Territorial Review Copenhagen - Region Hovedstaden

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whose aim is to construct a bottoms-up cross-border region in order to
become more internationally competitive. This project has rightly been
described as unique and innovative, with the potential to become a
significant engine of growth for both Denmark and Sweden (OECD/IMHE,
2006). The partnership network of the Øresund University will however
have to be more inclusive and operational in a practical sense. There is room
for more integration between the different institutions in terms of design and
delivery of teaching and learning programmes, research projects and
innovation and entrepreneurship initiatives. Students could be engaged more
by regional internships, teaching and research projects and by increasing
student mobility through supporting student travelling costs (OECD/IMHE,
2006). Internationalisation strategies could beneficially be pursued from an
Øresund angle.
Education of immigrants
The national government and the City of Copenhagen have recognised
the need for better educational performance by immigrants. Immigrant
students are at least as well provided as the native-born with traditional
school resources such as class size, teacher-student ratios, language lessons
per week, physical and educational infrastructure, and computer access at
school. This reflects the compensatory allocation of resources in the Danish
school system for schools with large numbers of immigrant students.
Attracting and retaining qualified teachers to disadvantaged schools has
become increasingly important in a labour market as tight as the market for
teachers in the Capital Region. This could be accomplished by increasing
the return for taking a job in these schools (e.g. by a mark-up in wages). The
leeway provided by national regulations for such policies is, however,
currently limited. 6
Immigrant children have few incentives to perform. Teachers‘ academic
expectations, encouragement and pressure to achieve are less favourable at
schools attended by immigrant students. Peer composition at schools
attended by immigrant students is potentially less conducive to academic
achievement (Rangvid, 2006). Strengthening the culture of achievement at
schools with high concentrations of immigrant students is a promising
approach for reducing gaps, as well as tackling the segregation of ethnic
minorities at the school level.
Segregation at schools is related to spatial segregation. In Denmark,
each public school has a fixed catchment area, and in principle, the local
schools recruit their pupils from the surrounding residential neighbourhoods
and should have the same ethnic profile as the residential population.
However, students can apply to enrol to any other public school in the