(cont. from § 10) Upper secondary school (cont. UbU12)

Niklas Sigvardsson (S)

Madam Speaker! I would like to ask some questions about what is stated in the report on work life knowledge and labor market knowledge. Just as I said initially in my speech, we unfortunately see that the government, despite the fact that the tragic death toll is rising and despite the fact that young people are more frequently on sick leave for both physical and mental reasons, is cutting back on ambitions regarding precisely work life knowledge and labor market knowledge.

If we are to have a secure labor market that is also fair, we need to ensure that there is a high general level of knowledge among all the country's young people. We also need industry-specific educational components where we ensure that within the vocational programs we have, there are clear goals regarding, for example, how one works with safety regulations within the educations and the like.

I would like to hear the Moderates' view on this. Usually, when I ask questions, it goes to the responsible minister, who is a Liberal. Therefore, it would be interesting to hear how the Moderates think regarding the fact that we need to increase young people's work life and labor market skills. Do the Moderates agree that we need to do that? In what other ways do the Moderates think we should work to strengthen general knowledge about work life and the labor market?

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Marie-Louise Hänel Sandström (M)

Madam Speaker! Thank you, Member Sigvardsson, for the questions!

These are, of course, very important issues. In all vocational training, workplace-based training is included, so one will be out at workplaces and, of course, get to learn a lot of practical knowledge about work life and how to protect oneself. We will therefore not remove this, but much will take place when one is out on their internship. We do not remove it completely; it remains.

This is of course very important. We absolutely do not want to see any workplace accidents, and we naturally prioritize that such incidents should not occur.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Niklas Sigvardsson (S)

Madam Speaker! Now that we have established that this is important above all in the vocational programs, we can turn to everyone who is studying a higher education preparatory program, which we can state is approximately 60 percent of all those studying in upper secondary school. What is tragic is that the government has chosen to make decisions that the requirements regarding specifically labor market knowledge and work life knowledge shall be removed in the only course that deals with this and which all students study in upper secondary school, namely social studies 1a1 or 1b. This cannot be trifled with; this is simply how it looks.

Therefore, it would be interesting to hear why the Moderaterna think this is right. The general level of competence is de facto becoming lower. We see that in the vocational programs, one still gets it through work-based training and integrated into vocational character courses and the like. But for all the approximately 60 percent of students who do not study vocational programs, it actually says nowhere today that teachers need to prioritize working with work-life skills or labor market knowledge.

Unfortunately, we have seen a trend in recent years that more people are dying and that the level of knowledge regarding the labor market and working life is becoming lower. I believe that both entrepreneurs and trade unions and the like can testify that this is how it looks and that the ambition is actually being lowered. That is what the government has done. Then the Moderates must think that it is the right way to go to lower the ambition and not to teach about labor market knowledge and working life knowledge in upper secondary school.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Marie-Louise Hänel Sandström (M)

Madam Speaker! Thank you very much, Niklas Sigvardsson, for the question!

Of course, the Moderates think it is important. We did not say that one is not allowed to teach. It is about the fact that it does not have to be prioritized. Of course, we do not think that this should disappear from education. We have it quite a bit in many forms of education, so it will remain, but we will do it in a different way.

We still think it is important to prioritize. It is clear that we do not want to see any workplace accidents. It will remain in other ways, but now teachers must not have it as a priority. It does not have to state exactly that in the curriculum, but obviously, one can still provide information about this. That will also be done.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Anders Ådahl (C)

Madam Speaker! Thank you, Member, for the speech!

I intended to dwell a little on the skills shortage in the Swedish labor market. We are discussing upper secondary school here today. In the labor market, we see across almost all occupational categories, whether it is occupations with vocational training at the upper secondary level or occupations that require higher education, an enormous gap between what companies demand and the skills that are available to choose from.

At the same time, we have another picture. In 2023, it was the fifth student who dropped out of upper secondary school and did not receive a high school diploma.

If one looks at these two parts, one sees that on one hand we need to increase competence and the quality of education, and on the other hand, very many are being knocked out. If we add these two parts together, we see that the gap and the inequalities in society are increasing and that we risk getting shadow societies where those who cannot educate themselves and obtain these competences do not become employable.

My question to the member is based on the Moderaternas view on societal development and the upper secondary school. How should we handle the dropout rates in Swedish upper secondary school, and does the member sign off on the description of reality that I have just given?

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Marie-Louise Hänel Sandström (M)

Madam Speaker! Thank you very much, Anders Ådahl, for the questions!

Of course, it is important that one completes upper secondary school. But a priority there is that one must first have a good primary education, and unfortunately, that is lacking.

We are now conducting investigations on how the curricula and also the teacher training can be improved so that students can master the basic knowledge in primary school. Then they will have better conditions to also complete upper secondary school. That is step one, one could say.

It can also be the case that one chooses a vocational program that one is not suited for and which perhaps is not what one should have chosen, actually. In that case, it is more about that we can provide information on what program one should apply for in upper secondary school. There are several different ones, as I mentioned earlier. There are a number of higher education preparatory ones and quite many vocational preparatory ones. Now we also have a proposal for a new path, the two-year vocational upper secondary education, so that one should have more to choose from. But then one must also know that there is more to choose from.

I believe that step one is that we have a primary school that is actually improved so that one can pass it. We must also ensure that one gets into the right upper secondary school program.

It is obviously also important how upper secondary school is designed. As I mentioned earlier, not all students are cast in the same mold. One might need different types of support to complete upper secondary school. There are quite a few who work with study techniques, for example many school health services, so that one can also learn how to study when one arrives at upper secondary school.

Sometimes one may have been quite pampered when attending primary school, but many get a wake-up call when they get to high school. There, you are one of very many. You also have many different teachers, which can be a wake-up call. Then one may also need support in terms of how to study.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Anders Ådahl (C)

Madam Speaker! My question at the end was whether the member shares the description of reality I gave – that on one hand, the increasing competence needs in the labor market and on the other hand, the very high dropout rates in primary and secondary school risk increasing the gaps in society. Does the member share that description of reality?

Since then, we have another challenge in Sweden. We have a demography, that is, a distribution across different ages in the population, which means that even if all high school students were to pass the education and move forward, we still will not manage to meet the skills shortage we have on the labor market. All industries are screaming for people. We will not be able to cover it with our own high school students.

