Editing Education in Denmark (section)

==History==
The Danish education system has its origin in the cathedral and monastery schools established by the [[Roman Catholic Church]] in the early [[Middle Ages]], and seven of the schools established in the 12th and 13th centuries still exist today. After the [[Protestant Reformation|Reformation]], which was officially implemented in 1536, the schools were taken over by the [[King of Denmark|Crown]]. Their main purpose was to prepare the students for [[Theology|theological]] studies by teaching them to read, write and speak [[Latin]] and [[Greek language|Greek]].<ref>Vagn Skovgaard-Petersen, "Forty years of research into the history of education in Denmark." Scandinavian journal of educational research 41.3-4 (1997): 319-331.</ref>

Popular elementary education was at that time still very primitive, but in 1721, 240 ''[[rytterskoler]]'' ("cavalry schools") were established throughout the kingdom. Moreover, the religious movement of [[Pietism]], spreading in the 18th century, required some level of [[literacy]], thereby promoting the need for public education. The [[philanthropic]] thoughts of such people as [[Rousseau]] also helped spur developments in education open to all children.

In 1809, the old Clergyman's School was transformed in accordance with the spirit of the time into a [[humanism|humanistic]] Civil Servant's School which was to "foster true humanity" through immersion in the ancient [[Ancient Greece|Greek]] and [[Rome|Latin]] cultures combined with some teaching of natural science and modern languages.

Throughout the 19th century (and even up until today), the Danish education system was especially influenced by the ideas of clergyman, politician and poet [[N. F. S. Grundtvig]], who advocated inspiring methods of teaching and the foundation of [[folk high school]]s.

In 1871, the scientific and technical development of the 19th century led to a division of the [[Secondary education in Denmark|secondary education]] into two lines: the [[language]]s and the mathematics-science line. This division was the backbone of the structure of the [[Gymnasium (Denmark)|Gymnasium]] (i.e. academic general upper secondary education programme) until the year 2005.

In 1894, the ''[[Danish Folkeskole Education|Folkeskole]]'' ("public school", the government-funded [[primary education]] system) was formally established (until then, it had been known as ''Almueskolen'' ("common school")), and measures were taken to improve the education system to meet the requirements of [[industrial society]].

In 1903, the 3-year course of the Gymnasium was directly connected the municipal school through the establishment of the ''{{lang|da|mellemskole}}'' ('[[middle school]]', grades 6–9), which was later on replaced by the ''[[Realschule|realskole]]''. Previously, students wanting to go to the Gymnasium (and thereby obtain qualification for admission to university) had to take private tuition or similar means as the municipal schools were insufficient.

In 1975, the ''{{lang|da|realskole}}'' was abandoned and the ''Folkeskole'' ([[primary education]]) transformed into an egalitarian system where pupils go to the same schools regardless of their academic merits.