Fundamentals of education

Fredrik Malm (L)

Mr. Speaker! We now have to deal with a report containing a hundred motions from the general motion period in the Riksdag this autumn. It concerns the school's values, safety, grades, teaching materials, and a number of other things.

Mr. Speaker! Let me begin by stating that Swedish schools face very great challenges. The results in last year's Pisamätning cannot be described in any other way than as a pure knowledge collapse. Today, every fourth student cannot read or calculate properly. This is enormously serious for Sweden's future as a wealthy knowledge nation. This development must be reversed.

The Liberals have, in the government, ensured that important first steps have been taken towards more state governance and a clearer rule-based school. This includes, among other things, all students' right to proper school books, staffed school libraries and access to student health services.

My party has also initiated a long-term effort, Mr. Speaker, to restore the fundamental parts of the school. Work is already underway to regulate teachers' time for instruction as well as preparatory and follow-up work.

The Liberals will also push for a cap to be introduced on the maximum number of students each class may contain.

Mr. Speaker! There are no quick solutions to lift Swedish schools. Nor are there any simple solutions. Those who believe otherwise have not understood either the scope of these challenges or how an operation as extensive as Swedish schools, with so many principals, regulatory frameworks, distribution systems, and employees, can be changed.

What is required is a series of reforms and continuous, laborious work over many years to raise Swedish schools to become a world-class school again.

Swedish school must return to being a knowledge school. The focus must be on high-quality teacher-led instruction with a focus on knowledge results and high-quality textbooks in an environment characterized by calm and peace and order and discipline, that the students follow the rules that apply and that the teachers have a work environment that makes them feel comfortable and want to develop in the job. Parents must take greater responsibility for their children behaving in school.

Fundamentally, Mr. Speaker, Swedish school needs state ownership again. In the longer perspective, this is the most important piece of the puzzle to guarantee equality in Swedish school.

Three decades of municipal headship have worsened the knowledge results. It has eroded the status of the teaching profession and created unreasonable imbalances in the distribution of resources. Many municipalities have not taken the responsibility for their school that is required, either because they have not prioritized it or because they have not had the capacity to be able to prioritize it.

One way to increase equity in education is to invest in high-quality textbooks. This government is doing that. On July 1 of this year, it is clarified in the Education Act that students shall have access to teaching materials, textbooks, and other learning tools needed for good knowledge development in accordance with the goals of the education.

At the same time, what textbooks, teaching materials, and learning tools are is defined. In this way, it is ensured that the Education Act cannot be interpreted as meaning that it is sufficient for students to use digital learning tools or information on the internet in teaching.

Parallel to this, our initiative for real textbooks to the municipalities continues in the form of the large state grant of approximately 650 million kronor this year. This shall be used to ensure students' access to real, physical textbooks. Through this targeted state grant, Sweden's schools get the opportunity to purchase approximately 1.3 million textbooks during this year.

There are very strong reasons for this initiative, Mr. Speaker. Textbooks in schools improve learning, raise the quality of teaching, make it easier for parents to help their children with schoolwork, and reduce the workload for teachers, who spend dozens of hours every term producing their own teaching materials.

More textbooks are also a prerequisite for reducing screen time in school. There is strong scientific support that extensive screen time impairs mental health, sleep, movement, concentration, and school results.

Mr. Speaker! In almost the entire Western world, mental illness among young people has become all too common. Since 2010, the number of young girls who experience anxiety has increased by 150 percent in Sweden. This development coincides with the historical spread of social media. According to the State Media Council, 80 percent of older children use their mobile phones at night, and they sleep less as a consequence of this. This is a partial explanation for reduced concentration and poorer mental health. In a school survey, almost nine out of ten students stated that the mobile phone interferes with sleep, schoolwork, and physical activity.

We mean that screen time is something that parents should take responsibility for, but that politics must force the tech giants to stop opposing Sweden's parents.

The fundamental problem is that the business models of the tech giants are based on maximizing children's screen time – the more screen time, the higher the advertising revenues. The apps are configured in such a way that they constantly remind users of their existence through notifications and vibrations. Once you start using them, the content is seemingly endless, and through algorithms, it is tailored to each user's preferences.

This has no place in Swedish schools. Therefore, we have submitted a number of proposals, Mr. Speaker, so that screen time shall be replaced by leisure time and that the school shall move from screen to folder. Our children need less screen time. They need more reading and more writing with paper and pen. Above all, they need a school of knowledge as a counterweight to a frenetic present day, a school that goes back to the basics.

(Applause)

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

Paula Örn (S)

Mr. Speaker! There were many fine words in the member's speech. But if all the things he painted out are to be able to become reality, resources are required, and if it is something that is lacking in Swedish schools today, it is precisely resources.