I want to ask the member how she views the balance between, on the one hand, our youth in upper secondary school and, on the other hand, labor immigration in order to meet the needs of the future.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Marie-Louise Hänel Sandström (M)

Madam Speaker! Thank you, Anders Ådahl, for a very narrow question – how we are to meet the needs of the entire labor market!

Of course, the skills shortage is a huge and serious issue. That is why we are also trying to design this with dimensioning. It is about what the students wish to study, but above all about what is needed in society. It can be within the business sector and within healthcare; it can be within anything where we have a shortage. It is also about us designing educations according to the needs that exist.

We will need a huge amount of labor immigration; we already know that. We have a huge shortage of educated people, even within higher education. That we will need it in the future is seen by the Moderaterna as a given. We will need labor immigration but also educations that are more adapted to the labor market's needs.

I think there is quite a lot in this report. I think we talk about it in almost everything. It is about how we dimension and how we cooperate between municipalities and regions and with the business sector and welfare professions, what is needed and what we should provide education in. We work a great deal with those issues. They are future issues, one could say.

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Daniel Riazat (V)

Thank you for the floor! I have a question, or actually two questions.

One concerns the fact that even upper secondary school is underfunded and that many municipalities now need to move money from one activity to the other to make it work. At the same time, we know that the government has not given the municipalities the money that was needed according to Sveriges Kommuner och Regioner based on the needs that have been presented. On top of that, we know that the Moderaterna have borrowed from the state treasury in order to be able to lower taxes for multi-millionaires and billionaires. I would like Marie-Louise Hänel Sandström to reflect on that question, preferably a bit more concretely.

The second question concerns the marketization of the Swedish upper secondary school. It was the upper secondary school that was first subjected to this experiment on a large scale. Now we have a government, which Marie-Louise Hänel Sandström represents, that has said that a complete renovation of the independent school system in Sweden will be undertaken. Can we count on, can you promise the voters, that before the 2026 election there will be legislation in place that ensures that this market experiment is simply removed from the upper secondary school and from Swedish school in general?

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Marie-Louise Hänel Sandström (M)

Madam Speaker! As the member knows, it is the municipalities' responsibility to arrange education. I do not actually believe that the government provides too little money to the schools, but it is the municipalities that prioritize in a different way than we perhaps think when we send the money. They have not received reduced grants, but there is money to arrange schools. They are for both upper secondary schools and primary schools. They are the municipalities' responsibility.

I knew that Daniel Riazat would raise the issue of lowered taxes for billionaires. That question appears in every other speech. But we have also discussed previously that all income earners are needed and that everyone is taxed very heavily. Daniel Riazat knows that billionaires are taxed incredibly heavily compared to many others. Tax money also comes in thanks to the fact that there are wealthy people in Sweden. But everyone is burdened by the taxes, which are still too high and could be lowered further.

Regarding the member's [comment] about the marketization of the friskolor, we are making a reform to review the friskolor. They shall function well. I do not think they are some experiment. We use very many different friskolor. We also use the proposals regarding vocational schools. It is entrepreneurs who are involved. The business sector organizes educations. We are talking about apprenticeship educations. It is extremely important that the market is involved. That is how we manage the educations. It is also how we can meet the requirements to adapt them to the market's needs. We will continue to work in different ways on how we can design the schools.

I believe the free school reform is good. The free schools must work. I think they can work even better. It is important, and therefore we are also reviewing them. I will not give any promises to Daniel Riazat regarding what we will say in 2026.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Daniel Riazat (V)

Thank you for the floor! The member says that I raise the issue of taxes for billionaires and millionaires versus the school every time, and that is true. I will continue to do so as long as this government sits in power and prioritizes tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires over investments in the school. I believe that at least everyone who works in the school or has children and cares about the school at all understands that it does not add up. A trade-off is being made that is not needed at all, namely making the rich even richer, while starving the Swedish school of resources.

Marie-Louise Hänel Sandström says that the municipalities are responsible for this – not the state. In that case, I believe one has misunderstood their role as a national politician. One must, in fact, ensure that municipalities are given the right conditions to conduct school activities at a good level. Many municipalities are governed by the Moderaterna. They also believe that too few resources are coming from the state given the needs that exist.

The strangest answer of all was about the market experiment within Swedish schools. We have a school minister who has gone out and said that laws are coming. There is an investigation ongoing. Time and again in the media, the government parties have spoken about ensuring that they will carry out a complete renovation of the Swedish independent school system. But what I hear from Marie-Louise Hänel Sandström here is something completely different. I don't even really know what the member meant in her previous contribution. Will the so-called complete renovation be carried out so that we get rid of the experiment from Swedish schools, or will you continue to ensure that different types of venture capital companies from Qatar or other countries can own Swedish upper secondary schools?

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

ANDRE VICE TALMANNEN

I would like to remind the member that the person who has the floor shall direct their speech to the Speaker.

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Marie-Louise Hänel Sandström (M)

Madam Speaker! The tax cuts apply to all people. The job tax credit is for everyone who works. It is not just for the very wealthy. It is for everyone who works, and I think that is very good. We have made many tax cuts and can make many more for all occupational groups, which is positive.

We seem to have different views on what a complete renovation is. Daniel Riazat says that it means that something should disappear through it. But a complete renovation usually does not mean that something disappears. It is rather about that one might change or improve something. But we have different views on what a complete renovation is. That is quite clear.

We are conducting a review of the free school reform. We want the school fee to end up in the school. Therefore, we are conducting a review and ensuring that it functions well. There are many free schools that function perfectly. There are free schools that do not function, just as there are municipal schools that do not function. And there are municipal schools that function perfectly. We are conducting a review, and it can be called a complete renovation. But the system will, as said, not disappear. That is not what a complete renovation is.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Patrick Reslow (SD)

Madam Speaker! Let me first move for approval of reservation 7.

In a few weeks, it is time for the students in upper secondary school, at least some of them, to write national tests. They have been a disappointment. I believe we can agree across party lines that it has been a long process. For eight years, Skolverket has been working on developing a model to digitize the national tests. It has been constantly postponed, but now it was supposed to be implemented. Tests were conducted at certain selected schools during the autumn, and everything was supposed to be rigged for the digital national tests. Then came the announcement that the digital national tests are being cancelled.

