A Norwegian high school in Oslo has been accused of apartheid after segregating classrooms based on ethnic background, Norway's The Dagasvisen reports.
The Bjerke Upper Secondary School began filling one of the three classrooms with students whose parents come from immigrant backgrounds, The Telegraph reports.
Though classrooms at Bjerke high school have now been shuffled, the news came as a surprise to one city official who demanded an end to the practice.
Torger Odegaard of Norway's Conservative Party, who heads up Oslo's education program, told News And Views From Norway he was shocked by The Dagasvisen report.
After a noticeable drain of white "ethnic Norwegians" attending the high school, the principal decided to introduce the move this fall.
"We made the decision because many Norwegian students were moving to other schools because they were in classes with such a high percentage of students from other nations. They seemed to be in a minority," Gro Flaten, the principal of the school told The Telegraph.
But Robert Wright, another Norwegian politician who formerly headed up the Oslo school system, criticized Odegaard for banning the move by saying it prevented "white flight", reports The Telegraph.
The controversial decision comes at a time when Norway is grappling with an influx of immigration since the 1990s, though the recent trend has slowed amid growing employment concerns.
Integration remains a key issue for the city given immigrants now make up 28 percent of Oslo's population.