Press conference a short while ago: Following the PISA shock, the Danish government is moving towards banning phones and personal screens in schools and supports expelling disruptive students from classrooms.
The PISA results showed a historic decline in the level of Danish students, prompting the government to introduce a wide range of measures, including banning mobile phones and personal screens in schools, along with creating a "school triad" that includes the students themselves, tightening measures against students who disrupt lessons, and injecting billions of kroner into education and research.
Unprecedented results spark widespread debate
New PISA results reveal that Danish students have scored at their lowest levels since Denmark began participating in the study in 2000. The study assesses 15-year-olds and measures their performance in reading, mathematics, and science. In 2025, Denmark scored approximately 460 points in reading, 471 points in mathematics, and 478 points in science – the lowest scores the country has ever recorded. According to the OECD's scale, roughly 20 points is equivalent to one school year, meaning the decline between 2015 and 2025 is nearly two school years in reading and mathematics and one year in science.
The decline wasn't limited to students already struggling academically; it also affected high-achieving students, and problems related to attendance, discipline, and distraction within schools emerged. The results also showed that Danish students are highly distracted by digital devices and media.
Screens top the list of reasons cited
PISA data showed that 361,000 Danish students reported being distracted by digital devices or media, such as phones, websites, and apps, in most or almost all of their science classes. Denmark also ranked above the OECD average for this type of distraction.
This prompted the government to place screen use at the heart of its response to the crisis, although the PISA results do not in themselves provide evidence that phones are the sole or direct cause of the decline in achievement.
The government is proposing a complete ban.
The government has proposed a complete ban on mobile phones and personal screens in public and private primary schools, covering both school hours and breaks. According to the government proposal, phones will not be available to students during the school day, with the possibility of justifiable exceptions, such as for medical reasons requiring the student's phone.
Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen stated that social media creates a form of addiction and, in her view, is linked to a crisis of mental well-being among children and young people. She addressed students directly, explaining that the government does not want to take anything from them, but rather to restore their childhood and freedom.
Frederiksen stressed that the problem, in her view, goes beyond the school itself, saying that society is "collectively becoming less intelligent," and linking a large part of the problem to the influence of big technology companies.
Hyunike: We can't wait any longer
Education Minister Magnus Heunicke defended the ban, saying the government saw no room for further delay. According to TV2, he based his argument on a comparison of PISA results between countries that implemented similar restrictions on phone use, arguing that those countries achieved better results.
The minister explained that, if the proposed system is implemented, students will be required to hand over their phones at the beginning of the school day and retrieve them at the end. He noted that exceptions may be made in cases where a student needs the phone for health reasons.
Heunicke did not present a ban on phones as the only measure. During the press conference, he spoke about the increasing digital distractions, tardiness and unauthorized absences from school, the overabundance of substitute teachers, declining student curiosity, and rising classroom disruptions. He said these problems exist in large parts of the Western world, but are more pronounced in Denmark.
The government also wants to deal with the chaos within the classrooms.
The government also announced that it will introduce a bill in early November that will give schools the power to intervene more decisively with students who prevent classes from starting. The bill aims to allow for the effective removal of a student from the classroom if a lesson cannot begin due to disruptions.
Heunicke said that this measure is in high demand from teachers, noting that the proposal is not entirely new, as it had been under consultation since November of the previous year.
Teachers are demanding a reduction in workloads.
The head of the Danish Teachers' Association, Gordon Ørskov Madsen, welcomed the signals sent by the government, but stressed that the crisis requires a broader approach. He said that schools are facing a large number of tasks, and it is essential to define what the school should handle and what should be removed from its responsibilities.
Madsen also called for more teachers to be trained, so that students would receive more instruction from people with the required professional qualifications.
School principals see the ban as having a symbolic impact
Dorte Andreas, president of the Danish School Principals' Association, says that most Danish schools already have a ban or policy restricting phone use during the school day. However, she believes that making it a national rule could have an impact, particularly as it sends a clear message to parents that the issue is of political and societal importance.
She confirmed that the proposed ban would include classrooms and schoolyards, and would apply to both public and private schools.
Data from the Department of Education supports this part of the picture; a study by the department showed that 83% of government schools and 85% of private schools already had school-wide rules on phones and smartwatches, while the proportion of schools with no rules in this area was very limited.
School trilogy with student participation
In addition to the ban, the government announced the creation of a "school triad" to address the problems facing Danish schools. Minister for Economic Affairs and the Interior Pia Olsen Dyhr stated that more time and interaction are needed between qualified staff and children, adding that the PISA results clearly demonstrate society's failure to fulfill its responsibility towards children.
The government wants public school students themselves to participate in this triad, so that decisions concerning them are not made "over their heads," as the minister put it.
This step is related to the government's desire to involve various segments of society in rebuilding the school, instead of limiting the discussion to the Ministry of Education or Parliament.
