Starting in May, foreigners will have to pass a citizenship test to earn a Danish passport and the right to vote in parliamentary elections
The Integration Ministry unveiled a test Tuesday that any foreigner will have to pass in order to be granted citizenship.
While the test is currently being evaluated at language schools, the ministry made its 200 questions and answers available on the internet so foreigners could bone up on the test before having to take it.
A quick scan of the test revealed a mix of questions in 11 areas ranging from the Danish royalty, local geography and the economy. When the test goes into use in May, applicants will have 60 minutes to answer 35 of the standard questions as well as five problems dealing with current events.
Applicants must correctly answer 28 questions to pass the test. And while they can re-take the test as many times as they wish, the test costs DKK 600 to take.
Reactions to the citizenship test have been mixed. A number of politicians and education experts have suggested it concentrates too much on obscure historical and political details that even full-blooded Danes might have difficulty answering correctly.
Several university students, for example, struggled to pass the test when Dato newspaper administered it to them.
One student, Patrick, only managed to answer 29 questions correctly and admitted he found the test difficult.
'I learned about a lot of the things it asks in school, but I've forgotten them again,' he said.
Another student, Natalia, felt the test concentrated too much on history.
'I would like to see more questions about current events. Whether people follow major issues up for debate says more about people's actual integration,' she said.
Source: Copenhagen Post (English)
No comments:
Post a Comment