This is nothing other than a fiasco. Eight years were spent planning the introduction of digital national tests, at a cost of 700 million kronor. 700 million of our tax money has gone to this. One can still say that it was good that Skolverket discovered the problem, so that they did not nevertheless carry out national tests and have problems in a number of places. That would probably have even greater consequences and perhaps completely shatter the credibility of the system. But it is important that we get this right, because soon we are going to rush through a change of the grading system that is entirely based on the existence of well-functioning digital national tests. This is important.

I also want to send a clear signal from this chamber that it is important to take this seriously and ensure that the problems are addressed as quickly as possible. After eight years, one would have expected to have a finished system in place.

Upper secondary school is important. It has an important function in the education system. It receives students who come from grade 9. At that point, one should have high expectations. One should set demands on the students who come in. One must also deliver these students into working life and into higher education. It places demands on those who leave upper secondary school to have the knowledge required to manage higher studies or to succeed in professional life. Upper secondary school is therefore central.

The focus usually lies on primary school and to some extent on higher education. Primary school gets the greatest attention. Upper secondary school is sometimes forgotten. But it is important and central. It is important that upper secondary school maintains a high profile and upholds the standard of the education and that one does not lower the requirements based on the student group one has. If we go that way, it will ultimately affect higher education as well. We cannot afford that in this country.

This autumn, Gy25 will be implemented. It is a reform that we agree on in this chamber and which is good. Subject grades are introduced in something that, in any case, resembles a subject-based upper secondary school. We in Sverigedemokraterna would have liked to go a step further and introduce a completely subject-based upper secondary school similar to the one that existed once upon a time. We will have to see if we can continue that fight. I believe there are many positive effects of making these changes now. We see knowledge as a progression and not as something to be "snuttified" into short courses that are concluded. I believe that a better overall picture will be achieved.

In this context, some problems arose. Skolverket suddenly started producing new subject plans. They produced, among other things, a subject plan for the subject gender, power and norms. It was a completely unscientific course based on intersectionality and some form of pseudoscience. It also caused an outcry. We are glad that Skolverket came to its senses and withdrew this subject and refrained from introducing it. But it still brings the question to a head: Somewhere, there must be boundaries for Skolverket when it comes to producing new subjects that are not anchored in this chamber or in the Government Offices. There are therefore reasons to review this so that it does not happen again.

Madam Speaker! Earlier in the debate, we have talked about the dimensioning of the education. We have a misdimensioning, and we should ensure that more students choose the vocational programs instead of the theoretical programs. During the break, I spoke with my parliamentary colleague Linus Sköld, who reminded me that we Sverigedemokraterna reserved ourselves against the bill when it concerned the planning and dimensioning of the upper secondary school when it was presented in 2022, I believe it was.

It is quite true, and we did it based on two aspects. One was that we saw this as a hyper-project, a new bureaucratic system, where municipalities were to agree on how to dimension. When we simultaneously see that municipalities guard their own interests and build up their own small upper secondary schools that pop up, what then are the conditions for being able to cooperate? We were therefore very skeptical, not to say negative, at that time, and there is much to prove before we admit that we might have been wrong.

Another thing that we also wrote in our reservation from that time is that we want a model where the independent schools are included. It was so that no one else, not even the Social Democrats, took the line that one should have a model where the independent schools were included in the planning. So why do we want that? One can imagine two cases. Either it is the case that the municipality gives up, and so the remains are left to the independent schools. In that case, they are not particularly interested in being part of such a model. The other is that one emphasizes the educations as the central point and not who actually owns or runs the school.

When it comes to the vocational programs, we see that there is a need to match the vocational training with the needs that exist in the labor market. We believe that the business sector should have greater influence over how the vocational programs are designed and that the matching must become better. Today, we see, for example, how the number of applicants to the construction and civil engineering program is decreasing drastically. At the same time, the needs in the regional planning documents are greatest precisely when it comes to construction and civil engineering. If we, on the other hand, look at sales and service, we see that it is the program that needs to decrease the most, according to the planning documents – but it is the program that is increasing the most.

The supply therefore does not correspond to the needs of the business sector, and we must rectify that.

One way to do this is to strengthen study and career guidance. It has fallen behind far too much. We must strengthen it and ensure that it becomes better, and we must also ensure that priorities are different when creating programs at the upper secondary level. One cannot simply expand the theoretical programs all the time, but one must also, in a much better way, try to steer the students toward the programs where the student has the greatest chance of succeeding.

Madam Speaker! We also advocate for a two-year vocational school for those who are ineligible for upper secondary school. Now we have heard that it is called a dead end and so on, but this concerns a student group that is having a very difficult time and where the large proportion is extremely far from even getting one or two passing grades in the current grading system.

This is a target group that we must get into the labor market in some way. These are the ones who drop out, who disappear into the system, whom we do not look after, who end up in the municipal follow-up system, or who disappear straight into crime. We must catch them. We do not believe that this target group would be suitable for the regular upper secondary school design; instead, we must find another model here. Therefore, we have proposed a two-year vocational school where one simply removes the theoretical studies and focuses on industries and vocational areas that do not require particularly much. This is important.

We do not see this as a dead end, as we have said, but as an opportunity. There is also nothing preventing one from, for example, taking a course later in life to increase one's competence.

Madam Speaker! The knowledge revolution continues strongly. We have a new grading system in the works. The debate has largely been about the grade F and that the grade F should be removed, but not much more than that. Now, a new grading system is being planned that totally changes everything. We will have grade steps on a scale from 1 to 10 with relative elements, where the grade is also weighed against a national test. We will also get a calibration system which hopefully will make the grade inflation in general disappear.

This is good, I think. It is good that we get clarity. The grading system that is proposed is also based on very clear and simple grading criteria, which is good, because those we have now are difficult to understand. I have touched upon that several times earlier.

We are also producing a new curriculum for primary school. It is not that the curriculum is life-critical, but we have had problems with too much fluff and too little focus on facts and basic knowledge in Swedish school, especially in the early grade levels. We have had a view of knowledge as something that is created in a social context – not some objective truth or objective knowledge.