Most recently yesterday, the spring economic report from Sveriges Kommuner och Regioner was released, which shows that the situation is serious for Sweden's municipalities and for the Swedish school system.

Last year, approximately 25 percent of the municipalities recorded a deficit. In the municipal sector as a whole, the result was approximately 2 billion for all municipalities - far from the 10 billion that is the goal for good economic management.

The municipalities are on their knees, and since the school is the largest budget item, the consequences for the school are very serious. We see large cuts, and much of what is being cut are incredibly important resources such as student assistants, school social resources, and other support staff. This, in turn, increases the burden for the teachers and makes their job harder.

One could, as a political opposition, be happy when the government's various representatives, including Member Malm, with a fool's persistence continue to talk about historically large investments in the school. But these are investments that teachers, students, and parents see no smoke of. It appears rather tone-deaf, so my question is whether Fredrik Malm seriously thinks that the reality in the Swedish school today is a situation characterized by historically large resources.

(Applause)

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

Fredrik Malm (L)

Mr. Speaker! We must go back a bit in time. 34 years ago, the Social Democrats pushed through a municipalization of Swedish schools. It has been devastating, Mr. Speaker.

For the last seven, eight, nine, ten years, we have seen that the state investments in schools are increasing. This is because municipalities, often Social Democrat-led, are not managing to prioritize schools; they prioritize a lot of other things instead. This means that the state now must step in and cover for a responsibility that the municipalities have not taken.

I do not share, Mr. Speaker, the view that the municipalities in Sweden are on their knees. It is a routine, almost slogan-like, broad statement. There are many municipalities in Sweden that have a good economy and which manage their tasks. But there are many municipalities that have significant problems – that is very true. The state can compensate for some, through targeted or general state grants and various types of investments, but in the end, the distribution is approximately 80-20 between municipality and state when it comes to investments in schools.

So, fundamentally, Mr. Speaker, this is a question of our municipal politicians having to manage to prioritize the school more highly. The state can help and should take a greater responsibility. I am the first to argue for exactly this. The state should, of course, increase the appropriations as much as we can. But in the end, the municipalities must make priorities for the school.

In conclusion, I can note, for example, that the red leadership for the city of Stockholm ignored seeking targeted state grants for textbooks, which has resulted in the city of Stockholm's school students missing out on 46 million kronor for learning materials. The Social Democrats did not think it was that important, and it is also a very big problem in this context, I would say.

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

Paula Örn (S)

Madam Speaker! It is interesting that the member chooses to take up this issue with the teaching materials and, of course, targets the City of Stockholm. The truth is that, unfortunately, there were very many municipalities that did not apply for the funds for teaching materials. They were simply not utilized, and one should think that is a problem. Perhaps one should reflect on how this state grant has been constructed when we get this situation, where many more municipalities than the City of Stockholm did not have the possibility to apply. Many had made large investments earlier and did not have the possibility in 2023 to reach the same level, when they had used, for example, corona funds and other things.

I heard Member Malm mention fungibility when talking about this reform; it was important. It was very important to have clear rules, because the municipalities certainly could not do anything else with the money other than buy learning materials. That can be sympathized with. What I can find strange is that Fredrik Malm and his colleagues do not seem to think it is a problem that while the municipalities allocate resources to specific things, for example learning materials, to compensate for pension costs, the money should be paid out to the independent schools without any possibility whatsoever of demanding that they actually do the same things with the money.

Why does Fredrik Malm have such great confidence in the friskolor's fantastic ability to make the right priorities, while he doesn't seem to have any confidence at all for Swedish municipal politicians and principals in the country's schools?

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

Fredrik Malm (L)

Madam Speaker! The last thing the Social Democrats take up is handled in another investigation which will submit its report in a year, where we review the entire resource distribution system. I would have liked to see that it could have happened earlier, but unfortunately, we have had eight lost years when it comes to obtaining a more reasonable regulation of the free school sector in Sweden. I regret this. We will now truly take action and review this, because we cannot have an order with such skewed economic incentives as those that are built into Swedish schools today.

To, Madam Speaker, return to what is the core issue here: the Social Democrats gladly speak about more resources for the school, but in the end, this means that thousands of municipal politicians across Sweden must make these prioritizations. If they are not made at the local level, no money will come to the school. The problem is that Social Democratic municipal politicians prioritize a lot of other things, and then the Social Democrats stand in the Riksdag and lay the blame for this on me and my party colleagues, on us who have signed the Tidö Agreement, and on the government. But fundamentally, this is a question of that the municipalities must manage to prioritize the school higher.

