Upper secondary school

Fredrik Malm (L)

Mr. Speaker! We now have to debate the upper secondary school. There are various motions that have been submitted during the general motion period in the autumn, which the committee has since reported on.

Not so long ago, actually just a few weeks ago, Sweden's ninth graders made their choices for upper secondary school. It is in upper secondary school that they will have chosen a direction and spend a significant part of their youth and adolescence. Upper secondary school is a very important part of the Swedish school system. We must ensure that the upper secondary school that every new cohort encounters is a little better for them than it was for those who came the year before and the year before that.

Mr. Speaker! Unfortunately, today we see nothing less than a knowledge collapse in Sweden. Last year's results in the PISA study were catastrophic. It was the largest drop in knowledge levels regarding reading and mathematics since the bottom year of 2012. Approximately 15 percent of all those who today complete primary school lack the eligibility to attend a national program in upper secondary school. Furthermore, those figures have been at these levels for many years.

Mr. Speaker! The solution to this challenge is not to lower the requirements or to remove the grades. The solution is to raise the ambitions in primary school, increase the efforts for theoretical basic knowledge, increase study time and ensure peace and quiet in school and, among other things, implement support measures earlier for the children who need it.

Children and young people are also spending more and more time at screens and tablets and less and less in front of books and folders. This has also contributed to the worsened reading proficiency. It is clear and directly tragic that we have become a nation of education where fewer can read and a country built by engineers where fewer can calculate properly. Less screen time in school and more order and structure in school are extremely important issues to reverse the development in Swedish school and Swedish upper secondary school. A high-quality upper secondary school gives all students a chance to develop and opens new paths in life.

Mr. Speaker! In upper secondary school, one is expected to manage more advanced tasks, and personal responsibility increases. One is prepared for higher studies or for working life. Many students have come to Sweden in recent years. They need to quickly learn Swedish through, for example, language introduction in order to then be able to study a national upper secondary program. Other measures must, of course, also be taken so that as many as possible can learn the Swedish language as quickly as possible and be better able to integrate into society.

Mr. Speaker! Secondary school is a very broad area. This means that not everything is covered in the speeches. It is governed a bit more by which motions are treated in the committee report.

I am going to reflect a bit on an area. It concerns the practical programs in upper secondary school, the vocational programs. They are just as important as the theoretical programs. But for a long time in Sweden, there has been an attitude that the theoretical educations are a bit finer and a bit more important than the practical educations.

We have also seen that the application pressure has been too low for the vocational programs in upper secondary school. It is actually deplorable. It is unfortunate because we simultaneously see a great need for future vocationally trained labor within a number of industries. Hopefully, the transition to higher education eligibility being the norm for vocational programs can increase the application pressure, but it is nothing that we know yet. It will take additional time before such potential trends can be seen.

Today we see a great need for vocationally trained labor. This concerns both upper secondary vocational competence and post-secondary vocational competence. Skolverket has been tasked with producing regional planning documents to support the principals' planning, dimensioning, and offering of education.

If one wants to increase the proportion of students studying in vocational programs, it naturally involves a changed dimensioning of the upper secondary school programs, how many who should study each program and so on. It is also about making the programs more adapted so that they lead to more students being able to go directly into jobs. That is fundamentally what it is about.

I really hope, Mr. Speaker, that more young people choose the vocational programs. At the same time, I believe there are several other factors than dimensioning that affect the choices, for example, young people's attitudes, which have changed over time, and an ever-widening middle class throughout the Western world – a process that has been ongoing for decades. It is also about the quality and accessibility of vocational education. If one, for example, has to travel very far to study a vocational program, the interest in applying for it may decrease.

Furthermore, Mr. Speaker, those who are studying in upper secondary school today will be on the labor market well into the 2070s. During that time, the labor market will obviously change a lot, and individuals change as well. People change jobs and industries, take a new path in life, make new choices, move, and so on.

We must not end up in a situation where we stare blindly at certain abilities or where we dimension the education too narrowly based on short-term labor market forecasts. There are other values as well, I want to say as a Liberal – enlightenment, education, learning, and so on.

Other parts of the education system are also at least as important when it comes to vocational competence. This concerns, among other things, the university college (yrkeshögskolan), which targets older people or, to put it more correctly, people who are older than those attending upper secondary school. We also have the transition study support (omställningsstudiestödet), adult education, lifelong learning, and so on. It is extremely important so that we can, on the one hand, give individuals the opportunity for retraining and new skills, and on the other hand, be able to match the needs of the labor market better.

In conclusion, Mr. Speaker, it is very important with earlier interventions. If primary school fails in its educational mission, the quality of upper secondary school deteriorates, and if upper secondary school does not fulfill its educational mission, the quality and level of education at our universities and colleges deteriorate. We need more engineers in Sweden. That journey does not begin in upper secondary school, but it begins much earlier in the school system.

With this, I vote in favor of the committee's proposal.

(Applause)

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

Linus Sköld (S)

Mr. Speaker! Fredrik Malm says in his speech that it is deeply problematic that the application pressure to the vocational programs has gone down, i.e., that the demand for vocational education is too low among our high school applicants. Then the question immediately arises for me: What does Fredrik Malm intend to do about this?

He rattled off things that have been done, namely reintroducing the eligibility for higher education, but the application pressure to the vocational programs plummeted after the previous liberal Minister of Education abolished the eligibility for higher education in the vocational programs. There is a very clear threshold when the application pressure in the vocational programs began to fall and the reform was made.

Then we proposed that the higher education eligibility should be reintroduced in 2018, but that proposal was voted down by Fredrik Malm and his friends on that side. Then we proposed it again in 2022. Then Fredrik Malm voted no, but enough of his friends voted yes for it to pass.

So now we have higher education eligibility as the norm in the vocational programs again, which will increase the application pressure to these programs - be so sure! This is however in no way the merit of Fredrik Malm or the Liberals, for they have voted no every single time they have had the chance.