We will receive clear descriptions in the curricula of which skills are expected in each school year, we will receive early interventions when it comes to reading, and we will, as said, receive simple assessment criteria to adhere to.

In conclusion, there are now also proposals to strengthen the teachers' situation by regulating teaching time and ensuring that they get time for preparation and planning before their lessons, but also that they are paid for the follow-up work that is done.

(Applause)

(ANDRE VICE TALMANNEN: I must inform the member that the speaking time was exceeded by 50 percent.)

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Niklas Sigvardsson (S)

Madam Speaker! Thank you, Patrick Reslow, for the speech!

I have several questions, but we will start with the dimensioning. It is still pleasing to hear that the Sweden Democrats are now backing down a bit and yet are still for it. So I must still interpret it that way.

To clarify what was said in the speech, we Social Democrats were also [in favor of] that both the public and the private should be part of the dimensioning. Just as Patrick Reslow is aware of when he sits and negotiates within the Tidö agreement, it is not the case that all points will certainly go through in the first round of negotiations; one needs to take it step by step, and in order to get some type of dimensioning, we voted for this first step. Then we hope that we can move forward so that we can include the entire school, i.e., both the public and the private, in the dimensioning.

The investigator therefore proposes that the short vocational programs should be three years. According to Patrick Reslow, this is about those who are far, far away. But according to the investigation, those who only have an F in Swedish, mathematics, or English are also included in the target group. They may have passed in all subjects, but they miss the eligibility for the national programs because they do not pass one of the basic subjects: Swedish, mathematics, or English. Suddenly, it becomes a much larger group. Right now, unfortunately, it is 15–17 percent of the students who do not move forward because of the hard F-limit.

One of the good things about the Grading Review is: to abolish the grade F so that we no longer have those types of hard boundaries. We need to see more of a compensatory assessment where one simply looks at the whole regarding the student's knowledge rather than some individual knowledge requirements or the like.

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Patrick Reslow (SD)

Madam Speaker! To begin the question on the short programs, it is correct that the investigation proposes three-year programs. However, we would prefer that they become two-year programs. If we introduce a three-year program, it may perhaps take four or five years for this group of students. That is a long time. I also think perhaps that we risk theorizing it too much, at least according to the proposal that exists. There are therefore reasons to review how long the program should be, and we advocate that we should have a two-year vocational school.

When it comes to the grades, the group that Niklas Sigvardsson is talking about will no longer be a problem. I assume that there is a broad majority for the new grading system even if some adjustment might have to be made, and then those who today are very close to an F-limit will not be included in the target group, but they will be able to apply for, for example, a vocational program. This is perhaps what is most readily available. It can also be the case that one has an F in Swedish, or gets a three, but otherwise has sufficient grades to get in. Then it is obviously the individual who gets to decide if someone has the competence to manage, for example, a theoretical program. We mean that the study and career guidance must be strengthened and be of help.

I move on to the dimensioning. I believe we have somewhat different perspectives regarding the inclusion of independent schools. This makes me a bit concerned. In the rest of the debate, the Social Democrats are very critical of independent schools – sometimes I almost think that a witch hunt against independent schools is being conducted. We mean that it is important to see the education as the central thing and that the programs are the central thing regardless of who runs the school. That must be the starting point.

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Niklas Sigvardsson (S)

Madam Speaker! I would not call it a witch hunt against independent schools. We shall ensure that profits do not go to tax havens but to education. That is the most important thing – money that we here in the chamber have allocated for education shall go to education.

That is why it is important that all actors in the school's sphere are involved and working with the school's primary goals. It is about how we ensure that the education becomes as good as possible, that it maintains high quality and that it reaches the students. It is our children and young people who are to take part in the education and receive the share of the money that we here and all municipalities around the country allocate to education.

It is good if we at the national level can be broadly in agreement that we need to perform a dimensioning in the area of upper secondary school to ensure that the individual's rights and society's needs can match in the long term and to work with the excessively high unemployment. We currently have a youth unemployment of almost 30 percent. Total unemployment was over 10 percent in January, which corresponds to over 600,000 inhabitants.

Something needs to be done to push down unemployment. We believe that dimensioning will be one of the important tools to do this, just as what this report is about. Therefore, it is pleasing that the Sweden Democrats are clear in this debate. In previous years' debates regarding the upper secondary school report, it has not been as clear that the Sweden Democrats have been so positive and seen that dimensioning has good sides.

What I said about the grades in Swedish, mathematics, and English was my interpretation based on what Patrick Reslow said from the rostrum. There is a problem with how the school system looks today compared to all the investigations that exist. Today, it is enough to have an F in Swedish, mathematics, or English – even if one has passed in all other subjects, one is then excluded from upper secondary school. This is the absurdity of how the school system looks.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Patrick Reslow (SD)

Madam Speaker! In today's system, one is not excluded, but instead, one is given an individual program. Many of those who lack a grade – especially if it concerns a single grade – manage it and then become eligible for a national program. The member's statement is therefore not quite correct.

The problem is those who do not have passing grades in several core subjects. They will probably not get them in the new system either, and there we must have a new solution.

We agree that it is important to dimension correctly. We must ensure that we strengthen the vocational programs and get more people into vocational programs. There are many who drop out of the theoretical programs and do not pass the courses. These problems may follow into higher education. It is not good, because one does not get a job just because one completes a study-preparatory program in high school. The central question is how one ensures that people enter the workforce, regardless of whether it goes through the university or takes some other path.

I move on to profits in education. If a profit is made, most of the money must go back to the education. However, we must also not accept that we have schools that make losses or that we have municipalities that make losses on the school.

Furthermore, we must not accept that money intended for schools goes to administration and bureaucracy. We know that much of the money sent out to the schools does not go to the schools but gets stuck in administration in the municipalities. Yesterday, we had a meeting with Sveriges Lärare. In the conversation I had with one of their representatives, it became very clear that is exactly how it works – they do not receive a share of all the money in the money bag that is distributed. This system is also not good, and it is not the friskolans' fault.

