Ellen Trane Nørby, the education minister, contends that a new digital tool, which enables parents to see how many non-ethnic Danish children are at prospective public schools, will prove to be invaluable – particularly as it tackles misconceptions that schools with high percentages under-perform.

“We know that some schools with a high percentage of pupils with different ancestry have reputations that they might not deserve – in fact some of these schools do really well,” she told the Copenhagen Post.

Public since 2004
On Tuesday, the Ministry for Children, Education and Gender equality launched a new digital tool that gives the public access to key figures about public schools across the country, including the proportion of students with non-Danish ethnic backgrounds at a particular school.

According to Nørby,  the information about pupils’ ancestry has been public since 2004 and is therefore also included in the new tool.

Via the website uvm.dk/skoletal, parents, students, headteachers, municipalities and teachers can compare and follow the performance and development of public schools.

The statistics also include data on the average grades pupils get in the 9th grade, how often the pupils are absent, and what they do when they finish school.

More informed
According to Nørby, parents have never been better informed.

“The new database ensures a more detailed insight into how schools perform both positively and negatively,” she said.

“A combination of a number of facts can ensure that parents can pick schools on a more informed background.”

Pupils are categorised as ‘Danish’ if at least one of their parents is a native Dane or if they were born in Denmark.