A political majority is ready to amend the "free-school law" (friskoleloven), to make more places available at international schools in Denmark.

Based on "Pladser på vej til internationale skolebørn" by Niels Krogsgård, Berlingske Tidende, July 22 2009.

You are welcome to Denmark - your kids just can't go to school!

This is the message many highly educated foreign professionals get when they try to get their children enrolled at an international school in Denmark.

However, this may finally be about to change. A majority in the Folketing, the Danish parliament, is now ready to amend the Free-school law. An amendment would allow the existing international schools to create a centralised school structure, with branches outside the existing school buildings - and thereby create more places. Both Minister of Education, Bertel Haarder (Danish Liberal Party, Venstre) and the socialdemocratic spokesman on education, Christine Antorine, are ready with amendments to the law, come the opening of parliament in October.

According to a study by Copenhagen Municipality, the lack of places at English language schools, with international programmes, is now so big that up to 1.000 foreign professionals thank no to jobs in Denmark each year.

Both the Conservative Party and the Danish People's Party have previously supported a solution to the problem, so amending the law should be a mere formality. Bertel haarder expects the amendment to become effective as of January 1st 2010.

Only for internationals

However, only international schools will be subject to the amendment of the Free-school law. "The reason is that we want to keep the old Free-school tradition, where each school has its own, decentralised school council," says Bertel Haarder, mentioning the Tvind schools (1970-1990's) as a centralised worst-case scenario (read more about Tvind).

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