(cont. from § 9) Teachers and students and the National Audit Office's report on the system for teacher certification (cont. UbU9 and UbU16)

Camilla Hansén (MP)

Mr. Speaker! I am grateful for the large attendance in the chamber as we debate important issues regarding teachers and students. We are also debating – lo and behold – a report from the Swedish National Audit Office, and that usually always attracts attention.

It has been an interesting debate today. It is perhaps a bit difficult to keep the threads together as listeners. We started already at twelve o'clock. One might wonder if it is only we who have spoken, but that is not the case – there has been a question period with the Prime Minister in between.

One of the reports we are debating is called Teachers and Students. I want to start by shining a light on the students. It is the students who are at the center of the Green Party's school policy. We want every student to get enough time with skilled teachers. If we only solve the small, simple thing, we will have a much better school. Then perhaps we will truly have the world's best school. But now we all know here in the chamber that it is not so simple to solve this.

In school, children should be given both the will and the tools to learn, think critically, develop, and lay the foundation for development throughout their lives. All children shall learn to read, write, count, and understand the world around them. They shall understand what AI means, how it can be used, and what can be dangerous and useful about it. They shall be able to participate in societal discussion, cooperate, socialize with others, and be given the tools to be able to influence their own life situation.

School is the arena where students develop into engaged and responsible members of society. Sometimes people tend to speak of this as something that lies in the future, but I want to emphasize that it applies already now when one is a student in school. One has a life here and now. It is not just about something that is going to happen in the future. I particularly want to highlight the democratic schooling that only school can provide when one works with democratic working methods.

Physical education is a central part of the preventive and health-promoting work. I would really like to focus on the health-promoting aspect, precisely because it truly should be a good thing for children and young people to go to school. One should feel better when leaving for the day, not the opposite. One should become stronger every time one goes there. But we know that there are far too many who do not have that feeling when they go to school.

Part of what is needed to improve the health and well-being of young people – of course in addition to teachers who have enough time with their students – is a functioning and accessible school health service. We know that far too many are affected by mental ill-health, and this has been touched upon earlier in the debate. This is a trend that must be reversed.

I hear that many different causes are being discussed regarding this. We know that social media, algorithms, and other things affect the health of both adults and children. But there are several things in the Swedish school system that cause ill health, for example, poor planning of tests and too much pressure on individual tests, such as the national tests. This causes children and young people in Swedish schools to suffer. We don't believe that social media doesn't exist in other, comparable countries? We need to look at several causes. The free reform to ban mobile phones will not make all children feel well. Much more is required, and reforms that cost money will be required. I will return to that.

Student health is crucial for detecting problems early and providing students with the right support. One goes for a screening with the school doctor, who checks that one is growing in height and width as one should. We want that during these types of screenings, mental health should also be discussed, so that it can be detected if there is something that is not quite right. Simple treatments can then be implemented with the aim of addressing the problems.

After significant pressure, the government has actually opened up for mental health to become a part of natural sciences and physical education and health. But I want to emphasize that it is only a first step. It is not enough with a few occasions in a few lessons in a few subjects, but it is about how the school should function as a whole.

I have a note from last year's debate on this subject, and the same applies today: We are visited by hundreds of school students in the Riksdag every day, but none of them are here listening when we debate the report on this subject. Right now, there is no one in the gallery. Isn't that strange? It would have been fun to have school students as observers in the gallery.

Now I want to shed light on the teachers. To be a teacher is to have the most important profession in every country. It is also Sweden's most important profession. It is time that we start to see it that way and treat the teaching profession that way. I want more people to answer "teacher" to the question: What is your dream job? Many already do. We have been into the fact that this is one of the largest programs within higher education, so one does not need to fall for the myth that no one wants to become a teacher. But we know that more people need to want to become one.

Do we then treat the teaching profession as Sweden's most important profession? No, we do not. We have high expectations, and it is reasonable that we, the elected officials responsible for education across the entire country, have them. From a political standpoint, detailed demands are also set. But we are not managing to provide conditions that match the high expectations and the detailed demands.

This is nothing new. But those who want to capture the voices from the school can read the books *Berättelser från skolan*, which we have all received. Teachers should not have to shout themselves hoarse to be heard or scrape together money via Musikhjälpen to buy time with a minister and describe what everyday life in the school is like. But that is obviously how it looks now.

The questions I asked Joar Forssell when we began this debate a few hours ago remain. I worry that we are launching large reforms but that the money will not be on the table. I do not mean to set money against reforms. Reforms need to be made, and they must be well-thought-out. But if we do not finance them, they will only become a burden and a risk for both students and teachers in Swedish schools.