(Applause)

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Mathias Bengtsson (KD)

Madam Speaker! Right now, many ninth graders all over Sweden are walking around with a big question in their heads. It is about the choice of upper secondary school. This is a time filled with both expectations and pressure. Parents, teachers, relatives, and friends wonder what one should choose, and the future suddenly feels very near for very many. To that, we can add the uncertain economic situation, the global situation we see, and the changes in the labor market. It is not strange that this choice is perceived as more important than ever.

For many young people, the choice of upper secondary school is the first step towards adulthood and working life. Therefore, it is worrying that almost 20,000 students every year leave primary school without eligibility for upper secondary school. This means that they are left without a clear path forward. Without an upper secondary school diploma, it becomes difficult to get a job and even harder to build a secure future. Therefore, we need to create a school that gives all students the chance to succeed.

There is a matching problem. At the same time as thousands of students leave primary school without eligibility for upper secondary school, employers are crying out for vocationally trained staff. Within healthcare, industry, construction, and transport, positions remain vacant. Companies are forced to turn down assignments, and operations are reduced due to precisely this competence shortage. This is a systemic error that needs to be corrected.

More students simply need to receive the knowledge required to pass the national upper secondary school programs. Therefore, Swedish primary school – and for that part also Swedish upper secondary school – needs more order and structure, more safety in the corridors, and more tranquility during lessons.

The government is investing in a number of different things, including physical learning materials, ensuring that digital tools are not misused, and a ban on mobile phones in primary school. These are some examples of measures that will lay a stable foundation so that more people can complete primary school and be able to proceed to upper secondary school and working life.

Madam Speaker! We also need more paths into working life. Despite all support measures, there is a group that does not achieve what is required to gain eligibility for the national upper secondary programs. Even these students need to be given the opportunity for education and jobs.

That is why the Christian Democrats and the government want to introduce a new, simpler upper secondary school track with a focus on vocational preparation and practical knowledge. I believe that this needs to be a program adapted to the students who today end up outside the national upper secondary programs. The focus needs to be on giving the students a clear and predictable path into working life through many practical elements, much practical experience, and close cooperation with industries and companies.

For those who are eligible for a national upper secondary program, the national vocational programs are a fantastic opportunity. The vocational programs have the advantage that they can provide jobs immediately after graduation. They offer good chances for a stable income. It also gives confidence and pride to master a trade and receive a professional title.

Unfortunately, there are still far too few young people choosing vocational training, despite the skills shortage that exists in many industries and despite the good opportunities to get a job after completing the training. Therefore, more needs to be done to increase the attractiveness and adapt the training to the needs of the labor market.

The study and career counselors play a key role here. It is a matter of whether they succeed in guiding the young people toward occupations that actually provide jobs. It is clear that it is good if young people get to follow their dreams, but the career guidance must also be realistic. The task of the study and career counselor is not primarily to help the student toward their dream education, even though that is of course good. In the first instance, the study and career counselor should help the student toward an education that provides a job in order to secure the student's future in the long run.

We must also continue to ensure that the educations offered are guided by the demand in the labor market to a greater extent than by what happens to be popular right now. The ongoing dimensioning assignment needs to continue, be reviewed, and be closely monitored.

Even work experience (prao) and study visits need to be strengthened, so that more young people get a fair picture of different professions. Many may have a mistaken perception of what it is like to work in, for example, the industry or craft professions. The industries have a great responsibility to succeed in presenting themselves and attracting the future workforce. Work experience and study visits provide very good opportunities for this.

At the same time as the upper secondary education programs are designed in cooperation with the industry, there also need to be opportunities to make them more attractive in different ways. There needs to be an opportunity to opt out of higher education eligibility if one does not desire it and to study towards higher education eligibility if one wants it. But regardless of which education one chooses, high expectations should be the norm within the Swedish school; it is good for both the students and society as a whole.

Madam Speaker! No young person should be left without a future. No one should be left without opportunities when we know that there are jobs to go to and educations to receive. By strengthening vocational training, improving the matching between school and the labor market, and creating new paths into working life, we can give more young people the chance to succeed. It strengthens the individual, it strengthens the companies, and it strengthens Sweden.

I vote in favor of the proposal in the report.

(Applause)

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Daniel Riazat (V)

Madam Speaker! We are here to talk about school policy concerning the upper secondary school.

It is not the case that all parties have their own motions in all reports, as the motions are divided into somewhat different categories. But of course, we have politics in this area. I would therefore like to begin by moving for approval of reservation 4, which is common to the Social Democrats and the Left Party. I will return to the content of that reservation.

We also stand behind reservation 6 from Miljöpartiet regarding aesthetic issues. I do not move for its adoption, as it will be moved by Miljöpartiet, but we will vote for it. I will also return to this reservation in my speech.

Madam Speaker! Upper secondary school is a voluntary school form. At the same time, an upper secondary school qualification is the absolute most important key to the labor market and to an adult life with self-sufficiency and good health. Therefore, the school form's mission and methods of work must clearly stem from the objective that everyone shall complete an upper secondary education or equivalent. But significantly greater efforts need to be made to get all young people to start and complete an upper secondary education.

The right to knowledge and education is about several things – partly about justice and rights, partly about knowledge as power, partly about safeguarding democracy and a society that holds together. But to create this, a number of things are required. I will mention some of them without any kind of evaluative ranking.

Our country needs a political leadership that sees the value in an equitable school system.

Research, proven experience, and greater trust in the profession shall form the basis for the design of school policy.

An equitable school system cannot contain new public management, market logic, profit-seeking, and cuts year after year.

To the conditions that need to exist for an equitable school system to be able to be created belong a state primary responsibility with a new financing model and the removal of the queue system.

Teachers' working conditions must be regulated. They need to have time for work and time after work. I will return to this point later.

Key figures need to be developed for school health and study and career guidance.

Madam Speaker! The list can be made significantly longer than that, but since we do not have the whole day, I only chose a few of the points that I consider important.

The first point was, therefore, that we need a government that sees the value in an equitable school system. I do not intend to criticize the Minister for Education and the Minister for Education and Research for everything. There are things that we agree on. But the creation of an equitable school system is, as is known, not directly a priority for this government.

The second point concerned research and trust in the profession. I do not know how you view the matter, but for me, it does not add up to give Almega Utbildning power over large parts of education policy and in the same breath talk about research and proven experience.

