In Denmark, we were introduced to their school system, which really surprised me. Children start with a 0th grade or a preschool class, and then continue from 1st to 9th grade. A special feature of their system is also the 10th grade, which is optional and intended for gaining additional knowledge if a student wants or needs it for further education. After primary school, students can choose between vocational education or gymnasium.

We were part of the school community Herningsholm Erhvervsskole & Gymnasium. As the school management explained to us, their goal is to create an entire “street of schools.” This project is clearly successful, as they already offer more than 30 study programs. Each program has its own space, meaning the school community stretches across roughly a kilometer of buildings. Most of the facilities are dedicated to education, workshops and classroom. They also include a student dormitory, a cafeteria, and two different gymnasiums.

During the exchange, we worked together with students from the industrial technician program. In this program, they mainly learn CNC turning and milling, but they also work with conventional machines. They are also trained to use 3D printers. We were told that the program does not include only students who have just finished primary school, but also employed adults whose companies have sent them for further training required for their jobs. As a result, a class can include both teenagers and adults, even over the age of fifty, which is completely normal in Denmark.

In the first week of the exchange, we worked alone with a teacher, who taught us how to program in MasterCam. He also showed us how to operate a CNC milling machine. I found it interesting when the teacher explained that it is not a problem if we break a drill bit, since we are there to learn. For this reason, they use cheaper tools, as it is normal for students to break a few drill bits or milling cutters while learning. They have even rejected some offers from companies that wanted to sell them higher-quality but more expensive tools.

Without intending to, we of course broke a few drill bits ourselves and tested their approach in practice and we were not disappointed. Not a single teacher asked what had happened. They simply gave us a new drill bit, and we continued working as if nothing had happened.

During the following three weeks, we joined a third-year class. We mostly worked in MasterCam, and everything we programmed, we also tested on the machines. In the final week, we also had the opportunity to work with 3D printers.