education Special – Danish Efterskoler
Prepare for an international future It is no coincidence that as many as 97 per cent of students continue on to a postsecondary education after a year at SKALs Efterskole (SKALs International Boarding School). The school, which offers the International General Certificate of Secondary Education, strives to give its Danish and international students both a personal and an educational journey. The approach has earned it the highest grade average of its region. By Signe Hansen | Photos: SKALs Efterskole
Founded in central Jutland in 1990, SKALs Efterskole had the ambition to provide an alternative to the then majority of free boarding schools focusing on personal development and social interaction. SKALs’ founders wanted to combine these traditional efterskole ideals with more tangible preparation for students’ continued professional and academic lives. From this ambition the school’s 62 | Issue 94 | November 2016
current international profile naturally germinated, captured in the slogan “the world must be conquered every day”. “What we mean by this is that we have to relate to and choose how to relate to the world every day. As a young person today, you have to realise that you are part of a generation that, to a much greater extent than previous generations, must be able
to conduct themselves professionally and socially all over the world,” principal Sven Primdal explains, adding: “A cultural ABC, the ability to move in and understand different cultures will be essential, and requires two sets of competences: the academic – the languages, knowledge and so on; and the social – the ability to interact as an individual with people different from yourself. We want to give our students both.”
An international skillset Of the 150 students enrolled annually at SKALs, 50 per cent choose to study and take the examination in the International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE). The class, which is approved by the University of Cambridge, gives ac-