As a third point, I mentioned market logic, new public management, and cuts. On this point, I think the government has been very straightforward. I must say that. Regarding the cuts, they are completely honest about borrowing from the treasury to lower taxes for their upper-class friends, who also happen to be major donors to some of the parties, and at the same time not providing sufficient resources to Sweden's municipalities and thus the country's schools.

Regarding the market logic, we have still not seen any concrete proposals, after the government has been in power for two and a half years and its parties have for many years been constant opponents to the slightest touch, change, or regulation of the world's most extreme school systems. To be honest, I was less worried before this debate than I am now after hearing the Moderaterna say that it is only about a review of the independent school system; no major changes seem to be going to occur.

The fourth point I raised concerned various issues that actually all affect one another. We can observe that we have not seen proposals regarding either state primary responsibility, a changed financing system, or the removal of segregating school queues.

The fifth point I raised concerned the teachers' working conditions. There, I must say that exciting things are happening right now in light of the investigation that has arrived and which several of us have discussed, most recently yesterday. I think the investigation has landed on many good proposals. But now it is up to the government to both present the proposals and finance the proposals so that they can be implemented without simultaneously destroying things in other areas of the school.

Finally, I had a point regarding the key figures in school health and study and career guidance. More and more students are feeling unwell, including in upper secondary school. The only thing that has come from the government so far is proposals for repressive measures. It is such things that have been presented by the Kristersson government. During the last two and a half years, we have not heard of any other proposals on how the well-being of the country's students should be improved.

Then we have the question of study and career guidance. In a time when we have a government whose policy has led to mass unemployment of 10 percent, it may perhaps be time to make at least a minimal investment in study and career guidance. It may be that I have misread, but I do not believe that there are any proposals from the government in that area either that will lead to any major investments.

I want to conclude with the two areas where there are reservations that Vänsterpartiet stands behind. One reservation concerns work life and labor market knowledge, which previously existed in the Swedish school system. This has been very well-functioning and served our country well but has been removed. When the bourgeoisie have had the opportunity, they have time and again toned this down in favor of only entrepreneurship, entrepreneurship, and entrepreneurship. There is nothing wrong with entrepreneurship knowledge. It is just that 5 million of the country's inhabitants are employed at a workplace and 75 percent of the business owners are sole traders. One needs to gain knowledge about what it means to be on the Swedish labor market. Therefore, I do not understand the opposition to reintroducing a bit more knowledge about the labor market and work life.

It also concerns something that was raised earlier. Over the last ten years, we have seen the development of workplace fatalities. We are talking about approximately 470 people who have died at their workplaces. Perhaps some of this could have been prevented through this type of knowledge building.

Finally, I want to raise the issue of aesthetic subjects in all programs. There was a well-functioning system that served our school system, its students, and our country well for very many years. It was removed for reasons that none of us actually know, except possibly a contempt for the fact that everyone should be able to participate in culture.

Where I mean that the research is very clear. Aesthetic subjects, culture, the right to culture and to practice it contribute to creative thinking. Creative thinking contributes to performing better in other subjects.

This is something that is very important for Vänsterpartiet. Therefore, we also support the motion that Miljöpartiet has submitted in this case.

It is about having a higher minimum level for all students regarding creation within cultural and aesthetic subjects. But it is also about being able to find the talents that may exist among students within non-aesthetic subjects who today do not get to try it because of the outdated rules which state that not all students have it within their programs.

Therefore, Vänsterpartiet wants aesthetic subjects to be compulsory in all upper secondary programs, as it was once in time.

(Applause)

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Marie-Louise Hänel Sandström (M)

Madam Speaker! Thank you very much for the speech, Daniel Riazat!

The Leader of the Opposition was very concerned about the students' health. So am I, the Moderates, and the government. That is why we are investing a great deal in ensuring that the students feel better.

I actually wanted to ask what it is that Daniel Riazat has not seen us doing. We have an entire investigation on student health and on achieving an improved and equal student health so that it is the same in different schools.

We are investing in a new grading system. It is a stress factor right now when the grading system is not adapted to the cognitive level that the students are at.

We are betting on ensuring that there are qualified teaching materials and ensuring that they are well-functioning teaching materials.

We are also investing in more time for the teachers so that they have time for preparatory and follow-up work.

My question now to the member is: What is it that Vänsterpartiet wants to do more of that we do not do? We do an incredible amount from the Moderaterna and the government.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Daniel Riazat (V)

Madam Speaker! This feels solemn, I must say. There has usually been some kind of strategy for two and a half years now not to request interpellations on my speeches. Many thanks for that trend now being broken!

When it comes to investments in student health, all the points that the member raised are things that have not yet been introduced. They are, therefore, things that have been included in investigations. That is good, and we stand behind the content of the investigations. But where are the bills?

I pointed out in my speech that we have not yet seen the proposals become a reality. If the government presents proposals that strengthen student health, it is obvious that Vänsterpartiet, which has always put forward that type of proposal – and received opposition from, among others, the sitting government during previous terms – will vote for different types of proposals that are good. But so far, there are no such proposals.

What there are proposals for, however, is for example what I mentioned earlier regarding tax cuts for billionaires and multi-millionaires. In that case, you have been very quick. It also applies to whether we are to take the entire deportation policy and the repressive policy. All such things proceed very quickly.

As soon as it involves taking away people's rights and destroying social safety nets etcetera, it goes very quickly at the Government Offices. But when it comes to these points, it takes time with investigations into things that we have already investigated 15 times before, and after that, we don't even know if the proposals will come.

What do the Moderates do, for example, when it comes to the issue of discrimination in schools? Many large organizations have been out year after year and said that, for example, racism or ableism are the biggest reasons and the grounds for discrimination in schools. Where are the initiatives, Marie-Louise Hänel Sandström?

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Marie-Louise Hänel Sandström (M)

Madam Speaker! Thank you very much, Daniel Riazat, for the answer, if it was an answer. It is still funny that Daniel Riazat thinks it is good that we request rebuttals. We request rebuttals when we think it is justified to request rebuttals, and that was the case today. Therefore, Daniel Riazat received a rebuttal.

The government has twelve inquiries in the school area. They perhaps should have been done by a previous government but have not been done. They are being done in order to be able to improve much in the school. There is much that needs to be improved and done. That is why we have these inquiries.

