Denmark's primary schools reopened on August 10; Irish teachers who work there tell us how it's going

Denmark reopened its schools on August 10. Stock image

Primary school children and teachers in Denmark began their new school year on August 10, but many schools returned to classroom teaching in May, after a two-month lockdown. Despite little to no rise in coronavirus cases immediately after its spring reopening, schooling in Denmark is far from normal. 

"I think people have to be careful of looking at Scandinavian countries as some gold standard," said Associate Profesor of Archaeology and Heritage in Aarhus University, Dr Laura McAtackney. She attributes the success of the spring reopenings to the low number of covid-19 cases at the time; "People often look at the reopening of Danish schools because it was quite successful to start with, but that was because there was very little influx from the wider community and that has changed. When you just push through reopenings [when COVID-19 cases are increasing] it simply doesn't work."