There are signs that bilingual children are closing the gap with their Danish peers.

The grade gap between monolingual and bilingual students graduating from public schools, when most students are 15 or 16, has fallen from 1.8 in 2017 to 1.4 today, according to figures from the municipality of Copenhagen.

This could contribute in part to a drop in absenteeism, notably in Copenhagen, where it fell from 6.9 to 5.8% of all school days.

In detail, bilingual female students made the greatest improvement, increasing their average score by 1.2 points, while bilingual male students advanced only 0.3.

Education and gender differences too
Among other findings, there are other encouraging trends.

The gap between children with at least one parent with higher education and those without parents with higher education has narrowed from 2.9 to 2.3.

The gap between girls and boys has increased from 0.5 to 0.8 because girls have significantly improved their performance.

Some 87.9% of students now enter upper secondary education, compared to 79.4% in 2009.

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bringing lunar living quarters close to the danish architecture center
In 2020, two architects shared a living space of just 4.5 m² in a remote part of northern Greenland for 60 days. They were testing “Lunark”, a habitat designed for the Moon, where occupants have enough space to work, sleep, exercise and use the toilet. Lunark is now on display at the Danish Architecture Center (DAC), where it will be part of the “A Space Saga” exhibition for the next two months. “If you were quarantined at home during corona with your girlfriend, then you know that even a 50m² apartment can become small very quickly,” one of the architects, Sebastian Aristotelis, told TV2.

Stop cyclists to see if their bikes are stolen
You may have noticed police checks being carried out on cyclists since the start of week 6 and wondered what was going on. No, they weren’t caught jumping a red light…this time. On this occasion, their bikes were checked to make sure they had not been stolen. There are 15,000 bike thefts every year in Copenhagen. Many newcomers unknowingly buy a used bike from a stranger who has actually been stolen. If CPH POST had reported it at the beginning of week 6, it might have warned bike thieves! Not sure that this newspaper has the same scruples to warn cyclists of red light traps!

City mayor takes over as chair of Greater Copenhagen region
The Greater Copenhagen area often confuses people because it includes large parts of southern Sweden, including the Halland region, which at its northernmost point is 20 km south of Gothenburg. However, if it had to be proven that he is very Denmark-focused, then the appointment of Copenhagen Mayor Sophie Hæstorp Andersen as the region’s president will have ticked that box. She succeeds Region Scania President Carl Johan Sonesson. Andersen was committed to creating a more cohesive labor market in the region. “Reboot will be the title of my presidency,” she said. “We must help our companies recruit the necessary workforce to promote sustainable growth. The population of Greater Copenhagen is 4.4 million and comprises 85 municipalities.

Too many cars in Copenhagen, says a responsible mayor
Technical and environmental mayor Line Barfod argues that there are too many cars in Copenhagen. Between 2012 and 2019, official figures confirm that the number of cars entering the municipality from the city increased by 8%. “We reached maximum capacity a few years ago,” the mayor of Enhedslisten told TV2. However, trips through the city center decreased by 3% over the same period. Plans to introduce some sort of toll for Copenhagen, which would have charged motorists a price to enter certain parts of the city – like the congestion charge in London, which was introduced in 2003 – were scrapped in 2012.

Submission to change the name of Papirøen… and also its main road
Facebook has changed its name, but that hasn’t stopped most people from calling it Facebook. And the same will probably be true for the island of Papirøen in the port of Copenhagen, even if its owner, CØ P/S, wants to revert to its old name. This seems like an odd choice given the number of towns, bridges and roads that are named after the 19 Danish kings named Frederick and Christian. In this case, “Christiansholm” will reside just down the harbor from Christiansborg and Christianshavn, and just down the road from Christiania. CØ P/S also wants to change Trangravsvej, the road around the island, to…yes, you guessed it…Christiansholm.

The Dronning Louises Bro benches to refresh
The iconic benches at Dronning Louises Bro, the gateway to Nørrebro popular with hipsters, are getting a long-awaited revamp in weeks 13 and 14. They are believed to have been installed for the first times in the late 1880s – more or less the time when Carlsberg founder JC Jacobsen died, director Carl Theodor Dreyer was born and Jack the Ripper was at the height of his powers in London.

Two detainees in police custody after the discovery of suitcases full of money at the airport
Two people, aged 33 and 36, will remain in detention for four weeks after they were discovered on Tuesday with suitcases full of cash at Copenhagen airport. They were attempting to leave the country and were charged with money laundering of a particularly serious nature. Some 3 million crowns in various currencies were discovered. They both pleaded not guilty.

The mystery of the toddler who became Rema’s first customer of the day
Staff at Rema 1000 on Njalsgade in Amager were left in shock as the store opened on Sunday morning. A three-year-old boy wearing only underwear and socks stood outside. The police arrested him and it turned out that he lives nearby and there is no reason to suspect a lack of care.