Fredrik Malm mentioned dimensioning and planning and also a better design in accordance with the labor market's needs. Such a reform was also voted through in this chamber in 2022, but Fredrik Malm and his party colleagues voted against it. The question that remains and which echoes in this chamber is: What do the Liberals want to do to strengthen the attractiveness of the vocational programs?

(Applause)

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

Fredrik Malm (L)

Mr. Speaker! Svenskt Näringsliv conducted an analysis about two years ago, if I remember correctly, based on labor market forecasts and what competence needs their members, i.e., the companies, perceived they would have moving forward. The assessment and conclusion was that fundamentally, four out of ten high school students in every year group need to study a vocational program in high school, but today it is a little more than 30 percent who do so. It is too few, at least to meet the needs that Swedish companies have of hiring people.

When it comes to the question of eligibility for higher education, when one listens to the Social Democrats, one might believe that it is some kind of miracle cure to solve this. I am not as sure about that, Mr. Speaker, and that is what I am reasoning about. I believe, in fact, in the somewhat old-fashioned notion that one can reason a bit, have two thoughts in one's head at the same time, and not be completely certain in every single situation.

There is, in fact, a subject in this context, and it is the young people who are to choose a high school program. They are not always super interested in choosing a certain program just because politicians consider that they should. That is why I mean that the dimensioning was needed. It is clear that it is so. We see the problems, but it is not necessarily the case that just that change will become the super-course that some seem to believe.

The Liberals stand behind what currently applies, and we have no intention of changing the order that has now been established.

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

Linus Sköld (S)

Mr. Speaker! Thank you, Fredrik Malm, for the assurance that you do not intend to change the order - I find that reassuring. But do not take the credit for reforms that you yourself have sat in the chamber and voted against! I find that cheeky.

The third point that Fredrik Malm raised regarding the attractiveness of the vocational programs is the attitudes, and there he spoke about young people as subjects. It was precisely young people as subjects who caused the application pressure to fall when the higher education eligibility was removed from the vocational programs, because young people understand that it leads to more options if one has higher education eligibility with them. That was why the application pressure dropped when this possibility was removed.

Fredrik Malm's only idea to increase the attractiveness of vocational education is to introduce two-year vocational programs that no employer requests and which will lead to dead ends. They will not be attractive to choose for young people who understand that one needs many options when graduating from upper secondary school. The more options one has, the stronger position one will have on the labor market. Young people as subjects understand this.

This way of viewing the opportunities of children and young people affects their attitudes toward vocational education. Fredrik Malm needs to take responsibility for these attitudes.

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

Fredrik Malm (L)

Mr. Speaker! To begin with, I have not taken credit for anything. I have said that I, as I believe we all do, hope that the very fact that higher education eligibility will now also become the norm for the vocational programs will lead to more people applying for these programs. It is certainly very good if more people do so.

After that, Mr. Speaker, I problematized the issue somewhat in my speech, which can be read in the minutes later, for the question is not, I mean, so binary or black or white as Linus Sköld and the Socialdemokrater want to make it.

If we are now to speak about responsibility: the Social Democrats are not just called the Social Democrats, they are called the Social Democratic Workers' Party. One calls oneself a workers' party, but one has systematically, during the post-war period and over decades, disparaged practical vocational skills. One has contributed enormously, I believe, to the image that the vocational programs are not as important as the theoretical programs. I truly regret that.

Everyone, Mr. Speaker, does not want to become an academic. Not everyone can become one either. Above all, not everyone should become one, because then this society will completely collapse.

The Social Democrats have a great responsibility for both the status of teachers and the Swedish school having fallen, as well as the learning outcomes, but especially for having contributed to a deprioritization and a devaluation of the vocational programs in Swedish upper secondary school. It is that development we must now reverse.

(Applause)

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

Linus Sköld (S)

Mr. Speaker! Today we are dealing with a number of motions regarding upper secondary school. Upper secondary school is crucial for the individual's opportunity for personal development and advancement, for the individual's opportunity to enter the labor market, and for the supply of skills in the business sector and the public sector.

We need to get measures in place that ensure all students enter upper secondary school and that all students also complete upper secondary school. We cannot afford to continue to exclude growing generations of young people from further studies and a direct path to the labor market. It is therefore that we Social Democrats have landed on the position that a compulsory upper secondary school would be a desirable way forward - an extended compulsory education until the age of 18.

During our years in power, we made large and important reforms to improve upper secondary school and to deal with some of the problems that the Liberals caused, finally heading the Ministry of Education. We reintroduced the eligibility for higher education in the vocational programs. We got the reform through to introduce subject grades in a subject-oriented upper secondary school. We started the experiment with industry schools and built vocational packages that can be used in the introductory programs to strengthen vocational education. We pushed through the reform on how upper secondary education should be planned and dimensioned to better meet the needs of the labor market.

It is our view that the government came to a set table and could have proceeded with reinforcements of these reforms. The range of vocational packages could have been broadened. The regulation of the vocational schools could have been adjusted so that the effort could be made permanent. Not least, the next step could have been taken for a more purposeful planning and dimensioning of upper secondary educations.

The government did none of this. Rather, it tore down the set table. The only ambition we have seen so far is to introduce two-year vocational programs that no one is requesting and to kill the attempt with vocational schools without having any solution of its own on how to succeed with the skills supply in narrow industries.

Mr. Speaker! The upper secondary school is not only a competence supply machine but also an educational institution. Art and aesthetics are not just decoration and something beautiful but also pathways to knowledge and education. Everyone should have access to aesthetic expressions and impressions.

Just as with the higher education eligibility on the vocational programs, the right-wing parties voted down our proposal to reintroduce an aesthetic subject in all national programs. In the same breath as they abolished the higher education eligibility on the vocational programs, the same liberal education minister abolished the aesthetic subject in upper secondary school. In the same reform package as the higher education eligibility – which was voted down – lay the proposal to reintroduce an aesthetic subject, which was consequently also voted down.

