33 MARTINDALE CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF PRIVATE ENTERPRISE those students who complete the Higher General Examination or Higher Preparatory Examination programs (Ministry of Children and Education, 2022). The other upper secondary track is vocational. Approximately 26% of Danish students choose from the three available vocational programs, which emphasize an approximately 50/50 split between classroom learning and hands-on work. Table 2 outlines these three programs, along with a fourth, Vocational Education and Training for Adults that is specifically for people over the age of 25. The Basic Vocational Education and Training program is focused on giving students the skills they need to move directly into the workforce or to further vocational training. Alternatively, Vocational Education and Training emphasizes the importance of students taking part in apprenticeships and internships and often leads to students moving into the labor force after completing the program. Finally, the Vocational Education and Training including General Upper Secondary examination curriculum provides students with the best opportunity to complete a vocational education while not sacrificing the option to go to college (Ministry of Children and Education, 2019). During their time in each of these programs, students have no tuition costs and are often compensated financially for their work. These vocational programs emphasize the autonomy of local vocational institutes and allow them to adapt curriculum to what is most needed in their municipalities (Vujkov & Andevski, 2021). As a result, vocational institutions are often connected with at least one local training committee responsible for preparing curriculum and connecting the institution with the labor market. These committees are populated with local employers and employees who understand the job market. In this system, the trade committees, which have the best understanding of what the market needs, present recommendations to the education ministry based Table 1 Higher secondary education academic programs Table 2 Higher secondary vocational programs Source: Ministry of Children and Education, 2019. VET, Vocational Education and Training. Source: Ministry of Children and Education, 2019.
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