(Applause)

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

Camilla Hansén (MP)

Madam Speaker! Thank you, Fredrik Malm, for the speech! I have a question for Chairman Malm regarding the government's management of the school system. The member says that we have had eight lost years when it comes to the regulation of the independent schools. It is well true that we have had eight lost years since the Liberals and other right-wing parties have blocked every attempt to regulate the independent school market.

We have also had eight years during which we, through investigations, the school commission, and knowledge gathering, have laid the foundation for reforms that this government is now taking forward. It is very gratifying to see reforms concerning school libraries and strengthened rights to learning materials move forward. It is good that that foundation exists so that there can be workshop from this government. Then we will see how much workshop there will be - if it becomes really good conditions for the school libraries, for example.

Fredrik Malm says that many municipalities have not been able to take responsibility for the school. One reason why many municipalities have not been able to do so is that this government has chosen to let municipalities, and for all intents and purposes also regions, bear the responsibility for a crisis economy resulting from the pandemic and war, even though the government could have provided support since the state has a good economy.

I therefore became very curious about Fredrik Malm's statement regarding clearer state governance and about his wish that the state should finance the school as much as possible. My question then is: Is this what the state is doing now? Is this what the government is doing now, financing the school as much as possible? Somewhere we perhaps still have a common ground here politically. We in Miljöpartiet want the state to take a greater financial responsibility for the school. But how do the Liberalerna want it?

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

Fredrik Malm (L)

Madam Speaker! I perceive that there is very broad support in Swedish politics to, as Camilla Hansén expresses it, increase the state's responsibility for Swedish school. Then it varies how far one wants to go and so on, but there is an awareness that the large decentralization that was carried out in the 90s in the form of partly the municipalization, partly the free school reform, partly what we call the school voucher - the resource distribution system - and additionally vaguer curricula collectively have led to a more lacking equality in Swedish school. One must counter the negative consequences of these reforms in the 90s. There is broad support for this.

For my and my party's part, we want to go significantly further. We believe that the ownership of Swedish schools should be nationalized fundamentally and that rule-based management should be reintroduced. The deregulation and decentralization that occurred in the 1990s have, in fact, collided head-on with the equality in Swedish schools but also worsened our opportunities to raise knowledge results. This is a very major reason why we today see declining knowledge results in international measurements.

I welcome every step that involves the state taking greater responsibility, but there is no majority in the Riksdag – that is something even Miljöpartiet and Camilla Hansén know. There is no majority to re-establish the state as the primary authority for Swedish schools. In that case, we must at least try to reach an agreement on increased state governance in order to be able to improve the equality in Swedish schools.

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

Camilla Hansén (MP)

Madam Speaker! Thank you, Fredrik Malm, for the answers! I believe we are both concerned that the school results are not good enough. What I and Miljöpartiet do not agree with is what is being done about it. We had high expectations for the government's debate article after the Pisa results, but it turned out that what they wanted to put forward was a mobile phone ban, which is something that schools can already decide on. In the vast majority of schools, there are no mobile phones today.

Fredrik Malm speaks about vague curricula. It is clear that there is a knowledge mandate in the curricula we have. To nationalize the school means an enormous reform that takes 30 years. That means that not even children who are not yet born will attend the new, reformed school. I cannot come up with any illustrative example of the generational shifts, but it will therefore take around 30 years.

We must do something that can happen immediately so that children and young people get the education they have a right to. They should take away the ability to count, write, and read. Then one needs to ensure that skilled teachers have enough time with their students. This is what is needed.

Then I wonder why this micro-management is being introduced. When one wants to carry out major reforms, one introduces micro-management regarding screen bans. One introduces detailed state grants that some municipalities cannot use. Why is there no trust in the profession to decide how the teaching should be conducted in the classrooms and to choose the learning materials?

Had the Green Party's budget passed, the schools would have had more money for school books and for what they need. If, in a certain year, they do not need specifically school books, they can use the money for what they need. That is how we view the relationship to the school and to the municipalities as the primary bodies for the school.

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

Fredrik Malm (L)

Madam Speaker! There were highs and lows and white and broad in Camilla Hansen's reply. But let me try to gather this together.

We invest great resources in our school in Sweden, but we have too low results. Students in Swedish school learn too little, and that is due to a number of different factors. I have mentioned some of them in my speeches. But fundamentally, we therefore get too little for the money we invest in Swedish school.

We generally have too low ambitions in Swedish school. We have too many students who do not reach the goals. We have a large group of students who, after grade 9, do not become eligible for the national programs in upper secondary school. It is approximately 15 percent in every year group. We also have a group that does not reach the upper secondary school graduation and do not get into university or drop out of Swedish upper secondary school. Simply put, Swedish school does not perform well enough. We see this in the Pisamätningarna, Timss, Pirls and in other places.

