The Future of Education is Uncertain: Professor Lars Demant-Poort 

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NUUK, Greenland — Higher education in Greenland is not as common as it is in America, for a multitude of reasons. Associate Professor Lars Demant-Poort of the University of Greenland: Ilisimatusarfik, spoke to these reasons, but also talked about the positive opportunities that college-level education can and does have.

Demant-Port is an associate professor in the Institute of Learning department at the University of Greenland and has been working in education since 2002. He worked as a consultant of science for the government, before transitioning to education research as a PhD Student, and then as a researcher.

Greenland having been a territory of Denmark for over 200 years has impacted the education system in how it is structured and what is taught. The turning point in the education system came when the Greenland Home Rule Act referendum was passed in 1979.

“As it is now, Greenland has had, and still has, an educational structure that is similar, not just to the Danish system, but to the Nordic system,” Demant-Poort said. “Which, is similar to what has happened to, in some ways, Sweden, Norway and Iceland.”

Higher education in Greenland is relatively new and still under development, in relation to other nations.

“The university was established,” Demant-Poort said, “as in the current building, in 2008. The university as an institution has only been around since 1997. Before 1997, the highest education you could receive was teacher education, which existed since 1845. It is important to realize the Greenland is on its way to having a broader higher education.”

One of the perks of this system, as Demant-Poort explained, is the free cost of education, as well as the ability to easily transfer to or study in these other nations.

“We don’t pay for our education in Greenland,” Demant-Poort said, “or in Denmark, or in the Nordic countries. In that sense, the system structure in Greenland follows the same lines as you would see in the other Nordic countries.”

Greenland has seen a rise in those seeking higher education, but Demant-Poort says that the number is still lower than that of the other Nordic nations. Many of these people seeking post-high school level education have to leave the country to do so, however.

“There is only one University in Greenland,” Demant-Poort said. “There are a lot of programs that we do not have at this university. So, if you want to go in a particular direction with your studies, it may not be possible to pursue that in Greenland. Then you would have to leave the country to do so.”

Another part of the low enrollment rates has to do with the steep decline in birth rates, both globally, and specifically in Greenland. According to the Crude Birth Rate for Greenland study, published by the World Bank Group, the birth rate in Greenland is down to 12 births annually per 1,000 people.

Another part of the low enrollment rates has to do with the steep decline in birth rates, both globally, and specifically in Greenland. According to the Crude Birth Rate for Greenland study, published by the World Bank Group, the birth rate in Greenland is down to 12 births annually per 1,000 people.

The University of Greenland currently services roughly 700 students.

Amidst the talks of the United States buying Greenland, also comes the conversation of Greenland seeking independence and how that would change their education system.

“Right now, we have free access to everything in the Nordic countries,” Demant-Poort said. “I have no idea how, if in a future that Greenland will gain complete independence, how that would look or end up, and no one knows that.”

Demant-Poort spoke to how important it would be to continue having access to education, seeing how positively it has affected the students around him.

Despite this, Demant-Poort talked about what makes Greenlandic education unique and value to those who take advantage of it.

“I think our students receive, and educational system offers, an immense amount of possibilities, that not many other students around the world have access to,” Demant-Poort said. “It is a completely free-of-charge education, all the way to PHD students. As a PHD student, like I was, you are getting a full salary. That is often by grant or by the university. You have exceptionally good conditions as an undergrad student.”

Another positive thing about studying and working in Greenland, for Demant-Poort, is the atmosphere that surrounds the college. He spoke to the dedication students have, especially those who travel the 1,000km from the northernmost point of the country to Nuuk for their studies.

“I have met an immense share of young people wanting to pursue an education,” was one draw that Demant-Poort said. “There is an extremely rich culture, huge diversity in the people of Greenland. Also having the humility to watch how students’ lives are impacted due to the fact many of them must travel a very long way for university.”

This story is part of a semester-long investigative reporting project into Greenland’s people, history, and culture. It was created by an advanced reporting class in the Journalism, Advertising, and Media Studies program at UW-Milwaukee. Other stories from the project are available on Edge of the Arctic: Greenland, the Land of the People.

This work was made possible through the support of MPC Endowment Ltd., the philanthropic affiliate of the Milwaukee Press Club, and a private donor.