A strong stream of young people is moving towards Aarhus. Other parts of the country pay the price
Young people are increasingly seeking towards Aarhus, but it impacts education and jobs in their hometowns.
Freya Louise Broe Lund is 22 years old and has just moved from Lemvig to Aarhus and is assembling a cabinet. She knows over 30 young people from Lemvig who have also moved to Aarhus. There is an entire group of young Lemvig residents in Aarhus who meet up occasionally. (Photo: © Martin Sorgenfrei) 27 minutes ago.
Next week is the start of studies, but young people are becoming more unevenly distributed between university towns, as the flow of young people moving, especially towards Aarhus, has increased.
Take the teacher training program, for example. Here, 505 students are starting in Aarhus, but only 45 in Esbjerg, which is the country's sixth-largest city and is supposed to educate teachers for Southern Denmark.
The rector of the largest educational institution in Southern Denmark is concerned that Denmark is becoming more and more poorly connected.
"I am deeply envious that so many students are going to Aarhus," says Alexander Christian von Oettingen, rector of UC Syd.
The imbalance in admissions does not only concern the teacher training program, but many other educations as well, as there has been a shift in young people's migration patterns, according to figures from Statistics Denmark.
Approximately every third time young people move from Southern, Western, and Eastern Jutland, the moving truck is now headed towards Aarhus. That is significantly more than in 2010.
But when more young people seek towards Aarhus, it has consequences for their hometowns, Alexander Christian von Oettingen points out.
"It means we cannot recruit and educate enough teachers, pedagogues, nurses, and social workers for our region. You have to remember that when young people move away, many do not return. Then they are gone."
-------------------------------------------------
Provincial towns lose students when young people seek away
-------------------------------------------------
While young people from Southern Denmark are flocking to Aarhus, UC Syd is missing students. This has, among other things, led to UC Syd having to cut 70 million kroner over about five years and having to lay off teachers.
Many university towns in the provinces are affected by young people seeking towards the big cities. For example, towns like Haderslev, Skive, Hobro, Ikast, and Nørre Nissum have lost about one-third of their students over five years, according to figures from the Ministry of Education.
Young people should be allowed to seek towards the big cities, believes Anders Graae Rasmussen, rector of Erhvervsakademiet Dania. But a large portion of 25-year-olds in the provinces also want an education.
"It is not fair if there isn't an offer in the local area and they have to move very far. It is important to maintain educations in some form."
He points out that there is also a huge problem in the balance between where study places and jobs are located. When young people seek towards the big cities, they expect internship places nearby, but the jobs can be in completely different places.
This summer, Catharina Victoria Petersen, 21, moved from Esbjerg to Aarhus. She is starting psychology, and she could also have studied that in her hometown, but she preferred to move.
--------------------------------------------------
Businesses in several regions will lack labor
--------------------------------------------------
When the flow of moves has increased, the consequence is few young people left in Southern Denmark, and then businesses will lack labor, believes Karsten Rieder, director of Business Esbjerg.
He misses that Christiansborg (the Danish Parliament) slows down the flow of moves. There is a need to cut admissions in the big university towns and make it easier to establish educations in the provinces.
"It requires that politicians look at regulation. I know that regulation is a difficult and harsh word to use, but I think it is the only way to stop this stream," says Karsten Rieder.
The Minister of Education acknowledges that businesses will have problems, but it is difficult to solve at the snap of a finger.
"I will be honest and say it is a difficult task. It is a mega-trend that many young people seek towards the big cities, and then we are also in a situation where the youth cohorts are very small. That means there are fewer students overall, and it hits very hard if you are already a smaller town," says Christina Egelund (Moderates), the Minister of Education.
* Freya Louise Broe Lund is starting chemistry at Aarhus University. She would have liked to study in West Jutland, but the program does not exist there. The supply of educations can influence where young people move. In Esbjerg, it has now become possible to study popular subjects like medicine, psychology, and law. The hope is precisely to attract more young people to Southern Denmark. (Photo: © Martin Sønderby)
* Freya Louise Broe Lund knows over 30 young people from Lemvig who have moved to Aarhus. A good study environment also influences where young people seek. Erhvervsakademiet Dania is therefore trying to create larger educational campuses in the provinces. It makes it more fun for young people when many are gathered. At the same time, there can be economies of scale from educations sharing premises, canteens, and offices. (Photo: © Martin Sønderby)
* Several educations in the provinces are now also offered as distance learning. That should also make it easier to study there. Freya Louise Broe Lund is looking forward to seeing her new fellow students once the cabinet is assembled and the new home is in place. (© Martin Sønderby)
1 / 3 Freya Louise Broe Lund is starting chemistry at Aarhus University. She would have liked to study in West Jutland, but the program does not exist there. The supply of educations can influence where young people move. In Esbjerg, it has now become possible to study popular subjects like medicine, psychology, and law. The hope is precisely to attract more young people to Southern Denmark. (Photo: © Martin Sønderby) 1 / 3 Freya Louise Broe Lund knows over 30 young people from Lemvig who have moved to Aarhus. A good study environment also influences where young people seek. Erhvervsakademiet Dania is therefore trying to create larger educational campuses in the provinces. It makes it more fun for young people when many are gathered. At the same time, there can be economies of scale from educations sharing premises, canteens, and offices. (Photo: © Martin Sønderby) 2 / 3 Several educations in the provinces are now also offered as distance learning. That should also make it easier to study there. Freya Louise Broe Lund is looking forward to seeing her new fellow students once the cabinet is assembled and the new home is in place. (© Martin Sønderby) 3 / 3
The minister does not believe the solution is to force young people to study in other places than they want. Instead, educations in the provinces have received more money, and there will also be better financing with the reforms that have been implemented. The minister hopes this will work.
"We will continuously look at it, because we are heading into some difficult years with small youth cohorts," she says.
Elise Stenholt Lange is a postdoc at Aalborg University and researches migration patterns. She has advice for the regions that are concerned that more young people are moving away.
"You should give the children who already live there a really good upbringing, because that is what they remember. If young people have had a good upbringing and some good childhood memories, they will be more likely to return."
Warning: This article was translated by a Large Language Model, in case of doubt, you can always visit the original source.