The digital revolution under the microscope: A critique of the Aula communication system in Danish schools

The Aula system was introduced in Denmark in 2019 as a modern communication tool between schools and parents. It was intended to facilitate the transfer of information, improve work organization and increase parents' involvement in school life. However, the latest PISA test results, in which Danish students performed exceptionally poorly, prompted politicians to reflect on the effects of the digitalization of education.

"The power must return to the school principal"

As highlighted by the Minister for Taxes and Economic Growth, Jakob Engel-Schmidt, the Aula system does not meet the expectations placed in it.

Power must return to the school principal, he said, quoted by the "Berlingske" newspaper. He also added: "An IT system has been created that sucks so much 'oxygen' from the school and classroom that it harms children's learning."

A similar opinion was expressed by the Minister of Higher Education and Science, Christina Egelund.

“We see that the way communication takes place between parents and teachers has taken a wrong turn,” she emphasized.

Minister of Social Affairs Monika Rubin referred to her own experiences as a mother. Using this application involves a huge amount of work, in practice it has become an additional household chore, she noted. She added: "My eight-year-old child doesn't know what his homework is, and his parents have to do it."

10 thousand messages per hour

Data quoted by "Berlingske" show that about 10,000 messages are sent through the Aula system every school day between 7:30 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. In 2024, as many as 53 percent of public school teachers admitted that questions from parents are a source of stress for them. Moreover, the time teachers spend teaching has dropped from 82 percent in 2018 to 77 percent in 2024. In 2023, as many as 80 percent of teachers reported that they had experienced a harsh, escalating tone from parents.

Back to paper?

As Jakob Engel-Schmidt noted, a solution could be to partially restore paper notebooks for correspondence with parents. The question of what this would look like could be decided by the headmaster of a given school, he suggested.

The "Berlingske" commentator points out that the Aula is criticized by both teachers and parents, although it is difficult to imagine a complete return to paper notes nowadays.