ABSTRACT
During the 1980s, education reform was constantly on the Danish political agenda. An entrepreneurial minister of education took any opportunity to push for radical change. His basic idea, launched again and again, was to increase school autonomy by giving parents a democratic say in the management of schools and by giving more managerial authority to school Principals. It was also to give schools an economic incentive to adapt to changing signals and to improve their performance. Therefore, his reform programme intended to give parents a choice among schools, while at the same time making schools bear the direct economic consequences of changes in student enrolment. This liberal prescription was to be applied to all Danish schools, be they public primary schools, secondary (grammar) schools, or vocational training schools. In all these cases, the minister found problems ensuing from low economic efficiency, deficient pedagogical effectiveness, and an overall lack of responsiveness to societal needs and demands.
