HØJE-TAASTRUP, DENMARK – In a western suburb of Copenhagen, a group of soon-to-be upper secondary school graduates gathered in mid-June under a bicycle shelter to decorate a banner for their “graduation truck.”
It is a Danish tradition for new graduates to drive through their hometown in decorated open-bed trucks, playing music and visiting the homes of their classmates. At Høje-Taastrup Gymnasium (HTG), students also have another tradition, highlighting the varied cultural backgrounds of the graduating class through their banner design. Eleven flags painted on the banner — including those of Turkey, Palestine, Somalia and others — represented the ethnicities of this year’s graduates.
HTG, which currently serves 417 students, ages 16 to 19, has developed a reputation as a welcoming place for students whose families come from outside the European Union. Even though most of its students have lived in the country for two or three generations, HTG is known as an “immigrant school.” Its student body is regarded as “non-Western,” a label the government has used to refer to anyone with a background outside the EU (with some exceptions, such as the U.S.).
“They want more Danish students, but we are also Danish.” HTG student Nermin Aeinein, 17
That has placed HTG clearly in the sights of the Ministry of Education’s first school integration effort, designed to dilute ethnic enclaves and encourage assimilation.
This school year, the government ordered HTG, and five other schools...
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