What the government, my own party, and also the government's coalition partner Sverigedemokraterna believe is that we need to go back to the basics of Swedish school. It is about teacher-led instruction, order and discipline in the classroom, proper textbooks, and about prioritizing what are the core tasks in school in order to also raise the knowledge results in that way.

Madam Speaker! I agree with much of what Camilla Hansén says. I would love to see that we had thousands of qualified teachers in the Swedish school system. The problem is that many qualified teachers have left the school system due to work environment issues, and it is very difficult to quickly train teachers. One can do so-called short KPU to quickly become a teacher, but it is not a satisfactory situation today. We simply have too few qualified teachers.

(Applause)

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

Anna Lasses (C)

Madam Speaker! I agree with the picture of a collapse in Swedish schools that we really must address. Municipalities are closing schools and cutting back. Educators are being fired. Then the Liberals come with the announcement about caps on class sizes and caps on the size of children's groups in preschool.

I have a rather concrete question in the context of this. We did a kind of calculation on this with the preschool and concluded that it would cost the municipalities an additional 18 billion to implement this with the size of the children's groups. It is not quite as easy to make a calculation regarding the ceiling for class size, because there is no really good statistics, unless Fredrik Malm is sitting on them. But I simply wonder: Where will the money for the reform come from? Will there be a massive investment in next year's budget and in future budgets so that this can be implemented?

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

Fredrik Malm (L)

Madam Speaker! What we want from the Liberals' side is to return the responsibility for Swedish schools to the state and reintroduce rule-based governance of Swedish schools. This concerns, for example, teachers' working hours and much more. We are taking small steps in this direction in various ways now. This summer, for example, new legislation will come into force which involves regulation of what textbooks and learning tools are. It will be more strictly regulated what, for example, a school library is.

This is because we want to return Swedish school to being a world-class school and for it to be clear what applies in Swedish school. A library is not a bookshelf on wheels in a corridor. A gym card is not a physical education lesson. It is reasonable that schools in Sweden have a school cafeteria and do not just load a prepaid card for the children so that they can go to Ica and buy Nocco.

If one reintroduces the rule-based management, one must also have some regulation of the class size. Otherwise, there is a risk that the classes will swell to compensate for the increased costs that the other rules entail. I think that this should be seen from that perspective. It is, therefore, a broader question and an important question for us in the Liberals. We are pushing forward, and you in the Center Party are warmly welcome to also join us in this, so that we become even stronger when it comes to making this a reality.

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

Anna Lasses (C)

Madam Speaker! That was not an answer to my question. It is commendable with a cap on class size precisely so that the groups do not become too large.

We in the Center Party invest significantly more than the government does in its budget, but I can promise that we cannot afford to cover more than a fraction of this, and the municipalities have very many other costs. The question remains: Where will the money come from, and what timeframe does Fredrik Malm have regarding the implementation of this? It would need to be implemented quite soon, so that at least the nearest generation can be affected by it.

The question is still how this is to be financed. Is it really possible that simply nationalizing the school in some way would make it more efficient? I find it a bit difficult to see that. I don't really think it has to do with whether it is the state or the municipality that is the principal. Perhaps a regulation could straighten things out. But it is still very large resources that it is about.

Is this something that the municipalities are to bear 100 percent of, or will the state contribute? Will you contribute a milliprocent, or how do Fredrik Malm and the government intend for this to be financed?

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

Fredrik Malm (L)

Madam Speaker! There was a regulation of class sizes. The Social Democrats removed it when they municipalized Swedish schools. That has since led to the classes becoming far too large in Sweden.

We mean that this is a major problem. If the classes become too large, there will be too little time for the students for individual guidance and individual help from the teachers' side. We generally need to have smaller groups. This also applies in preschool, of course, which Kommunal and others are also pushing very hard.

Anna Lasses and Centerpartiet ask when this will come. Yes, this is what we want in Liberalerna. We really hope that more parties see this important challenge and are prepared to join this. We have a number of issues that we pursue with great perseverance. Sometimes it goes quickly; sometimes it takes a little longer.

We became members of Nato the other day. It took 25 years after the Liberals as the first party took a stand on this. I hope that we can soon join the euro. But it is clear that alone is not strong. We need to be many in this work.

Madam Speaker! In response to the more general question regarding resources, I can say: The school is a part of the public sector. It is a part of Swedish welfare. We also see this as an important investment. It is about creating more freedom, creating more independence, creating more critical thinking, and creating more independent individuals. We see the school as an investment in Sweden, and in every budget negotiation, the Liberals always put the school first.