I believe the member actually knows that an investigation must be conducted first before a bill can be obtained, and that is why we are doing it. We are accelerating them. There has been almost one investigation a week, so now a lot is going to happen. But one must prepare beforehand, and the member also knows that one must do that.

We are, of course, conducting investigations in order to be able to introduce changes and improvements that were not made when previous governments were in power but which we are doing now. There is a huge amount that we are going to improve.

We are talking about student health. It is incredibly important that we do so and that it is available. We also have this with safety and study environment. We also want to involve the parents and ensure that the whole school is included.

It is about the teacher being the one who decides in the classroom. It has also led to some concern when students say they do not know what is expected of them. Therefore, we have emphasized that the teacher decides in the classroom and that the principal has the pedagogical responsibility, for example.

It is about having peace of mind. It is also a concern that one does not have peace of mind in school, and then one does not feel well. We have an incredibly important investigation that is about precisely safety and peace of mind. Unfortunately, there are circumstances that have shown the importance of it being safe and secure in school.

Incredibly much is being done from the government's side. I think twelve inquiries is quite a lot. There comes almost one a week, and even more will come. The member has much to look forward to.

The member is already very critical of the investigations we are conducting, it sounds like. I think the member should have some hope. A lot will be positive. These are changes that are needed in issues that have been postponed by previous governments.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Daniel Riazat (V)

Madam Speaker! I think it is very good that the government takes the credit for investigations that, in many cases, were initiated by the previous government. It is a very good grade for the previous government, which I was not a part of but which I have nevertheless stood closer to than the current government.

What is needed is for the market-school system, which leads to enormous disparities when it comes to, for example, access to student health services, to be gotten rid of. Has it been done by this government? The answer is no.

What is needed is for key figures to be introduced so that there are not ten thousand students per school nurse when it actually should not be that way. There is only one available student health service one day every other week from two to four. That is how it looks in many schools today. Has this changed by the current government? The answer is again no.

What needs to be worked on are issues of values and being a role model as a government, and not creating hysteria and hatred towards a large part of the people in this country just because they look like, for example, me.

Different types of repressive, stigmatizing, and dehumanizing legislation leave a very bitter aftertaste. It leads to the creation of a "us-and-them" society.

It is clear that children in school are also affected when we have a party that was founded in Nazism and which is involved in influencing the government's policy. Why would they not be affected by that?

I mean that those things are connected, quite simply. How has the government worked with those issues? Has it been done by appointing some kind of commission that is to work against discrimination in schools? If so, I am not aware of it.

Many of the investigations that, among others, the previous government commissioned are good. But what it is about here is that the government must present the proposals. So far, this has not happened. I welcome it when it does. But then one must prioritize this over the tax cuts for billionaires.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Anders Ådahl (C)

Madam Speaker! I wonder what it is like to be 16–17 years old today and attend upper secondary school. We have a working life that is changing fundamentally. Everything is moving faster. Digitalization is underway, and occupations are changing. Perhaps one carries a worry about the future. Add to that the geopolitical situation, where we have three spheres of power that only care about themselves: China, Russia, and now also the USA.

How should a high school student approach the future? What anxiety do they carry? I believe that we members of the Riksdag bear a great responsibility for the situation. We must show leadership and provide security to our high school students. I wanted to start by saying this, Madam Speaker.

The upper secondary school faces several challenges today, not least in light of being a bridge between compulsory primary and secondary school and a dynamic working life or continued studies. We in the Center Party see that close cooperation between school, business, and society is crucial to meet the upper secondary school's challenges.

Sweden has a deep wound in the labor market, and that wound is called a skills shortage. It concerns occupations that require both short and long education, both vocational training and academic education. Let us not build in conflicts between these variants but recognize that both are necessary for both individual choices and Sweden's economy!

What unites occupations that require both short and long education is that the requirements for competence are increasing. Industrial jobs today are, for example, completely different from how industrial jobs looked yesterday. The upper secondary school needs to understand and address this picture of the Swedish labor market as it looks now and will look in the future.

Madam Speaker! The Centre Party naturally has a comprehensive policy for the upper secondary school area. But let me today confine myself to the vocational part of the upper secondary school.

One concern we have is that the vocational programs do not have the same status as the theoretical programs. This leads to many students unnecessarily opting out of these educations, despite there being a great need for vocationally trained labor in the labor market.

Centerpartiet wants to raise the status of the vocational programs by ensuring that the educations are relevant and of high quality and that they lead to jobs. For example, companies should be involved and be a driving force in the design of many educations. Look at the vocational college model! Why not develop a similar model for vocational programs at the upper secondary level? We have proposals on exactly this, which I will return to.

Madam Speaker! More young people need to be given the opportunity to receive vocational training in upper secondary school. It must be possible to obtain vocational training that leads to jobs regardless of where one lives. The demand for vocationally trained labor is increasing across the entire country. At the same time, many classrooms where vocational training is conducted stand empty.

Vocational education often leads to stable jobs with good career opportunities and, in addition, good starting salaries, and they are also important for growth. This applies in particular to small and medium-sized enterprises, which today often lack competent labor.

We see industries today that are crying out for competent labor. We have, for example, the energy industry, just to mention one in the crowd. Within the next few years alone, the energy industry expects as many as 8,000 technicians and engineers to need to be recruited – an enormous need in just a single industry.

Madam Speaker! In order to strengthen vocational education and the connection between these and the labor market, the so-called vocational schools (branschskolor), which are designed in close cooperation with the industry and where different vocational educations are gathered under one roof, should be reintroduced. In this way, students can be offered specialist educations that there is no possibility to organize locally. Unions and employers are clear that the vocational schools are in demand. They should therefore be reintroduced, especially within sectors where the skills shortage is greatest.

Madam Speaker! With some inspiration from how the university college functions, the Centre Party believes that we should investigate introducing national and regional industry councils that have a decisive influence over the range and design of upper secondary vocational education.

The national program councils should be reorganized into national industry councils, which function as special decision-making bodies within Skolverket. The council members shall be employer and employee representatives from relevant organizations. The industry councils should have decisive influence over the vocational educations and make decisions on issues concerning the vocational programs' content, program structure, graduation goals, and vocational outcomes. They should also be able to decide on vocational packages, dimensioning, and selection criteria for regional vocational adult education, as well as be involved in the national and regional planning bases for upper secondary education.

