Private schools not just for rich

“The furniture is second-hand and the books came from closed-down municipal schools. Things don’t have to be new. It’s respectable and smart, and there’s nothing lacking at Al-Salam School in Odense,” Mohammad Salem, chairman of the school board, told Ugebrevet A4, the weekly newsletter of the Danish Confederation of Trade Unions (LO).

Ugebrevet A4 had commissioned a survey of private and municipal schools in relation to parental income.

Al-Salam School is by no means the only private school where the average family income is relatively low. Of the 25 schools in Denmark with the lowest average family income, 17 are private schools, according to A4's survey. A large number of these schools are primarily attended by children of Muslim parents.

Looking at the 25 schools with the highest average family income also dispels the myth that the children of rich families automatically attend private schools.

“The survey tells us that private schools are an option for everyone, where anyone can go. The private schools are not the preserve of rich pupils,” Kurt Ernst, chairman of the Danish Private School Association, told DR News.