Since then, as we all know, we have a tough situation today. We have inflation. We have a war in Ukraine. We have very large investment needs when it comes to Swedish infrastructure and not least our police, our defense force and so on. In the total equation, it is about there being a party that truly safeguards the school also in those negotiations, and that is the Liberals.

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

Paula Örn (S)

Madam Speaker! Sometimes one might think that the word governing documents sounds a bit boring. But the fact is that in the school's governing documents, we find many passages that are both important and quite beautiful. For example, it states in the first chapter of the Education Act that education within the school system shall promote the development and learning of all children and students, as well as a lifelong desire to learn.

It is therefore about learning not because one has to, but because one wants to, because it is enjoyable and because one sees opportunities to continue learning new things throughout life.

It is a fantastic goal we have for all our children and young people in Swedish school. When we in the debate obviously highlight difficulties, problems, challenges, and negative developments in the Swedish school, it is important to also remember to highlight that it is full of fantastic teachers who every day awaken children and students' desire to learn for their whole lives.

The formulation I mentioned is followed by writings stating that the education shall also convey and anchor respect for human rights and the fundamental democratic values upon which Swedish society rests. The school's democratic mission is important and recurs in a number of writings.

Yesterday, I had the privilege of participating in a clear manifestation of the school's democratic mission when I took part in an EU debate at Nösnäsgymnasiet in Stenungsund. I must admit that I felt somewhat overaged compared to the representatives of the youth organizations, but otherwise, it was a fantastic experience.

A number of students had themselves planned and organized the debate as part of the teaching in the subject social studies, and many students had the opportunity to come there, listen to the debate and ask questions themselves.

It is incredibly important, we think, that the political parties and the political youth leagues are present in that arena for democratization that the school constitutes. This applies especially in these times of increased polarization in the debate, of increased spread of hate and disinformation, of SD's troll factories and of potential Russian election interference. We also have a young generation that primarily consumes news via TikTok at the same time as proposals are being put forward that seriously threaten the future of public service.

Madam Speaker! We Social Democrats believe that the guidelines and regulations for the political parties' school information need to be strengthened and developed, as significant challenges remain under the current regulations.

Many schools do not do as Nösnäsgymnasiet does. Youth organizations today have a very difficult time getting into many schools. It is a problem that we see and that we want to do something about. Today we are debating primary school and upper secondary school, of course, but we see the same tendency at universities and colleges, where the partisan student associations experience that their statutory right to use the premises is being curtailed.

We Social Democrats are convinced that the meeting between people - with conversation and discussions about politics, democracy and values - is something that needs to be strengthened.

We Social Democrats also want students to have influence and a say during their schooling. This does not mean that it is the students who decide over the teachers, but it means that the school, in the design of rules of conduct, practices precisely those democratic values that Swedish society rests upon.

The SD government's stated intention to deprive the students of just influence and co-determination regarding the rules of order risks reducing the students' participation. This also risks reducing the legitimacy for and compliance with the rules. We think it is the wrong way to go.

We have the privilege of living in one of the few remaining true democracies. We should seize every opportunity to continue developing and strengthening our democracy and the democratic dialogue, also in schools.

Madam Speaker! Despite my positive opening, there are certainly no lack of challenges in Swedish schools. One of the major ones is the development of grading. Grade inflation is primarily driven by the profit-driven schools' desire to attract students by appearing to be better schools because the students who attend there receive high grades.

It is sometimes called a "joy grade," but I think the correct formulation should be a "cheat grade." It has gone so far that the principal of Handelshögskolan no longer trusts the grading in Swedish schools. Students will no longer be admitted solely on grades to Handelshögskolan in Stockholm. He says: The high school's grading has led to a breach of trust that is hardly a small matter. It can be repaired, but it must happen quickly.

Madam Speaker! It can be repaired, but it must be done quickly. Unfortunately, it is going anything but quickly. The SD-led government is dragging its feet and does not seem to understand the seriousness of the situation at all. The School Inspectorate should be given a much clearer and more powerful mandate. Fundamentally, the problem is due to the unhealthy profit-seeking that has been allowed to run rampant in Swedish schools. We heard Member Malm say in the exchange earlier that they want to do something about this. But instead, they have spent eight years voting down all the proposals put on the Riksdag's table by the Social Democratic-led government to address the problems. They were voted down by the Liberals and other parties in the current government's support base. And now they have no proposals of their own to quickly address the grade-fudging.

For example, one could have the School Inspectorate flag the biggest grade cheats. One could introduce harsher sanctions and even, as we have said, go so far as to place schools that continue to cheat with the grading under compulsory management. One could also, as in the report's proposal, investigate the possibility of using different methods to more clearly link the grades to the national tests at the group level.