In this debate, we are also debating the Swedish National Audit Office's review of the teacher license. There are extensive exceptions regarding the teacher license. This has not only led to certain schools systematically hiring unlicensed staff but also to many who are employed in schools standing outside the system of disciplinary sanctions that licensed teachers are covered by. Today, every fifth teacher in school lacks a license, and the Swedish Schools Inspectorate cannot handle reports against those individuals.

Since there is still a significant proportion of non-certified teachers in schools, we believe that the system needs to be adapted so that all teachers who are not good enough to work in schools can be subject to disciplinary action, regardless of whether they are certified or not. Since there is no certification to revoke, this is, as you understand, not a possible disciplinary action. Something else must therefore be found.

Here the government is astonishingly weak and vague in its responses to the National Audit Office's recommendations. It may consider taking measures at some point in an eventual future.

We are a united opposition here today who do not think that this is an adequate answer. Being in a hurry when it comes to disciplinary sanctions is not something that has been a problem for the government. But in these issues, it apparently is.

Mr. Speaker! I move for approval of reservation 3 on disciplinary measures in report UbU16 on teacher certification. I move for approval of reservation 6 on student health under point 5 in report UbU9 on teachers and students.

In this speech, Janine Alm Ericson and Jacob Risberg (both MP) concurred.

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

Linus Sköld (S)

Mr. Speaker! In the Education Committee Chair's speech earlier and in a series of exchanges, we could hear that the Liberals want to implement structural changes and that it takes time.

I intended to devote myself to the Riksrevisionen's report on the structural change that the Liberalerna implemented 15 years ago at this point, namely the system with teacher certifications, and what Riksrevisionen says about how the structural change is progressing. Spoiler alert: It is not going so well.

The purpose of the teacher qualification reform was to raise the status of the teaching profession. But that is not enough. Another purpose was to ensure that every child has a teacher who is qualified for their assignment, professionally skilled, and suitable as a teacher. Now, 15 years later, every fifth teacher is unqualified, and there are other clear signs that the system is not functioning.

There are a number of individual cases that have occurred in media revelations where, for example, Islamist extremists have been able to work with teaching. They have been bought out at one school and employed at another. There are those who have been issued a teacher's license and then been convicted of rape. There are plenty of examples of when obviously unsuitable persons have been able to continue working as teachers for a long time, for tens of years.

How can it be that way? The National Audit Office has concluded that a major reason is that the principals do not have to report to the County Administrative Board of Education when they have bought out or dismissed a teacher. The question of qualification is not even examined if a teacher has their employment terminated because they are unsuitable. It is also the case that unqualified teachers are not covered by disciplinary sanctions.

The National Audit Office notes deficiencies in the courts' reports to the County Administrative Board of Education when someone has been convicted. When someone has been convicted of a crime, the County Administrative Board of Education needs to know that the judgment has been passed so that it can report to the Teachers' Responsibility Board, which in turn can examine the issue of the license and whether a warning should be issued or the license revoked.

The reporting obligation for judges does not work in all cases. The main reason is that all criminal cases simply do not include information regarding what profession the perpetrator has. Furthermore, Skolverket does not have the right to request the presentation of extract from registers when issuing a license. This means that even people who have been convicted of serious crimes can obtain a teacher's license.

This has had the consequence that teachers who have been convicted of crimes continue to work with teaching students. The National Audit Office therefore recommends that the government ensure that Skolverket is allowed to request extracts from criminal record registers when issuing licenses. The government has responded that it does not rule out that such a review may become relevant.

The National Audit Office also recommends that disciplinary measures should be changed so that they become more effective and so that they cover unauthorized teachers. The Government does not rule out a review.

The National Audit Office has also recommended that employers should be given a reporting obligation, that is, an obligation to report to the Swedish Schools Inspectorate when they have dismissed a person who they can believe is unsuitable for the assignment, so that the question of their authorization can be examined. And the judges shall comply with the reporting obligation that they already have. The Government responds that it may return to the issue.

For me, it is completely incomprehensible that the Sweden Democrats can accept such passivity that obviously leads to Islamist extremists and rapists being able to continue to teach our children in school. That the Sweden Democrats can accept that the government they control can exhibit such passivity is, for me, astounding.

Now I know that the Sweden Democrats do not want to debate this issue. Jörgen Grubb, who represents the Sweden Democrats in this debate, explicitly stated in his speech that he is only debating UbU9, that is, the second report we are debating in the same debate. Patrick Reslow, who was registered to take this debate on behalf of the Sweden Democrats, has struck himself from the speaking list. Furthermore, Jörgen Grubb is not in the chamber and can request a reply to this speech.

