The state has initiated several initiatives to improve the bond within the Commonwealth, the focus is on children and young people.
Since 2019 has there been an annual pool of 3.3 million DKK, which Danish school classes could apply for, to visit Greenland or the Faroe Islands.
From this year, the rules will be fundamentally changed: Now Greenlandic and Faroese classes can also share in the money to travel to Denmark or visit each other.
When Greenland and the Faroe Islands are included in the pool, its amount is adjusted by DKK 1 million. DKK annually on top of the 3.3 million – So there is a total of DKK 4.3 million. DKK in the travel pool, which will be available to the Commonwealth’s young people.
The initiative aims to strengthen the bond in the Commonwealth of Nations, and each country is responsible for the distribution of funds to its own educational institutions.
The North Atlantic High School class is being strengthened
North Atlantic High School Class has been an experiment since 2019, and now it will be a permanent high school education. The state will finance the education with DKK 3 million each year.
From 2028, 2 million will be given. DKK annually to build and run a catering department (a dormitory) at Gribskov Gymnasium. This ensures that the Greenlandic and Faroese students in the NGK class have a permanent and safe place to live in Denmark.
Commonwealth Week
The Commonwealth is under pressure, and therefore the minister wants children in Denmark to learn much more about Greenland and the Faroe Islands in order to strengthen unity.
– The current world situation puts democracy under pressure. The turmoil in the world reminds us that unity is not a matter of course, but something that must be held fast to. There is a need to strengthen the commonwealth, and that work starts at school, says Minister for Children and Education Mattias Tesfaye.
From 2027, a new, voluntary theme week called Commonwealth Week will be introduced, where schools can focus on the common history and modern life of the Commonwealth.
DKK 2 million is set aside for 2026, and DKK 1 million annually thereafter, to create teaching material, which must be made in collaboration with people who actually know something about Greenland and the Faroe Islands.
The goal is for Danish students not only to learn about the past, but also to understand the commonwealth that the Commonwealth has today.
More compulsory education in the Commonwealth
In Denmark, it is already compulsory to teach about the commonwealth in history. Now, however, the Minister of Education wants to strengthen the subject further by investigating how it can also be included in the subject plans for other relevant subjects in primary schools.