But what is the liberal Minister for Education and the government doing? Right now, they are doing nothing.

Madam Speaker! There are more things that would need to be reviewed in the Swedish grading system. It is often said: When the map and reality do not correspond, it is wise to stick to reality. But regarding the design of the grades E and F, the liberal grip on the map seems almost spasmodic.

I am completely convinced that none of the politicians, researchers, teachers, and others who participated in the work in 1994 that resulted in a hard limit for passing saw the development that we have today. Last year, almost 18,000 students could not begin upper secondary education after completing primary school. Nevertheless, this government seems to want, at all costs, to maintain a design of the grade F that contributes to an extensive weeding out of students in the school system.

No, no one has said that the grade should be removed regardless - not us Social Democrats and not the Center Party. No, we do not want a requirement-free "flumskola" - I think that is one of the favorite attacks from the government parties.

We think it is reasonable to seriously look at the question of the design of the criteria for the grades E and F when we see the extensive mental ill-health and the stress, pressure and burnout that exists in Swedish schools today.

Furthermore, both the OECD and IFAU, two institutions that other parties can hardly accuse of being particularly vague, think so.

Madam Speaker! We Social Democrats, of course, stand behind all our reservations, but for the sake of time, I would like to move for the approval of reservations 5 and 16.

In conclusion, I would like to paraphrase a well-known statement: Furthermore, I believe that the pursuit of profit in the Swedish school system should be prohibited.

(Applause)

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

Noria Manouchi (M)

Madam Speaker! The motion report on Basic Education returns for debate once a year. My focus has almost always been on the students' safety - more specifically the physical violence that nearly 50 percent of the ninth graders in Brås report that they have been subjected to during school hours. It is also about the nearly 10 percent who need to seek medical care during the school day for the injuries they have sustained from their schoolmates. It also concerns the teachers who are beaten and threatened.

Today, however, I would like to say a few words about another type of violence that is at least as present and just as harmful.

Madam Speaker! The Swedish school system rests on legislation with the ambition that every child shall become a democratic citizen with good Swedish values, great respect for human rights, and an ability for critical and independent thinking. In times like these, it is particularly important. With war in our vicinity, unrest in the world, disinformation campaigns, and troll factories raging, the Swedish school must succeed in this mission. In the end, it is about resilience.

When parents leave their child on the first day of school, I can imagine that many feel a sense of nervousness. How will it go? Will she make friends? Will she be as bad at math as I was? Will the teacher be kind and competent?

So I imagine that is what the parents' thoughts are. I do not have any children myself, but if I were ever to have the privilege of standing there and waving goodbye to my child on the first day of school in Malmö, I would have a couple of thoughts. Will she be exposed to racism? Will she be affected by the culture of honor?

That every student should leave Swedish school with values regarding everyone's equal worth, equality, and democracy does not mean that the journey there is easy or straight. Children receive their first basic values at home from their parents. Often they align with society's common norms and values, but sometimes they do not. Then principals, teachers, special educators, cafeteria staff, and caretakers, yes, all adults who constitute a part of Skolsverige, must do the difficult work it involves to challenge norm-breaking and destructive thought patterns and behaviors.

In this important work, the Moderat-led government has strengthened the school authorities' mandate against, among other things, honor culture, racism, and extremism. The Swedish Schools Inspectorate has been tasked with strengthening its supervision of those schools where the authority assesses that there is a risk profile regarding extremism. The supervision shall always, or as often as possible, be carried out through unannounced visits.

After the curriculum was reinforced with formulations regarding the school's responsibility to prevent and counter various forms of intolerance, violence, and oppression, the Swedish Schools Inspectorate was tasked with reviewing schools' work in preventing and addressing racism, sexism, homophobia and transphobia, as well as honor-related violence and oppression.

Skolverket shall also further develop the support material and the competence development that exists against honor-related violence and oppression and, in that work, obtain knowledge and experience from the Swedish National Council against Crime Prevention, the Gender Equality Authority, the county administrative boards and other relevant actors.

Skolverket has, together with Forum för levande historia, developed a tool for systematic work with democracy-strengthening measures in the school system in order to counter antisemitism and all forms of racism. Demokratistegen, which is the name of this tool, consists of seven steps for how schools can work systematically with issues regarding democracy and human rights, always based on the organization's needs. Now we are ensuring that this tool is also adapted to be usable by, for example, preschools. Starting early is essential, and the authorities are always working outward to reach more schools.