It is obvious that the Sweden Democrats do not want to debate this. Why do they not want to? Yes, because they do not want to stand up for the fact that they back these consequences.

Another thing that the Swedish National Audit Office recommends is to review the exemptions in the identification reform. One of the most debated exemptions over the past year is the exemption for English-language teaching according to the Swedish curriculum, that is to say, international schools.

The purpose of the exception is that teachers who have teacher training from Anglo-Saxon countries, i.e., English-speaking countries, should be able to work in schools that conduct teaching according to the Swedish curriculum but do so in English. The Swedish Schools Inspectorate has reviewed how this works. That is not working particularly well either. The Swedish Schools Inspectorate reviewed 30 schools, and 27 received criticism.

The teachers who work at these schools come from all possible countries. They speak Greek, Turkish, German or Finnish as their mother tongue. This results in the students in these schools being taught by teachers who lack certification and who can neither speak Swedish nor English. This led to criticism from Skolinspektionen when it inspected them.

The government's representative, Simona Mohamsson, was in the media in the autumn and said that they wanted to do the same thing that the Socialdemokraterna have thought for a long time, that is to abolish the identification exemption. Sverigedemokraterna's Patrick Reslow said the same thing, or I believe that he in any case said that it should be reviewed. Moderaterna's Josefin Malmqvist said the same thing.

Now the government has had the opportunity both to provide answers to the review regarding exemptions from the identification reform and, in a bill concerning the adjustment of the identification system that was submitted to the Riksdag recently, to return with regulations and close the gap, but it does not do so.

It is actually completely expected that the Moderates and Liberals prioritize Internationella Engelska Skolans opportunity to make a profit by having unqualified teachers and paying them an average of 3,000 kronor lower salary. They prioritize that over the students' learning.

It is astonishing that the Sweden Democrats let the interests of the capitalists take precedence over Swedish being the main language in the Swedish school. One would think that nationalists like the Sweden Democrats would think that Swedish should be the main language in the Swedish school. But here, they let their government be completely passive regarding the exception. It is very noteworthy.

We Social Democrats stand together with a united opposition behind the four reservations contained in the report. For the sake of time, I move for approval only of reservation number 2 in the Education Committee's report 16.

(Applause)

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

Daniel Riazat (-)

Mr. Speaker! How nice to be back! I heard that you needed to get some energy back into the Education Committee. I’m back.

Mr. Speaker! I am actually here to raise a single issue, namely the exemption from the requirement for a teaching license, which Linus Sköld also spoke about just a moment ago. I think the member said most of what needs to be said, but I have tabled a motion based on this issue. I will, however, not submit it against the existing collective reservation because I have also been involved in designing that one together with the red-green parties.

I want to clarify that the market experiment with the Swedish school began on incorrect premises, continued on incorrect premises, and even today, 2026, stands on incorrect premises. It was built on lies, and it continues to be driven by the lie that one wants to safeguard the children's best interests.

If one had protected the children's best interests, one would have wanted teachers in the Swedish school to have education and certification for the profession they are responsible for. The teachers' responsibility and mission is to provide students with knowledge in accordance with the various laws and curricula, but also to teach them to become democratic citizens. But the sitting government, with the Sverigedemokraterna at the helm, does not think that is how it should go. This has already been said here from the rostrum.

The government and the Sweden Democrats are prioritizing that there shall be teachers without education in the Swedish school, and in that way, they also deprioritize the students. It shows whom the Swedish Riksdag actually serves, namely the representatives of the capital who own these schools. They own 70 percent of the profit-driven friskolor. It is them that the Sweden Democrats and other bourgeois nationalist parties in the Swedish Riksdag serve. I assume that they are very grateful to the members who sit here in front of me, who year in and year out have done everything to ensure that these greedy actors shall continue to put money in their pockets.

The market experiment is occurring at the expense of licensed teachers in the Swedish school system. They make up things like that international schools do not need it and so on, but we all know what this is about. I will therefore not – even though this is my first chance and first time standing in the rostrum since I left the Education Committee – motion for approval of my motion without reservation 1 in the Education Committee's report number 16, the Swedish National Audit Office's report on the system for teacher licensing.

Even though I am a political wild card, I have not stopped being active in these issues. I will therefore return to the Education Committee's debates going forward and speak about the market experiment.

(Applause)

The deliberation was hereby concluded.

(A decision was to be taken on 18 March.)

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