Course attendance boom at summer schools

Summer school boom at Danish folk high schools

Many courses are sold out, and more students have to find alternative accommodation.

The room is filled to morning songs at Rødding Folk High School. Some students have to sleep at hotels or with private hosts. (Photo: © Lars Paaske, DR, DR)

By Lars Paaske ([email protected]) 55 minutes ago

Life philosophy, democracy, music and singing... or botanical print and knitting and embroidery... There is plenty to choose from when the eye scrolls down over the different course offerings at the country's folk high schools.

Again this year, so many students have signed up that some of them have to find other beds than the ones the folk high school can offer.

- It's obviously delightful. I think many have opened their eyes to the fact that folk high schools are a place where you can meet different people from all over the country and have different topics unfolded through teaching, says Mads Rykind-Eriksen, who is principal of Denmark's oldest folk high school in Rødding in South Jutland.

* Creativity also blooms this year on folk high school's summer courses. (Photo: © Lars Paaske, DR, DR)

* Dried flowers become art. (Photo: © Lars Paaske, DR, DR)

* Brief theoretical introduction to today's course in picture weaving. (Photo: © Lars Paaske, DR, DR)

* Creative art becomes reality. (Photo: © Lars Paaske, DR, DR)

1 / 4 Creativity also blooms this year on folk high school's summer courses. (Photo: © Lars Paaske, DR, DR) 1 / 4 Dried flowers become art. (Photo: © Lars Paaske, DR, DR) 2 / 4 Brief theoretical introduction to today's course in picture weaving. (Photo: © Lars Paaske, DR, DR) 3 / 4 Creative art becomes reality. (Photo: © Lars Paaske, DR, DR) 4 / 4

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Activity from morning to evening

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Rødding Folk High School has 160 beds and they are long reserved. In fact, 32 of the folk high school's students have to sleep elsewhere. For example, at hotels or through private rental.

- But that doesn't make a difference, says Dorthe Riis Andersen, who has booked herself into a course on "the necessity of happiness".

She lives in Alslev a little outside Skanderborg and has been coming to Rødding Folk High School for many years. The last two years, however, she has slept privately, 500 meters away from the actual folk high school.

- I don't feel like I'm losing anything because we are at the folk high school from morning to evening. If we don't eat and drink, we listen to lectures and sing from the folk high school songbook. We also go on tours, so our time is fully occupied, she says.

Dorthe Riis Andersen does not feel like she is losing anything by sleeping 500 meters away from the folk high school. The time is occupied from morning meal to evening. (Photo: © Lars Paaske, DR, DR)

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Reverse logic brings a smile

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That the folk high school has such great interest in the summer's week-long courses, that one cannot offer all students a bed to sleep in, does not see principal Mads Rykind-Eriksen as a problem.

- As long as they can find a bed near the folk high school, so it still allows them to come to the courses and be part of the community. If they had not found other accommodation, they would have been here, he says with a smile.

A check on the folk high schools' websites shows that many summer courses are sold out or only have a few places left. Last year, over 40,000 Danes were on a short folk high school stay. It is the highest number measured in the years registered by Statistics Denmark.

Morning meal together at Denmark's oldest folk high school in Rødding. (Photo: © Lars Paaske, DR, DR)

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