In conclusion, I want to say that we are strengthening the principal's responsibility for safety in the school - for all forms of safety in Swedish schools. With that comes also the powers to act when required. That the adult world takes its responsibility when a child is subjected to harm is not only crucial for securing the safety of the victimized child but also for securing the child's trust in our shared society.

I vote in favor of the committee's proposal in the report.

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

Paula Örn (S)

Madam Speaker! Thank you to the member for a very important and well-formulated speech!

You raise incredibly important questions regarding children's opportunities to develop into free, critically thinking individuals with healthy democratic values. I am myself a mother of girls, one aged 14 and one aged 16, and the thoughts you raise also occupy much of my daily life and, I believe, the daily lives of most parents.

When I hear the problems that the member highlights, brings up and wants to address, I would like to ask if one should not now take the steps that we want to take and ban the religious independent schools entirely. There are alarm reports from Säpo and others about the risk of radicalization in Muslim independent schools. One school was closed but later received its permit back. We also see major problems in Christian independent schools, where there are testimonies of problems for students to be freely allowed to do exactly all the things that the member highlights.

Could it not simply be time to move forward with a ban on religious independent schools? It could be that the school is trying to reach a parent or a guardian because one thinks there is, for example, a destructive culture, and the guardian then simply moves their child now to a religious independent school where they can supposedly freely install the values the guardian wants.

Does the member think it is a problem? Should we ban religious independent schools?

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

Noria Manouchi (M)

Madam Speaker! Thank you very much, Paula Örn, both for the compliment and for the question!

The proposals that we are now moving forward with regarding confessional independent schools are about expanding the scrutiny and control. We are placing greater demands on our authorities to conduct unannounced visits.

Previously, it has been very special. For several years, we in this chamber have had debates about the Schools Inspectorate's ability to conduct unannounced visits. The Moderate parliamentary group, together with several other bourgeois parties, has been very eager to strengthen the authority's ability to conduct unannounced visits, but there the Social Democrats have always been an obstacle.

Now we will ensure that unannounced visits can be made both to confessional primary schools and to other schools where a certain problematic issue is noted, for example extremism. That is one thing.

The second proposal we are looking at is the possibility of reclaiming the school funding from the types of schools that have used the school funding incorrectly. One example from the previous parliamentary term concerned a religious, or confessional, independent school that used the money for completely different things than school activities. The Moderates, together with a couple of other parties, submitted a committee initiative stating that it should be possible to reclaim the school funding, but the Social Democrats said no to that. Is it possible that Paula Örn has had her party group change their minds on that issue?

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

Paula Örn (S)

Madam Speaker! It is of course good with inspections, controls and rules. This seems to be the answer from the government parties every time we raise the problems caused by profit-driven operations, and also now when we talk about the difficulties with the confessional schools.

However, I mean that it is not possible to inspect away these problems. One will never be able to build such a gigantic inspection apparatus as would be required for what you paint for both regarding this issue and regarding all the other issues. It could be about incorrect grades being set or about the school being marketed with false marketing. All of this is to be inspected away by a bureaucratic colossus in your world.

One also risks increasing the administrative burden that we all want to reduce when one introduces these rules on how schools should report different things to inspecting authorities.

When it comes to the confessional free schools, we agree that the school is not the place for this. It is the family, or the home, that is the place to develop the religious orientation that one wants to live their life by. It is a significantly simpler measure to simply ban the confessional free schools. I think it is unfortunate that the member and her party do not see that this is what would need to be done.

(Applause)

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

Noria Manouchi (M)

Madam Speaker! This debate can, of course, be about to what extent one wants to act against schools or operations that commit irregularities. Fundamentally, I believe we are in complete agreement that actors who commit irregularities and, for example, use school funds in an incorrect way should not be allowed to do so.

The problem is only that you vote no to the proposals when we try to act against it. During the last parliamentary term, it was reported – the entire Swedish people could read about it in the daily newspapers – about a confessional free school where the owner used the school funding to finance an Islamist party in, I believe, Somalia. The school funding has also been used for porn clubs in Thailand. The Moderates acted quickly and consistently with proposals to make it possible to reclaim these funds and ensure that Swedish tax money comes back to Sweden, to the students, and to the school activities, but the Social Democrats voted no to this.

I must still say that it becomes a bit thin, Madam Speaker, when it comes to the Social Democrats' ambitions to address this type of issue. It seems to be about consistently saying no to all variants of independent schools.

I am not against free schools and I do not want to ban them. What I do want, however, is to reach those who commit irregularities. I think we should be able to agree on this, but since it is a principled and ideological issue for the Social Democrats to be against everything that leads to more choice for the students, I understand that we will not reach an agreement here today.

(Applause)

(THIRD DEPUTY SPEAKER: I humbly remind the members that all members always speak through the Speaker and not directly to each other with "you" and "you".)