Deir warns of increasing pressure on teachers
Pia Olsen-Der said that the pressure on teachers' daily lives has become immense, and that schools are now required to deal with more problems than ever before. She added that the frameworks within which the school system operates are facing serious challenges, emphasizing the need to take the necessary steps to improve children's well-being and development.
As part of the financial package announced by the government, Der spoke at the conference about an additional one billion kronor that would be permanently allocated to education and research, while the government as a whole indicated an increase of five billion kronor across a range of initiatives. According to TV2, some of this money was already included in the government's program.
Ledgard: The problem is not confined to the school alone.
Business and Competition Minister Martin Lidegaard expressed his deep disappointment with the PISA results, stating that the figures clearly demonstrate that schools are not the only place where intervention is needed. He pointed out that the decline in standards was not limited to state schools but was also evident in private schools.
Lidgard argued that screens certainly form part of the explanation for the problem, but he posed another equally important question: What will society put in place of screens if it decides to keep them away from children?
Ludke: There is no single button to resolve the crisis.
Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen described the picture of the PISA results as very bleak, and said that the problems are numerous and cannot be solved simply by pumping in more money.
He explained that the government was already aware of the school's academic struggles and that the issue had been part of the political debate before the election. He urged that the PISA results be treated as a catalyst for societal action, emphasizing that there was no "push-button" solution.
Løkke refused to turn the discussion into a personal confrontation with Mette Frederiksen, even though TV2 asked him about his previous stances on the government's policies during the coronavirus pandemic. He said his criticisms at the time stemmed from his close connection with young people who he felt had to make significant sacrifices during the pandemic, but he emphasized that the current problem transcends the current government and poses a challenge to Western countries in general.
Frederiksen bears some responsibility
During the conference, Mette Frederiksen faced a direct question about her political responsibility, especially since she has been head of government for years, while the Social Democratic Party has held the education portfolio throughout the period referred to in the discussion.
Frederiksen said she would not shirk her responsibility, but stressed that the problem was broader than education policy alone. She pointed out that the study showed that absenteeism was becoming increasingly common among children, and that Denmark was not the only country facing this issue.
She also declined to promise that the PISA results would improve in the next measurement in three years, saying she wished she could give a definite yes, but she could not.
«"We are becoming less intelligent": The government expands its explanation of the crisis.
Frederiksen believes that the crisis does not stem from schools alone, and that its roots extend to the way children, young people, and society in general live in the new digital environment, and that major technology companies bear an important part of the responsibility, while linking the intensive use of digital platforms to a decline in concentration and psychological well-being.
«"Naughty children" are not the root of the problem
The issue of students with special needs and inclusion has also entered the debate. William Korte, president of the SUMH (Students with Disabilities Association), warned against scapegoating children who face difficulties or require special support for the school crisis.
Korte said it is easy to blame so-called "troublesome children" for school problems, while at the same time an increasing number of students are being cut out of mainstream education, and some children are waiting too long before they get the support they need.
He added that the brains of children and young people don't change suddenly, prompting the question of whether the problem lies with the children themselves or with the school system built around them. Alongside his role with the association, Korte is pursuing further studies to become a teacher.
The government is banking on a calmer school environment.
The idea of a ban is based on a trend that began before the recent PISA results. In September 2025, the government and several political parties reached an agreement to introduce phone-free schools, requiring school boards to develop local policies for this purpose, while allowing for justifiable exceptions. The agreement also included tools to block websites unrelated to education.
The ministry clarifies that the previous agreement covers smartphones and other internet-connected personal electronic devices, but excludes computers and tablets used in teaching. It also allows for exceptions related to health conditions or the needs of students with disabilities, as well as certain local educational and operational exceptions.
The requirements related to phone-free schools and blocking inappropriate websites will begin from the 2026-2027 school year, according to the previous political agreement.
The government isn't just talking about phones.
The government is putting in place another package of measures alongside the digital restrictions. It has announced a project starting in 2027 targeting 100 schools whose students achieve the weakest results in Danish and mathematics, as well as measures to retain and attract more teachers, and additional funding of up to 50 million kroner to purchase up to 200,000 new books for students.
This reflects an attempt to paint a broader picture of the crisis, as the government does not attribute the decline in education to just one cause, but rather combines poor results, digital distractions, teacher shortages, absenteeism, disruptions, and pressure on schools.
The problem that began with the PISA results is turning into a debate about school and society.
The government concluded its conference without offering a single explanation for the crisis or a single solution. Frederiksen focused on the impact of technology on society, Heunicke advocated for limiting phone use, Pia Olsen-Der called for increased support for schools and their staff, while Lars Løkke Rasmussen emphasized that the problem could not be solved with a single measure or the push of a button.
Conversely, political forces argued that integration, teacher shortages and training, the ability to deal with disruptions, and the use of screens provided by the schools themselves, are all issues no less important than the personal phone.
Department for Education data shows that 84% of schools have school-wide rules on phones and smartwatches, making the government’s main challenge not just to issue a new rule, but to prove that unifying and enforcing rules nationally will have an impact beyond what has already been achieved at the local level.
