From three children to twelve: the tiny island school that quadrupled in a year

Omø is a small Danish island where, not long ago, the school roll could be counted on one hand. This year the island's combined school and childcare centre — reorganised about a year ago into one shared children's house — looks after twelve children, up from three: six primary-school pupils and six nursery and kindergarten children under one roof. The school's only teacher, Joachim Johansen, moved to Omø in May with his wife Cecilie, who works as an educator in the nursery, and their three children; the family lives in the school building. For third-grader Edgar Iversen, the change is easy to sum up: 'It is much more fun now than when there were only two of us at school. It was a bit boring back then.' Success has brought a delightful problem — space. In September, Slagelse's municipal council approved DKK 565,000 (about $85,000) for ventilation, fire alarms and fencing, with more decisions on rooms and facilities to come. Several families have moved to the island over the past year; on Omø, the sound of a fuller classroom is the sound of a community growing.

SDG 4 · Quality education — Mechanism: institutional program