We Social Democrats still stand for the view that upper secondary school should be an educational institution and that aesthetic expressions and impressions are part of being educated. Therefore, an aesthetic subject should be included in the national curricula.

In summary, Mr. Speaker: More people must enter upper secondary school. More people must get through upper secondary school. It is important for the individual, who can then get a job, but it is also an important partial solution to the labor shortage. Upper secondary school should be made compulsory and the school obligation extended. A socioeconomic weighting of the resources to the upper secondary school should be introduced. It is completely lacking today. The capacity of the upper secondary school, both as an educational institution and as a competence supply institution, needs to be strengthened.

We stand behind all our reservations in the report, but for the sake of time, I move for approval of only reservation number 1.

(Applause)

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

Oliver Rosengren (M)

Mr. Speaker! A high school education is the best insurance against unemployment and social exclusion. Sweden has the lowest growth in the EU. We must change that. At the same time as the economy is currently in a recession and unemployment is increasing, there are many vacant jobs.

The labor market's matching problem is primarily about the fact that the unemployed – including the long-term unemployed – lack education and sufficient language skills, but it is also about the fact that the education does not match the labor market's needs. Tax money should, of course, not be used to educate for unemployment.

Employers' demand for vocational skills at the upper secondary level has increased sharply over the last decade. In several industries, it has doubled. It is therefore significant that Sweden now has perhaps the most vocational education-oriented government ever.

Today's debate is not about education for adults. Therefore, we shall not discuss how vocational training for adults is now being expanded with a whole Alvesta, my and the Speaker's neighboring municipality. We shall not discuss the 16,500 new state-funded places in vocational adult education or the 3,000 new places at the university college already next year. We shall instead, Mr. Speaker, discuss what is somewhat sloppily called upper secondary vocational college and which is now to be implemented as a pilot to handle problems with shortage occupations where it is difficult to achieve a sufficiently large volume locally. This partially meets the left-wing opposition's demand for a handling of the issue regarding trade schools. More measures shall be presented by an inquiry by November at the latest. I assume that the left-wing opposition is aware of this.

Mr. Speaker! The upper secondary school needs a proper all-inclusive reform. The Tidö Agreement lays a hopeful foundation for it. Right now, a two-year vocational school is being investigated as a third track in upper secondary school, without requirements for upper secondary school eligibility, which would provide a fast track to jobs rather than either an education for higher education eligibility or, in the worst case, no education at all and a fast track to unemployment.

Vocational school should be open to everyone but is, of course, particularly aimed at students whose alternative is not a three-year, upper secondary preparatory program but rather not attending upper secondary school at all. Vocational school can, in addition to that, completely or partially replace the moderately successful introductory programs.

The recruitment of vocational programs and the eligibility for higher education was a heated debate for a long time, which some have touched upon here today. In one corner of the ring stood those who argued that students chose vocational programs because their parents advised against it, since higher education eligibility was not the standard. In the other corner stood those who perhaps rather argued that the vocational programs were too similar to the higher education preparatory programs and contained too much theory.

That time, the former group won. The vocational programs were granted eligibility for higher education as standard. The result was that those who study in a vocational program study more than those who attend a higher education preparatory program. This still warrants evaluation.

The vocational school reform, which we are now preparing, means that one no longer needs to choose between the two alternatives. There will be, in a clear way, a track with vocational programs that provide eligibility for higher education, which does not need to scare those parents who might have a slightly poor grasp of the labor market's actual demand or how the Swedish transition system looks. Furthermore, there will be a track with a vocational school that prepares directly for work and which can get more people to obtain a high school education. Why should one actually choose when one can have both, Mr. Speaker?

Now, the Social Democratic member Linus Sköld will perhaps request the floor and repeat his accusations against my Liberal colleague Fredrik Malm that it is cheeky to appreciate reforms or decisions that one has at some point voted against.

Mr. Speaker! This is not a defense debate. Therefore, we should not talk about how cheeky Linus Sköld must think that his own party leader's debate article in DN is that one suddenly is very pro-NATO. It is something that we can imagine that one did not directly embrace quite recently. That, in that case, could also be cheeky.

Maybe it can be that one changes one's mind? Maybe one realizes that something that someone else at some point has thought of is not so bad, but can become good? That we both have higher education eligibility as standard in the regular vocational programs and are now very close to a Natomedlemskap is exactly those kinds of good things, I think.

Vocational school will equip more against exclusion. The Institute for Labour Market and Education Policy Evaluation has also shown that not only does completing upper secondary school have positive effects for equipping against unemployment and crime. In some cases, it can actually be enough to attend upper secondary school, because one is in a meaningful place and in a good community.

Vocational training is necessary to strengthen the work line. Furthermore, we lower taxes, tighten benefits, raise requirements for the unemployed, sharpen the control of activity and benefits, and also invest in the right support for the unemployed and for young people so that they avoid starting their adult lives in unemployment.

I vote in favor of the committee's proposal.

(Applause)

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

Linus Sköld (S)

Mr. Speaker! I cannot resist requesting a reply when Oliver Rosengren calls this government the most vocational training-friendly government of all time, or something to that effect.

It actually started with major cuts to the opportunities to study at yrkesvux. The nominal additions that have been made in the budget for the current year do not even cover the cuts that were made the year before, if one considers inflation.

This concerns adult education, and we would not debate that, according to Oliver Rosengren. He did it anyway. Therefore, I took the liberty of responding to it.

You also failed the attempt with vocational schools without having a solution in place for the skill supply of sheet metal workers or distribution electricians. How does Oliver Rosengren intend to solve that?