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

Jörgen Grubb (SD)

Madam Speaker! For the sake of time, I move for approval only of the Sweden Democrats' reservation 10, which concerns a mobile-free school.

As everyone knows, the Swedish school is not at the same high level as it was a few decades ago. Today we are struggling with completely new phenomena that we then – I was there at that time – did not believe were possible. One of the problems we have received with the uncontrolled mass immigration is the honor problems. There has been some talk about it today, and I want to reinforce this.

Already from preschool, there is a widespread honor issue that creates conflicts and segregation in the students' everyday lives. In my hometown - in the social democratic Malmö - an independent review of the city's preschools was recently conducted with astonishing results. Children of different genders are not allowed to play with each other. Girls are not allowed to wear short sleeves or short trousers despite the summer heat. There are boys who say that they want to rule over female staff and that they do not need to listen to them just because they are women. There are siblings who rule and control each other.

But the preschools in Malmö make almost no reports linked to honor oppression, even though they are required to do so by law. Last year, only one report was made from a preschool. One reason for this is that the staff simply do not dare - the employees are afraid of the threat from guardians and relatives. The staff are afraid that the child will be harmed if they bring up sensitive matters with the parents. Staff and management experience great difficulties in meetings with parents when there is concern regarding honor issues. Furthermore, the staff themselves may uphold honor norms towards the children at the preschool, because they themselves live in an honor context.

To this, Madam Speaker, we can add that every fifth ninth-grader in Malmö lives under honor oppression, which a completely different study shows. It has been this way for a longer period. Despite the Social Democratic government, through its officials, having promised to take measures, and despite that we have heard from the rostrum in here how important this is, nothing has improved. It is only words.

Now, the new government basis has given Skolverket a mandate for systematic work within the area of honor issues, which is very good. The Sweden Democrats want to go a bit further and believe that we must proceed with a nationwide mapping of honor oppression and the Islamization in the Swedish school system. These problems are so serious and extensive that nothing must be missed. The Sweden Democrats' goal is that the Swedish school shall once again be free from honor oppression and Islamization.

Madam Speaker! Too many students experience mental ill-health. Here, we want to see targeted educational initiatives for the students in the form of various evidence-based programs - there are quite a few such programs - that are suitable for the purpose. The aim is to increase knowledge and understanding of one's own potential ill-health and the ill-health of others. We believe that education is a way forward.

Another measure to reduce ill health and stress is to put away one's mobile phone for a while and avoid social media during the school day. Here, we believe that the norm should be a mobile-free school up to and including grade 9. Today, the norm is that one is allowed to have a mobile in school, but that the principal can decide otherwise.

As everyone surely knows, many students have quite significant problems with reading and writing. In this regard, Sweden has sunk like a stone compared to other countries. Pleasantly enough, the government base has noticed this and has introduced a support for the purchase of physical textbooks, which has been much appreciated by those who have applied for it. Skolverket has also been tasked to carry out measures to strengthen children's and students' development in language, reading, writing, and mathematics.

To further strengthen the Swedish language, the Sweden Democrats want that it be considered to remove Swedish as a second language. All students should be met with the same high expectations. The reality of continued studies or work requires good competence, and in that case, it is not good that this segregation has been made beforehand.

Madam Speaker! The mother tongue instruction, which was expanded between 1966-1977 through certain reforms, was for the children of labor migrants, who at that time constituted approximately 5 percent of the students in the Swedish school. These wanted to become and also became a part of Swedish society, and some larger language problems in Swedish did not exist at that time. Today, the situation is completely different. The mass immigration, primarily from countries with low education levels, has definitely changed the Swedish school. In addition to discipline problems, poor knowledge of the Swedish language is a huge problem.

Many here are talking about more money for the school. Today, a third of all students have a right to mother tongue instruction. It costs a lot of money, about 2.4 billion kronor, which is more than the 2 billion it is claimed that the independent schools make in profit. Today's mother tongue instruction also has many problems, such as a low proportion of qualified teachers, 40-50 percent, and free grades in modern languages to the students as they in most cases unfortunately automatically receive the highest grade. There is also a strikingly large amount of "free learning materials" containing propaganda from Islamist and other dictatorships.

Now the signal to all students must be that it is good knowledge of the Swedish language that counts in order to get a good education and a good job. If one then has time left over, one is welcome to learn one's mother tongue on one's own initiative.

In conclusion, Madam Speaker: The uncontrolled mass immigration has had an enormous negative impact on the entire Swedish school system. It is therefore completely incomprehensible to me that there are still parties that want to continue on this path.

(Applause)

(cont. § 12)

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