Therefore, Madam Speaker, I move for approval of reservation 3.

Madam Speaker! In order for more students to make informed choices and to meet the needs of the labor market, it is important to strengthen study and career guidance. This has been discussed several times here. The Center Party believes that study and career counselors should to a greater extent be integrated into the entire school's activities and function as a link between school and work life. This can be achieved by offering more internships and closer cooperation with the labor market than is the case today.

Furthermore, we in the Center Party see that apprenticeship programs are one of the keys to meeting the labor market's needs for competent labor. The Center Party wants to increase the number of apprenticeship programs and create better contact between students and companies.

By starting with internship earlier and compressing the period of study and apprenticeship, students can obtain their vocational certificate faster and begin working.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Camilla Hansén (MP)

Madam Speaker! I will make some observations in the report regarding various subject areas. It concerns vocational training, study and career guidance, and aesthetic subjects in all upper secondary programs.

The vocational programs in upper secondary school lead to some of our most important society-sustaining professions. There are the health and social care program, the electricity and energy program, construction and civil engineering, and many more. There are also other programs that prepare for further studies toward professions such as teacher, engineer, or social worker.

Those who are now studying in upper secondary school will become eligible for higher education, and from this autumn, a new curriculum with subject grades will apply. These are interesting changes to follow. To make a small nod to history, I can say that I belong to one of the last cohorts from the last time we had subject grades. It will be exciting to see what this shift actually means and what we have learned over 30 years regarding grades.

When it comes to grades and eligibility for upper secondary education, I also want to emphasize that vocational programs require good prior knowledge. In the debate, it sometimes sounds as if if things don't go so great in primary school, one can always study a vocational program and then get a job quickly. I think that is a very unfortunate tone in that debate. These are qualified programs that lead to qualified jobs. All students who leave primary school should have sufficient knowledge to be able to choose an education that leads to their dream job.

I think it is up to us who are part of the public debate to show that regardless of which future profession one dreams of, it is a dream that is well worth pursuing. We must show that we see that the jobs that vocational training leads to are truly society-sustaining and extremely important jobs.

I do not want any of the students in grade 9 who have now applied to upper secondary school to have chosen a preparatory program because everyone said this when they said they wanted to go into childcare or child and leisure: No, but you who are so talented! Shouldn't you study nature and become a doctor?

One must have the prerequisite knowledge to be able to choose vocational training. One should be encouraged to choose important, society-sustaining jobs even if it does not lead further to university education at that time, because it can do so in the future.

Then we also come to this with study and career guidance, Madam Speaker. Young people's choice of education and profession lays the foundation, among other things, for their future incomes. Young people choose differently and believe differently about themselves and their abilities. There, the society's expectations, norms, stereotypes, and prejudices also play a role.

Here I want to specifically highlight the different expectations that exist for boys and girls and the inequality they lead to in the labor market – and also in life incomes. The different perceptions of which jobs suit girls and boys risk cementing this inequality for a long time to come.

This question is raised by the Commission for Equal Life Incomes, which also refers to an investigation on developed study and career guidance. It is pointed out there that it is crucial for students to have knowledge of what consequences choices of education and profession can have for career and salary development, and for achieving the goals of equal education and, in the long run, an equal working life. There may also be other, deeper reasons why different professions and educations are chosen, and these may need to be analyzed.

Miljöpartiet believes that the government needs to return with proposals that make the country's study and career guidance more equal for both young people and adults. I wonder if the government has tossed the investigation into a developed study and career guidance into the wastebasket.

I also note something that makes me a bit worried in the proposal for the new curricula for primary school. It states that the study and career counselor, or the person who performs the corresponding tasks, shall inform and guide the students regarding their continued education and career orientation. To me, it has a tone of that study and career counselors are probably not such an important professional group in primary school. It is almost like writing "the teacher or the person who performs the teacher's work tasks" and so on.

I really hope that the government places greater weight on study and career guidance when the curricula are to be decided. This will have a great significance for how young people choose their upper secondary education.

Finally, I shall speak about a heart issue for Miljöpartiet where we also share an interest with Vänsterpartiet. Aesthetic subjects need to be reintroduced in all national programs. We have for many years worked for culture to be given a strong position in school. Teaching with elements of aesthetics and creativity can improve learning and increase the ability for critical thinking.

It is important that this is done in school so that even students from homes unfamiliar with studies also get the opportunity to get to know the aesthetic subjects. Therefore, it is necessary that it is a mandatory subject in all upper secondary programs. Teaching in aesthetic subjects can also contribute to students feeling better, experiencing reduced stress, and having a more positive attitude towards their studies, the school, and learning as a whole.

Upper secondary school

Art and culture are not a superficial decoration or some simple entertainment. These are different tools for us to understand the world and to be able to work creatively and innovatively in advanced processes.

One of my favorite examples comes from a study visit in my own constituency at a smaller, very specialized industrial company. We have talked about different competencies, and there, one basically had to be trained at the company. It was very specific knowledge. But then one of the managers says: You might be surprised, but I lose staff, for example, because they move on to Konstfack. It is at that level that creativity is also required in industrial occupations.

The world's rapid digital development also means that we need to become better at scrutinizing images and being able to examine communication via images in a better way. We really want to give aesthetic knowledge a larger place in education, from preschool to adult education, culture school, artistic higher education, and research.

Upper secondary school

This is also a prerequisite for the Swedish musical miracle, but it is much more than that. It gives us tools to observe our world and build visions of the future. It makes us whole human beings. We are cultural beings.

I see that my speaking time has been exceeded by quite a bit, Madam Speaker, but I still want to say that there are going to be very many investigations now. What I want to emphasize is the importance of focusing on the school's quality of education, the meeting between teachers and students, and listening to the student movement, teachers, and school leaders when these investigations are to be converted into actual reforms.

Madam Speaker! With that, I move for approval of reservation 6, which concerns the reintroduction of aesthetic subjects in all programs in upper secondary school.

(Applause)

The deliberation was hereby concluded.

(A decision was to be taken on 13 March.)

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