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EDUCATION

Copenhagen student dorm still not livable

A new student residence in Amager is behind schedule, leaving international students to live among exposed pipes and scrambling construction workers.

Copenhagen student dorm still not livable
A common scene: Students using wifi in the corridor and workers in a hurry. Photo: Agustin Millan
A new student housing option in the Amager district in Copenhagen was supposed to be a boon for international students dealing with the housing shortage in the capitol. But despite a number of students paying an advance deposit for an idyllic place to stay close to the beach, unfinished construction has led to some rough living conditions. 
 
More than two hundred disappointed students have moved in to the CPH Studio Hotel on Krimsvej to find that their rooms are still under construction, while workers scramble all over the building in an attempt to put the finishing touches on the project. 
 

Front of the CPH Studio Hotel in Krimsvej. Photo: Agustin Millan
 
“I’ve been here for just two days. I consider my room livable, but I know I’ve been lucky because I live on the first floor,” Kristina Barac, a student from Croatia, told The Local. 
 
The first floor has mostly finished rooms, but problems with the electrical system and wifi signal remain. Things are significantly worse on the upper levels, where some rooms don't have completed floors or heating.
 

Priorities list.
 
The general vibe in the students' dorm is one of resignation.
 
“At least we have something. Some of my friends are still in Airbnb,” Feral Daly, a student from Ireland, said. 
 
“We don’t have any other option,” explained computer science student Edward Marinescu. “I paid 12,000 kroner, equivalent to three months and the deposit”. 
 
Students are forced to work and catch up on their social networks out in the hallways. Photo: Agustin Millan
Students are forced to work and catch up on their social networks out in the hallways. Photo: Agustin Millan 
 
Most of the students are still struggling with internet connectivity issues. 
 
“I use wifi in my friend’s room or the corridor because I can’t do it from my room,” Jorge Flores, a pharmaceutical student from Mexico, explained when we met him in the hallway. 
 
David Olsen, a student from California, said his room is now finished but that's about it.
 
“I can live in my room now, but I can’t work from there because I have no wifi signal. And all the facilities simply doesn’t exist: no gym, no restaurant and the laundry has just opened today,” Olsen said.
 
“Things are getting done, but I don’t trust the company,” he added. 
 

This room was supposed to host a student from September 1st.  Photo: Agustín Millan
 
But some students still face exceptionally difficult situations, like Chinese biology student Lidangzhi Mo. Her room doesn’t have a door, floor or finished walls.
 
“I’ve been living with a friend so far but now her roommates have come and I don’t know where I’m going next,” she told us on her way out the door to attend class.
 
Jacob Mosgaard, the chief of operation and co-owner of the building, vowed that the situation would be solved as soon as possible.
 
“We don’t try to hide our responsibility. We will finish this within two months or even sooner. We regret it, but construction delays happen,” he told The Local. 
 

Exposed pipes and connections in the hall.
 
Students are getting two months' compensation for the money they’ve paid in exchange for the construction delays. 
 
Despite the rocky start, German student Julia Gaugeris is optimistic.
 
“It’s improving quickly. I know that it could be better but I’m not angry. My room is on the third floor and I know I have been lucky to stay the first few days with a friend, because I couldn’t even sleep in my own room when I came here,” she said. 

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EDUCATION

Inquiry calls for free after-school care for 6-9 year-olds in Sweden

Children between ages 6-9 years should be allowed admittance to after-school recreation centers free of charge, according to a report submitted to Sweden’s Minister of Education Lotta Edholm (L).

Inquiry calls for free after-school care for 6-9 year-olds in Sweden

“If this reform is implemented, after-school recreation centers will be accessible to the children who may have the greatest need for the activities,” said Kerstin Andersson, who was appointed to lead a government inquiry into expanding access to after-school recreation by the former Social Democrat government. 

More than half a million primary- and middle-school-aged children spend a large part of their school days and holidays in after-school centres.

But the right to after-school care is not freely available to all children. In most municipalities, it is conditional on the parent’s occupational status of working or studying. Thus, attendance varies and is significantly lower in areas where unemployment is high and family finances weak.

In this context, the previous government formally began to inquire into expanding rights to leisure. The report was recently handed over to Sweden’s education minister, Lotta Edholm, on Monday.

Andersson proposed that after-school activities should be made available free of charge to all children between the ages of six and nine in the same way that preschool has been for children between the ages of three and five. This would mean that children whose parents are unemployed, on parental leave or long-term sick leave will no longer be excluded. 

“The biggest benefit is that after-school recreation centres will be made available to all children,” Andersson said. “Today, participation is highest in areas with very good conditions, while it is lower in sparsely populated areas and in areas with socio-economic challenges.” 

Enforcing this proposal could cause a need for about 10,200 more places in after-school centre, would cost the state just over half a billion kronor a year, and would require more adults to work in after-school centres. 

Andersson recommends recruiting staff more broadly, and not insisting that so many staff are specialised after-school activities teachers, or fritidspedagod

“The Education Act states that qualified teachers are responsible for teaching, but that other staff may participate,” Andersson said. “This is sometimes interpreted as meaning that other staff may be used, but preferably not’. We propose that recognition be given to so-called ‘other staff’, and that they should be given a clear role in the work.”

She suggested that people who have studied in the “children’s teaching and recreational programmes” at gymnasium level,  people who have studied recreational training, and social educators might be used. 

“People trained to work with children can contribute with many different skills. Right now, it might be an uncertain work situation for many who work for a few months while the employer is looking for qualified teachers”, Andersson said. 

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