You make these types of changes and then realize – damn it – that it turned out poorly. Then you have ruined the continuity. It was done in the supplementary budget last year. A lot of money was taken away from vux and then a little bit was put back in the supplementary budget. But then it creates a jerkiness. Those who are to carry out the educations cannot plan. And then Oliver Rosengren cannot stand here and say that he represents the most profession-oriented government base of all time.

Finally, Oliver Rosengren says that it may be sufficient to have completed a high school education. I take that as a statement that Oliver Rosengren supports our idea of compulsory high school.

(Applause)

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

Oliver Rosengren (M)

Mr. Speaker! Thank you very much for the questions, Linus Sköld!

When it comes to the expansion of vocational training for adults, 16,500 places are added to the existing places, providing 81,500 places already this year. And to the university college, 3,000 places are added this year and next year and 7,000 the year after, which gives almost 50,000 places in total. This will mean that the vocational training system for adults is larger than ever.

The inflation calculation that you made, the Social Democrats should be glad that it is not applied to all areas. If it were, none of your other comparisons would hold up.

What you are comparing it with is an individual peak during a pandemic year when the Social Democratic government added substantial resources to the vocational education system. It was wise and balanced to do so, but it cannot be used as a reference year for the total vocational adult education level over time.

The decisive problem regarding vocational training for adults is that the average utilization rate for the state grants for vocational adult education has been 68 percent since 2017. This means that every third allocated place via state grants has not been used. This is due to the Social Democrats having strongly opposed, for example, setting requirements that unemployed people without education must educate themselves in order to enter employment.

It is things that are being addressed by the government we have now. We should be happy about that. It will, in fact, mean that people will not have to struggle for a long time in unemployment without education, but can be strengthened with education that can take them into the labor market and make them self-sufficient.

Now, this is a debate about what we should do so that young people, through education, will avoid unemployment. We do this through a number of different reforms. You did not ask about them. I hope that we can talk about them as well.

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

Linus Sköld (S)

Mr. Speaker! Thank you for the answer, Oliver Rosengren!

The additional 16,500 places in adult education is compared to the government's own development announcement from the previous budget. It is compared to the plan, the cut that was in the plan, in the budget for 2023. Compared to that, you are expanding.

Oliver Rosengren says that it is about a single pandemic peak. When Stefan Löfven took office as Prime Minister in 2014, the Social Democratic-led government started what we called Kunskapslyftet 2. We progressively expanded educational places for adults in the forms of komvux, yrkeshögskola, folkbildning, and akademi. 164,000 more educational places when we left government power than when we took office cannot be called a pandemic peak.

It was a structured work. We did reinforce it, however, as a reaction to the pandemic, so that people who were laid off or furloughed would have the opportunity to educate themselves. Oliver Rosengren stands and nods at me.

We are heading into a recession. We have rising unemployment. What is this government doing? You are reducing the number of educational places. Is that wise economic policy, Oliver Rosengren?

When it comes to youth education, Oliver Rosengren did not respond with a single word to my observation that he must attend a compulsory upper secondary school. Should I take that as a confirmation that he is doing so?

(Applause)

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

Oliver Rosengren (M)

Mr. Speaker! I may take the opportunity to remind Member Linus Sköld that in the Social Democratic government's plan for the years after the pandemic, there was also a reduction in the number of places in vocational adult education, for the simple reason that it was recognized that particularly many resources were added during the pandemic. That is not strange. I did not criticize that, but rather that, as a reference year for a comparison of what the vocational adult education expansion looks like today, one chooses a single year with strongly increased levels compared to all surrounding years. It does not become entirely fair.

It is not true that vocational training for adults is decreasing. On the contrary, it is increasing this year by a whole Alvesta. That is good, not only for Alvesta, which will serve as an example in the Riksdag's plenary sessions, but also because many unemployed people will now be able to train for work.

The committee members asked about compulsory upper secondary school. What I argued for was the "everyone-must-participate" reform that vocational school entails, that is, that one offers an open, third track in upper secondary school for those who do not have upper secondary school eligibility. It is a great sorrow that many young people leave primary school without eligibility for upper secondary school, wander around in introductory programs and are thereafter expected to be able to get into a national program where they risk failure.

Young people who are already at risk of ending up in a difficult situation do not need more failures. They need a sense of success and to be strengthened in school. Vocational school can fulfill such a function in a very accurate way by quickly equipping them for the labor market. In two years, they can enter a job, contribute to Swedish growth and their own future, and stand on their own feet with their own livelihood. It is one of several core missions for the upper secondary school.

(Applause)

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

Patrick Reslow (SD)

Mr. Speaker! Let me first move to approve reservation 8.

Today we are debating 57 motions from the general motion period. The matter also contains a large number of motions with simplified preparation. Simplified preparation means that the motions as recently as last year were processed, debated, and decided upon in the chamber, but have returned – and in that case, they are not included among the 57 motions that we are de facto debating, but in a separate appendix.

A few weeks ago, I and surely many of my colleagues here in the Riksdag participated in the project where we conduct school visits in the constituency. It was very pleasant to be out and meet high school students. I would like to send a greeting to the high schools Gripen, Borgarskolan, and Citadellsgymnasiet in Malmö that I visited. It was particularly interesting to see the curiosity and engagement of the high school students. They asked questions and wanted to learn more about the Riksdag's work and about democracy, and they also asked some political questions even though that was not intended. I think it is good that one engages in political issues in high school. Many thanks to you for the warm reception!

The upper secondary school is important and holds a key position in the Swedish education system. But it is also a vulnerable position. One must deliver both to the universities and colleges, and to the working life, and is also completely dependent on what comes out of primary and lower secondary school in the form of prior knowledge – that is, things one cannot influence oneself. Three years is quite a short time, and if one then has many deficiencies to work with, it becomes very heavy. We can still say that it is going quite well for the Swedish upper secondary school. If we compare like with like, we actually belong at the top of the world. I think that is worth mentioning. Sometimes – perhaps far too many times – we paint everything in black. We must also highlight the positive.

It is important that upper secondary school never changes into a repair shop for lacking prior knowledge. It should not be the case that one enters upper secondary school with lacking prior knowledge and begins by repeating what one should have gone through in primary and lower secondary school. For that very reason, it is pleasing to see that, for example, the subject mathematics, where many students have problems with the first courses 1a, 1b, and 1c, since January 2022 no longer contains repetition of knowledge at the basic level. I think that is very good. The grade outcome has not been positive, but it is the principle that is important and not what outcome one gets. It is important that in all subjects it is assumed that the students have a certain knowledge with them and that it is from those prior skills that one should also begin teaching in upper secondary school.

The upper secondary school's higher education preparatory programs shall be characterized by very high expectations and a very high pace of study. Upper secondary school is not an extended primary school and shall never be that. In these programs, students shall be prepared for studies at colleges and universities.

Educational institutions must be able to rely on the fact that the future students have sufficient knowledge to also manage university studies in a timely manner. Should we introduce a compulsory upper secondary school, I am quite sure it would become an extension of primary and secondary school instead of linking the upper secondary school more closely to higher education. Therefore, it is important that the clear boundary between primary and secondary school exists.

The vocational programs must be designed in close cooperation with the business sector and be oriented towards the needs that the labor market has in the short and long term. This places great demands on the educations to keep up with the pace of development.

A major problem in upper secondary school has been that far too few students have chosen the vocational programs. This has been discussed here before. There are several reasons. One such reason is the parents' often incorrect perception of what a modern vocational education is. They imagine that one is trained for an old industry, but that is not the case. We who meet representatives for the vocational educations are made very clear that they are very modern. It is something completely different from how it looked in the 70s, but it does not always go down well at home.

Another problem is the constant focus on all students should study at universities and colleges. The political signals must change if we are to be able to educate skilled individuals for our future industry. It has not been favorable to send the signal that everyone should become academics.

Students' right to get into their first choice governs the admission processes in a number of municipalities. The social sciences program is swelling despite the fact that many students who get in lack the prerequisites and sometimes even the ability to study in a higher education preparatory program. Here we must be much stricter with the dimensioning of the supply and ensure that it becomes significantly better.

We are skeptical of the sizing proposal that was passed. It is almost planned-economy-like, extremely bureaucratic, and very narrow regarding the time aspect. One looks five years ahead, but the needs might be completely different if one looks ten years ahead. Then you lock yourself in. You also lock yourself in regional plans, and that is probably not good for the country as a whole. Therefore, we voted against it. I have no memory of the Liberals voting against this sizing, but we did. I mention that as a clarification to Linus Sköld.

We would very much like to see that greater weight is placed on the school principals taking greater responsibility so as not to expand the higher education preparatory programs based on the number of applicants. We have also stated in our reservation that we consider it to be a major problem. The only reason we did not stand behind the bill was actually that local politics is still practiced when it comes to starting upper secondary schools. We do not believe it is a good model that every small municipality in Sweden should have its own upper secondary school. Competition for places is good. It benefits knowledge development and, in combination with strengthened study and career guidance in primary school, we believe it would be a better way to go.

Swedish schools must also to a greater extent stimulate and appeal to students who are high-performing. For a small, export-dependent country like Sweden, it is important to be able to retain competence in the country. Many times these students have to wait for the other students, and the individual adaptations that exist are not good enough. Sweden has for far too long had a focus on the broad student base and on students who have difficulty keeping up. All too little focus has thus been directed towards high-performing students.

The previous government chose not to make the elite classes permanent or even provide notice as to whether the pilot project would continue. It was regrettable, but now the Sweden Democrats and the government are ensuring that this happens. Necessary changes to the Education Act will be made to make the elite classes permanent and to develop them.

The Sweden Democrats also want to see a modern and new form of apprenticeship employment to meet companies' needs for skilled workers. We are, of course, dissatisfied that Skolverket did not propose a radical change of the apprenticeship training in the assignment it had and which was reported almost three years ago. Instead of tweaking the current systems, one should turn their gaze towards Denmark and Germany, where successful apprenticeship trainings are conducted.

We know that far too many students leave primary school without eligibility for national programs. For some, it is minor supplements that are needed, perhaps in one or two subjects in which they lack eligibility, while for others, significantly greater efforts are required. Currently, negotiations are ongoing between Sverigedemokraterna and the government parties regarding the introduction of a vocational school to meet the needs of these students. It shall be a third track, as we have heard, to the upper secondary school for those students who primarily do not have eligibility for a national program. We believe that this is a good way, significantly better than all proposals to, for example, abolish the F-limit and make upper secondary school compulsory.

The Sweden Democrats and the government parties are also reviewing grading criteria and grading systems, not least against the background that grade inflation is palpable. When educational institutions report that prior knowledge does not correspond with the grades obtained, we must take it seriously. It is important that upper secondary schools resist parental pressure and also student pressure when it comes to assigning grades, and that the schools set grades that correspond to the knowledge set out in the subject plans. I hope and believe that we will reach a solution that at least improves the situation. I do not, however, have any utopian thoughts that this will become completely perfect, because we have had this discussion since the 70s.

In conclusion, Mr. Speaker, I would like to advocate for one of our motions. It deals with drug testing in schools. It is serious that drug use has taken hold in our country and that, for example, the use of cannabis is common among students in upper secondary school. Drug tests in schools should be carried out immediately upon suspicion of drug influence. In that way, we ensure that schools are drug-free and create a positive group pressure as to why drugs should not be used.

(Applause)

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

Linus Sköld (S)

Mr. Speaker and Patrick Reslow! I intended to speak for a moment about the Swedish labor market model, which delivers and functions well. But a prerequisite for the Swedish labor market model to function well is that those who are actors within it, that is, employers and employees, understand how it works. For that reason, the subject Social Studies, a common upper secondary school subject studied by everyone who attends a national program, contained the following core content: the labor market, labor law, the work environment, the labor market's parties and their different roles and significance for social development, as well as the impact of digitalization on the labor market.

As I mentioned in my speech, we voted through a major reform of the upper secondary school which meant that it would become subject-based and that grades would be set in subjects instead of courses. In December, the government made a decision on the curriculum for social studies. What happened then to this wording, which pointed out that every student who goes through upper secondary school shall receive knowledge about the labor market, labor law, the work environment and the parties in the labor market? Well, it disappeared from the curriculum for social studies.

Patrick Reslow belongs to a close coalition party of the government and has surely been involved in the preparation of the new curriculum. I therefore wonder if he can account for his view. Does he think that the Swedish labor market model is worth preserving? If so, why does he then think that the growing generation should leave school without knowledge of how the Swedish labor market model works?

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

Patrick Reslow (SD)

Mr. Speaker! I thank Linus Sköld for the question. I can start by saying that we are in complete agreement regarding the subject-oriented upper secondary school and subject grades. We have been in agreement for quite a long time. Initially, people spoke about introducing subject grades in a course-designed upper secondary school. I actually had a discussion with the former Minister for Education on that matter. Subsequently, however, it became the case that we also received a subject design. I think it is very good, because it creates long-term perspective.

In the various subject plans, there is a great deal to be covered, and this also applies to the subject of social studies. Everyone reads the program-common subjects, but it is not the case that one reads in-depth studies all the time. There are things that are more important than others. Today, we have a very large pressure on internationalization and internationalization work. It is about the democratic processes in the form of how the kingdom is governed and how it is governed in relation to other countries.

One can always say that one thing should be included and the other not. Naturally, a trade-off is made regarding what is important. But just because one does not focus on the labor market parties, I do not believe that it will not come up in any teaching. However, there may be other aspects in social studies that are more important than how one sets wages and how one cooperates. Perhaps it is more about a pure business perspective, which we have lacked previously: how the business sector functions, how the business sector can be developed, and how the business sector creates employment and the like in the country. It could also, for example, be about how Sweden should work in relation to the international institutions and organizations that also pave the way for the labor market.

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

Linus Sköld (S)

Mr. Speaker! I note that Patrick Reslow does not think that knowledge of the labor market's parties, labor law and the work environment are important enough for them to remain in the subject of social studies.

I think that one needs to take the individual teenager's perspective. The one who leaves upper secondary school is normally 19 years old. When one is to take their first job on the labor market – perhaps one has already had their first summer job during their studies – one needs to know the importance of workers' organization and one's own rights in the labor market towards the employer, who, after all, holds the power because they hold the wages. That type of information is super important for young people to receive.

Workers' organization is part of the basic democratic process, which Patrick Reslow was touching upon. Freedom of association is a fundamental democratic principle. That the trade unions are based on that principle is important knowledge for the individual teenager who is leaving school and is about to enter the labor market. For those who are going to start their own company and begin hiring people, it is incredibly important to understand what rights one has as an entrepreneur, but also what obligations one has as an entrepreneur.

Patrick Reslow thinks that work life knowledge is so unimportant that one should prioritize the work of international organizations instead. Furthermore, the Sweden Democrats are usually opposed to international multilateral organizations in every way. Why Patrick Reslow would think that is more important than work life knowledge is completely incomprehensible to me. But try again, Patrick Reslow! Maybe you can explain it in a way that I understand.

(Applause)

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

Patrick Reslow (SD)

Mr. Speaker! Now I understand where the shoe pinches, when Linus Sköld mentions trade unions in his second contribution. Linus Sköld's great concern is that young people will now not receive any information about that they should actually join the union and thereby benefit the Social Democratic Party. But I do not see it as the school's task to tell young people that they should join the union.

I also think it is a very strange and disparaging view of high school youth. It is education that we should have. Linus Sköld himself often speaks about the importance of education in school. I assume that an educated person knows what conditions apply when one signs an employment contract. I believe that we have all, in some situation, signed an employment contract, even at a young age. One knows that it is the employer who pays and that it is we as employees who have the obligation to be on site and so on. Organizing oneself in a trade union is not something that is completely unknown to a 19-year-old graduating from high school. If one wants to get involved, one does.

The problem for Linus Sköld is that very many young people do not want to join the union, and that is where the shoe pinches. In that case, one must use the educational institutions to get them to do so. We do not agree with this.

I cannot ask questions to Linus Sköld now, because he does not have any more turns to speak. But there are other large areas where deficiencies have also been pointed out. For example, many people experience that they have too poor knowledge of personal finance. Private law is also not something one learns in school.

This is not something Linus Sköld cares about. But teaching about how students should join the union is more important than anything else. Sometimes it is good to be very clear between the lines.

(Applause)

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Mathias Bengtsson (KD)

Mr. Speaker! Right now, and during the months that have passed and the coming spring months, many thoughts linked to the upper secondary school choice are spinning in the heads of Sweden's ninth graders. In addition to one having to decide, or having decided, what one is going to choose, many around also are very curious - parents, teachers, relatives and friends. We have all, at some point, probably brought up the question of the upper secondary school choice when we have met a ninth grader whom we needed to chat with for a bit.

It is not only the people around them who create stress regarding the high school choice. Even the global situation and the uncertain economic situation can make the choice feel particularly important for the student's future.

One hope I have, Mr. Speaker, is that many choose a vocational program that provides employment, perhaps even the day after graduation. Having a vocational education provides good opportunities for a good job and a stable income, but it also gives confidence and self-esteem to be trained for a profession.

We know that Sweden faces a skills shortage in many industries, not least within industry and crafts. Within these areas, many more jobs could be created. There is great potential for more job opportunities, but unfortunately, too few young people choose to take a vocational program in upper secondary school. That the matching between the labor market and the upper secondary education programs that students choose becomes better is crucial for Sweden's competitiveness and business climate to remain strong moving forward. It therefore clearly needs to be improved.

There are several things that can be mentioned in this context. The study and career counselors are not entirely unimportant in the work of guiding the youth out into the labor market. Sometimes the role of the SYV seems to be perceived as that they should give the student guidance to reach their dream job, regardless of how realistic or unrealistic this is or what the prerequisites or the labor market's needs look like. That is not quite how it should be, but the study counselors must be clear about how it looks on the labor market and which educations actually lead to jobs and let the labor market's needs play a larger role. This could lead the youth more correctly in the choice they are to make.

The needs of the labor market must be the starting point even when it comes to which educations are offered. The dimensioning needs to be guided to a greater extent by what the labor market desires than by what the students desire. I believe that we need to return to this work and continue to refine and polish it for many years to come.

It is also, Mr. Speaker, a problem that many young people do not have any clear perception or perhaps even a mistaken perception of what it means to work, for example, in a workshop or in an industry. Therefore, it is important that through school they get to do work experience and study visits at such workplaces and receive presentations from representatives of different professions. Here, a great responsibility also rests on the industry to be accessible, show themselves, and ensure that they attract young people. Generally speaking, the industry needs to be involved to the greatest extent possible to shape the practical training so that it matches the labor market's needs.

It is also a matter that the educations that the labor market needs are adapted so that students want to apply for them. There need to be educations that focus on vocational skills, where students who are school-weary can, to the greatest extent possible, opt out of the theoretical subjects and the higher education eligibility so that they can manage to complete upper secondary school. But there was also a need for educations for those who can very well imagine going into a vocational program but also want higher education eligibility.

We have touched upon this discussion and balancing act earlier in the debate. One hope from the Kristdemokraterna side is that the change now introduced regarding higher education eligibility as a norm shall mean that more people apply for a vocational program. It is also positive because it reinforces that high expectations become the norm in Swedish schools - I believe that is good.

More people also need to complete upper secondary school. Regardless of which program one chooses, the years and studies in upper secondary school contribute to knowledge and education that one benefits from for one's own personal development.

I would also, in conclusion, Mr. Speaker, like to mention something about the fact that there need to be good paths into the labor market even for those students who do not leave primary school with sufficient grades to obtain eligibility for upper secondary school. This must not become a dead end and a pathway to exclusion, as it has been to an all too great extent. There need to be variants so that one, if one lacks eligibility for upper secondary school, can obtain the education required to enter the labor market.

Completed studies and a job are, in fact, the strongest protective measures available against economic and social exclusion and long-term sick leave. Education is simply, in many ways, crucial for Sweden's future.

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

(Applause)

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Daniel Riazat (V)

Mr. Speaker! We are here today to talk about the committee report concerning upper secondary school. I cannot help but also speak about the fact that the Swedish school has been transformed from a place where all children are to be given equal opportunities and the right to knowledge into a reality show. We are going to sit and talk about an owner who wants to buy up a school – is he allowed to do that? Does the stock market go down or not? Which owners can be expected to allow which company to enter the Swedish school market?

We are no longer talking about the Swedish school in terms of knowledge, competence, future and democracy, but it is about who should be able to enter the Swedish school market, grab our tax money and, at the expense of children, students and staff, worsen Swedish democracy and the Swedish school system.

Mr. Speaker! The Swedish school has become a reality show, and we must highlight this. Some of the reality show's representatives are sitting here in front of me. They told the voters one day that they were against people making money and profits from our tax money for the school, only to change their minds the next day when Svenskt Näringsliv invited them to dinner.

Mr. Speaker! I would like to raise two other issues besides the fact that the market school is tearing apart the Swedish school system. One concerns the pilot project with industry schools, which was established a number of years ago. This was done as a way to strengthen the national competence supply within selected shortage occupations by increasing the attractiveness and availability of vocational training within small vocational areas, where the labor market demand was greater than the supply of the right competence.

Skolverket announced in 2021, following an evaluation, that while there were significantly fewer people applying for these programs than had been imagined, it was also considered incredibly important and valuable to have this type of high-quality education and that this should continue: "Skolverket's overall assessment is therefore that the pilot project, albeit to a limited extent, has contributed to strengthening the national supply of competence." It was thus argued that it should be allowed to continue.

The energy companies, which also want to preserve the vocational schools, have highlighted the importance of access to personnel with the right competence when Sweden transitions.

The climate transition work needs to be accelerated significantly for us to reach our climate goals. We have exceptionally good conditions as a nation to become world leaders in a number of industrial areas, but for this, the right investments need to be made.

Mr. Speaker! According to the estimates available, approximately 30,000 new electricians will be needed in the coming years, but the government stands helpless and has no plan for how this is to be done. Once again, we see how resources for schools are reduced so that the tax for high-income earners can be lowered, and they are dismantling the investment in vocational schools that has existed. There, the Social Democrats, the Green Party, the Centre Party, and the Left Party have a joint reservation today, which I know will later be moved for approval.

Mr. Speaker! In the discussions of recent years regarding deteriorating school results, voices have been raised that students need more time for theoretical studies and that there should therefore be fewer practical-aesthetic subjects in schools. This is at odds with the research that has looked more closely at how music, dance, and other creative expressions increase children's learning ability even in other subjects.

For us, it is important that students get access to good subject teaching in theoretical subjects, but also that students in all upper secondary programs are entitled to aesthetic subjects, and that all teachers are given the conditions to be able to integrate the aesthetic learning processes into their teaching.

This is important for children's development, learning, and well-being. For this to be possible, the right educators with the right education and the right conditions to do their job are also needed. It simply cannot happen when we have a government that only delivers one cut budget after another.

Mr. Speaker! Many testify to too large groups in school and preschool. For the staff to have time to see and support all the children, they argue that the scheduled time today in certain subjects is not enough. It is not sufficient to reach the knowledge goals. The right uses this as an argument to reduce the practical subjects in favor of the theoretical ones. We believe that this is completely wrong.

Mr. Speaker! The changes introduced in connection with the 2011 upper secondary school reform, which resulted in the core subject aesthetic activities being removed, have had negative consequences. In some national programs, it is only a few percent of the students who have taken a course in any of the subjects painting, photographic image, dance, theater, or music.

The sharp decrease in the number of students studying an aesthetic subject in upper secondary school is very unfortunate. Even older adolescents need to develop their creativity to gain more tools for expression. It is a matter of both personal development and increased learning ability, as well as developing skills needed in a future labor market.

Against this background, I would like to move for the approval of the Left Party's, the Social Democrats', and the Green Party's reservation 7, which concerns the fact that aesthetic subjects should be reintroduced in all upper secondary school programs.

In conclusion, I want to say that here from the rostrum, when I look down, I see that representatives for the bourgeoisie are once again being provoked when I bring up the market school and the experiment that Sweden is carrying out on the children in connection with it. But no matter how many Moderates, Sweden Democrats, and other representatives for these groups speak, I will continue to bring this up in the debates, and I will continue to highlight the fact that we live in an extreme society when it comes to the market school.

We are the only country in the world that experiments with children in this way, and we have representatives in the Swedish Riksdag who have direct or indirect connections to these companies and ensure that it continues in this way. We will never accept this. But it is up to the Swedish voters to replace the government to ensure that we get rid of the market schools once and for all.

(Applause)

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

Anders Ådahl (C)

Mr. Speaker! Upper secondary school, the period of upper secondary school – so fragile, so delicate, but at the same time such a formative period in a person's life. For many, upper secondary school is the path into working life. For others, it is a time that prepares for higher education. But for everyone, it is a time that, in large measure, shapes adult life.

For us in Centerpartiet, it is obvious that we must invest in education and learning. Our budget investments in the school area are – as those who have followed the school debates over the past year know – far exceeding those of other parties. The upper secondary school must be developed towards high quality and great equality. This implies a political consequence of prioritization. It is possible to choose to invest in the school or to refrain from doing so.

Centerpartiet is investing in the school. It is from there that we build our society and give our young people a good life now and tomorrow.

It is of the utmost importance that the quality in upper secondary school is good. There, economic resources help very well. But factors other than economics are also decisive. Let us consider one area: equivalence. For the credibility of the entire school system, it is absolutely necessary that the grades awarded in upper secondary school guarantee an equivalence where students applying for higher education do so on comparable grounds.

Grade inflation is a poison that is slowly eroding the entire credibility of upper secondary school. It is not about individual cases and isolated incidents. It spreads epidemically across the entire upper secondary school. But how bad is the situation?

Mr. Speaker! Handelshögskolan in Stockholm announced a short while ago that they no longer trust the grading system. Handelshögskolan in Stockholm has had enough. Therefore, they are now introducing a requirement to have taken the higher education entrance exam with a test result of at least 1.25 in order to be admitted. It is a strong rejection of today's system, where some schools do not respect their mandate but instead give students undue advantages. It is nonsense and fraud! There must be an immediate stop to this injustice which undermines the entire trust in grades as a basis for selection.

Mr. Speaker! Many of our upper secondary education programs are theoretical, but others have a more practical orientation. I would like us today to devote extra attention to programs that are vocationally preparatory. I would first like to say a few words here about a very specific orientation, namely vocational schools.

The industry school model is based on schools across the country partnering with industry schools through state grants, which complement the students' education on a contract basis. In this way, more schools can offer educations that they otherwise cannot provide. The nine industry schools that have entered into the agreement were selected by Skolverket on the basis that they can offer education within shortage occupations.

Vocational schools have been a pilot project that has contributed to an increased supply of vocational training in several places in the country. Despite the successful pilot project, the government chose to phase out the activity. I find it surprising, not least from a government that says it wants to invest in education that leads to jobs.

Skolverkets report on the pilot project with vocational schools pointed out that they have contributed to strengthening the national competence supply within small vocational areas, particularly in occupations with crucial societal functions. Crucial societal functions – is this not of particular importance now when we also have to strengthen our civil defense capability?

Centerpartiet wants, in contrast to the government, to see a continued expansion of vocational schools, among other things to secure the supply of skills for the transition and the construction of a sustainable and crisis-resilient society.

The vocational schools are needed. That is what the unions and employers are clear about, and it is possible to develop the area to get more students to apply for the programs as well as to get more school owners to cooperate with the vocational schools.

Mr. Speaker! More people need to be given the opportunity to attend the upper secondary school's vocational preparatory programs. These programs must exist throughout the country to meet the labor market's demand for competence. More trade schools, as well as the opportunity to study as an apprentice, improve the conditions for providing vocational training also in smaller localities.

I therefore move for approval of reservation 5 and reservation 6.

Mr. Speaker! Let me mention one more proposal from the Center Party. The study and career counselors have an important role for the students' career guidance and choice of studies. The counselors should to a greater extent be a link between school and working life. They shall not only help students choose languages and upper secondary school, but they shall also be involved in the entire school's activities. With a more active study and career guidance, our young people can more easily break norms regarding study and career choices. It would benefit both the country and the individual.

Upper secondary school

More young people and their parents also need to gain an understanding that vocational education is a good choice for the future. Specific information initiatives are needed at the primary, upper secondary, and higher education levels. More active career guidance and contact with the local labor market throughout the entire basic education gives young people knowledge about different career paths and opportunities to make conscious study and vocational choices. Centerpartiet therefore wants to strengthen the student's right to individual and collective guidance and change the designation to career guidance.

Finally, I would like to offer a few words of wisdom in the chamber, delivered by a 16-year-old high school student. He said: Life is such an opportunity that it would be a pity to do as everyone else does.

It is quite thought-provoking.

(Applause)

The deliberation was hereby concluded.

(Decisions were made under § 16.)

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