LAST week I had the privilege, along with a group of fellow parliamentarians, of watching a screening in the Scottish Parliament of Lesley Riddoch’s latest film, Denmark: State Of Happiness.
It is the latest in a series of films by Riddoch and Charlie Stuart which aim to challenge preconceptions about how small countries can be run, following similar productions focusing on Iceland, Estonia, Norway and the Faroe Islands.
The Danes are judged to be amongst the happiest people on Earth, with the world’s best energy system, a GDP per capita that is almost one-third higher than Britain, more bikes in daily use than the Netherlands, and a swim just 15 minutes away from every Copenhagen resident.
The film sets out to ask how a country with a similar population but around half the land mass of Scotland does it. It begins by looking at an education system focused on outdoor learning and minimal formal assessment until children are 16.
Children in Denmark don’t start school until they are six and in early years its system is very much focused on outdoor learning. Riddoch pointed out afterwards that we in the UK are now almost alone in Europe in having children starting school aged four or five.
READ MORE: Scottish Government 'asking questions' on Prestwick Israeli flight, says Humza Yousaf
At the age of 15, pupils in Denmark get to attend a school with further emphasis on outdoor activities of their choice, such as sailing or diving.
This has the aim of helping them to be better citizens, working as a community, and learning how they can contribute to wider society.
That led on to the fact that most Danes seem happy to pay higher taxes in order to get such quality public services and a generous social security system – a way of thinking very different from the UK where low taxes seem to be the order of the day.
And the result? Denmark ranks as one of the happiest places in the world. Could Scotland have that too?
The film made me wonder how much of that we could put into practice before independence and how much will have to wait until later.
Sure, it is difficult for us to move away from the UK model of low taxes and poor public services when we are so integrated with rUK and are constantly bombarded with comparisons to Westminster tax rates and so much of our budget depends on Westminster decisions. But perhaps there are other ways in which we could be a bit more radical.
After all, more of a kindergarten system, with formal schooling starting at age six, is presumably within our powers. And it seems it is the UK which is out of step with the international norm on this.
READ MORE: Kate Forbes - It's time to ask hard questions about how Scotland treats its prisoners
Why should we stick to a UK model that has been rejected by more successful countries?
Watching Lesley Riddoch’s film and having a discussion afterwards was both inspiring and refreshing for the MSPs there including myself. So often we get bogged down in committee work, arguing over a penny less or more on income tax, and worrying about tomorrow’s headlines.
Being challenged to think a bit more out of the box and looking at what radical changes we could make sooner rather than later is something I think we should do more often.
John Mason is the SNP MSP for Glasgow Shettleston.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel