Teachers and students and the National Audit Office's report on the system for teacher certification

Joar Forssell (L)

Madam Speaker! To paraphrase the Minister for Culture, teachers and students are a very important part of the school – in fact, absolutely crucial.

What happens in the classrooms today determines what Sweden will look like tomorrow, and every individual student's opportunity to determine their own future must be secured. Therefore, it is deplorable that Swedish school finds itself in such a serious situation as it does and has for very many years. Far too many do not complete primary school, and mathematics and reading skills are alarmingly poor. At the same time, teachers testify that threats and violence have become part of everyday life in many places.

Sweden once had a world-class, rule-based knowledge school. We must re-establish that school. The Liberals want to see a knowledge school where the focus lies on the most fundamental: reading, writing, and arithmetic. We want a safe school with clear requirements and high expectations for all students regardless of background. The school must return to the basics. This is particularly important for the children who need the school the most.

Madam Speaker! The quality of schools determines not only individuals' life chances but also the future of the whole of Sweden. A good school strengthens the supply of competence, growth, and our country's competitiveness. It is also a democratic institution. Through education, people's freedom and power over their own lives are strengthened. Therefore, it is crucial that the school functions better than it has.

Madam Speaker! One of the biggest challenges is the teacher shortage. More people must want to choose to become teachers, and more must want to stay in the profession. For that, structural changes are required. We therefore propose to regulate teachers' teaching time to give teachers reasonable conditions to manage their demanding and important work. We are also working on regulating class sizes so that every student will be seen and receive the support that is required. These are likely the two most important reforms to make the teaching profession attractive again. Teachers should not have to stand alone with overcrowded classrooms and an unsustainable workload. They should be able to focus on teaching and on their students.

At the same time, we are tightening the requirements for teacher training and investing in career positions, qualification-granting education, and quality-enhancing measures. The teaching profession cannot be elevated through individual point measures. Structural reforms, a better working environment, and more reasonable conditions are required. That is why we are putting forward so many proposals simultaneously.

Madam Speaker! Another serious challenge is long-term absence. Far too many students disappear from instruction for far too long. It is not just a school problem; it is a societal problem. Therefore, we are investing in school social teams that can work outreach-wise together with social services and other actors to get students back to school.

We are also investing in smaller teaching groups. Those who have been away from school for a long time should not be thrown into a large classroom without support. Students who have had high absence need a softer path back with more individually adapted teaching and more adults around them. That is how you break the absence and re-establish both the rule-based knowledge school and the schooling for the individual student.

Madam Speaker! We Liberals have long been clear that Swedish school needs a stronger state responsibility. Municipalization has contributed to the enormous differences we see today between different schools in different parts of the country. If one cares about all of Sweden's students in all of Sweden's municipalities, it is irresponsible not to support a nationalization of Swedish school. State ownership is the most effective way to ensure equality and stable funding and to simultaneously raise the status of the teaching profession.

But regardless of ownership, we must strengthen the foundations of Swedish school. For many years, the school system has been deregulated to an extent that has made things that were previously self-evident no longer so. School libraries have disappeared, and textbooks have been replaced by loose sheets and screens in saccosäcksrum. At the same time, the focus on factual knowledge has taken a backseat on ideological grounds.

This is what we are now working on changing. We are investing in more special education teachers, staffed school libraries and real books in schools. We are strengthening reading learning and reviewing the curricula to once again put knowledge at the center.

Madam Speaker! We are also making elite classes and elite educations permanent. There are students in Swedish schools who learn very quickly and who need greater challenges. They shall also be given the opportunity to develop fully. This may provoke warm supporters of the Jante Law and thus also parts of this chamber. But our starting point is simple: Every student shall be met with as high expectations as possible. To set requirements and to have expectations is to care. The school shall not hold back students who can run fast, but it shall ensure that all students run as far as they can.

Madam Speaker! Swedish school has been characterized by decentralization and lack of clarity. What we are doing now is to re-establish the foundations. We strengthen the educational mission, we improve the teachers' working environment, we tackle the teacher shortage, we break the long-term absence, and we ensure that more students actually learn more in school. We do this because we know that the journey of life begins in the classrooms.

I vote in favor of the proposals in both reports and against all reservations.

I will also say something about teacher qualifications. Due to the deficiencies I have pointed out, we are taking important steps to strengthen the teacher qualification. We want to fine schools that have systematically hired unqualified individuals, abolish the exemption from the qualification requirement, and protect the teachers' professional title. We do this to strengthen the teachers' status and to ensure that the teacher qualification functions effectively.

(Applause)

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

Niels Paarup-Petersen (C)

Madam Speaker! Joar Forssell's speech was good and pleasant.

I believe that most in the chamber agree on what the challenges are, but there are some things that the Center Party considers particularly noteworthy regarding Swedish school and its development in recent times. Sweden has the most unqualified students in the entire EU and OECD, and during Tidö it will break the Swedish record. Never before have so many students left Swedish school without being able to move forward and receive an education and a profession.

We also have the largest proportion of teachers without full teacher training in the entire EU and OECD. In response to that, the government wants to train fewer teachers. We also have the most students who are suffering. In response to that, the government wants to remove the right for students to influence their schooling. I find it a bit difficult to see that these are reasonable, relevant, and effective responses to the enormous challenges that truly exist. It is unique how it looks in Sweden compared to in all other countries.

I still do not understand why the government refuses to open up for the possibility of letting, for example, students who have passed on average be allowed to apply to vocational programs. Why does one want to train fewer teachers when it is teachers who are needed? And why does one want to remove student influence from Swedish schools when all science shows that it strengthens learning? I would appreciate receiving answers to this.

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

Joar Forssell (L)

Madam Speaker! Thank you, Member Niels Paarup-Petersen, for the constructive tone and the fine, good questions! I believe we share the same frustration over how things have looked in Swedish schools for a long time.

It is an election year, and Niels Paarup-Petersen is in opposition. I understand that the member wants to present it as he does, but I believe everyone understands that Swedish school is not something that is turned over overnight. Swedish school is something that takes a long time to change, especially when it concerns such structural matters as Niels Paarup-Petersen takes up in his speech. I am quite sure that those listening to this debate understand that.

The member may please repeat the last question. I am not sure that I understood it correctly.

When it comes to teachers and the teacher shortage, it is absolutely crucial to have teacher-led instruction and qualified teachers. That is why it is important with the teacher license, that is why it is important that it should be a protected title, and that is why it is important that the status of the teaching profession is raised. I also mentioned several other things in my speech that are important.

It is true that we are making changes to the teacher education. What we are primarily doing is raising the requirements and thus the funding per student. That is how I would describe it. Our intention with this is to increase the throughput, i.e., that more people who start the teacher education will also complete it.

A major problem today is that we admit very many students to the teacher training program who do not complete their studies and actually become teachers. If one wants many teachers, it is not about how many start the teacher training program, but it is about how many become teachers after having gone through the teacher training program.

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

Niels Paarup-Petersen (C)

Madam Speaker! Joar Forssell and I agree on the mathematics that the number of teachers is determined by how many come out, not how many come in. The government's own investigation establishes that 1,000 fewer teachers will come out. That is the figure I have as a starting point. It is therefore not about the number that come in, but about the number that come out.

I do not believe there is any fundamental physical impossibility when it comes to investing in providing teacher education with better conditions without reducing the number. One can actually provide more money to teacher education without fewer teachers coming out. One can continue to have many teachers coming out. It is possible to combine the two things, but it costs more. That we agree on. It is possible to get more teachers out while they simultaneously receive a better education, which we agree they should have.

I completely agree that one cannot turn a school system overnight. The challenge I see is that you are turning it in the wrong direction, Joar Forssell. It is still a challenge, even if it will not happen overnight, because you are turning it so that fewer teachers are trained. I do not think that is a good turn. You are turning it so that more students are dropped out. I do not think that is a good development. You are turning it so that students lose their student influence, which has been scientifically documented to be a prerequisite for good learning.

I do not understand how this can be a good turn for the school if we want more students to pass school and more teachers.

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

Joar Forssell (L)

Madam Speaker! I thought I would continue with mathematics. I had quite good grades in mathematics, but not exceptional. I do not know how it stands with the members.

If you want more people to be teachers, that is, not just complete the training but also work as teachers for a long time, preferably their entire professional life, you want to ensure from the start that people pass the teacher training and that the throughput is high. To achieve this, you need to have a larger sum of money per student. It is no mystery – so far we seem to agree on that.

I also believe that we need to increase the application pressure per place in the teacher education. We need to get in students who bring with them a greater knowledge from school when they start the teacher education, because then the chances of completing the education increase. One way is, of course, to reduce the number of places. Another way is to ensure that the teaching profession becomes more attractive so that more people want to apply for the education and become teachers. That is why all the things we do for the work environment, the opportunities for teachers to make a career, the strengthening of the teacher license and so on are important. It is one more thing.

It is not just about how many people graduate, but it is also about how many of them then continue as teachers, that is, how many do not leave the profession and graduate once again. It is clear that if you examine a huge number of teachers who then stop practicing their profession, there will not be many teachers left. That is why it is so important with, for example, the regulated teaching time, because it is a way to ensure that the teachers actually want to stay and continue to be teachers.

I and the government are convinced that with our policy we will get more teachers in Swedish schools because there will be a better demand, more who pass the education, an increased throughput and more who want to continue being teachers instead of we have many who enter the education, perhaps do not pass it and then do not want to continue as teachers.

(Applause)

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

Camilla Hansén (MP)

Madam Speaker! There are so many questions but so little time.

It is an election year – we can set that matter aside immediately, Madam Speaker. We in Miljöpartiet think that we might have greater influence after the election. We will see what the Liberalerna do after the election and whether we meet here in the chamber then or not.

I want to talk a bit about what makes a profession, for example the teaching profession, attractive. When you ask young people what is important when they choose a job, many talk about wanting a meaningful job that makes a difference for people. I have not heard anyone say: "It is very attractive to me that it is a regulated profession. Therefore, I can become a nurse, a teacher, or a psychologist. It doesn't matter that much which one."

Teacher education programs are the largest at our universities, so it is a popular profession. We must remember that. It is just not popular enough among enough people with sufficiently good skills. I would like more people to answer "teacher" when they are asked what their dream job is. The work environment is poor, the working conditions are bad, the pressure is high, and one does not feel that they can do a good job towards their students. It is typically unattractive for any job if the work environment is poor and the risk of sick leave is high.

Now we are entering a period – 5, 10 or 15 years – with major liberal reforms in the education sector. Miljöpartiet will stand behind some of them, but perhaps not all. My concern is that this will put an incredible pressure on the school system. We already know that fewer teachers will be examined. My concern is that we are not addressing what needs to be addressed right now.

There are good schools now that have good results. I want to know what the Liberals are doing here and now to ensure that the school receives sufficient resources for its mission.

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

Joar Forssell (L)

Madam Speaker! There were many questions and assertions in a lovely mix from the member. I shall try to go through them.

(CAMILLA HANSEN (MP): The money, Mr. Speaker!)

It is not only an election year and a festival year, but it is also the final year for this debate. The last time we will have one such, so I understand that many questions are hanging in the air.

I take it from the beginning. The member mentioned the qualification at the beginning of their speech. It is clear that a qualification gives a weight to a profession. It does so for the medical profession, the psychologist profession, and many other professions. I don't know, I haven't checked it myself, but I cannot imagine that Miljöpartiet wants to abolish the medical qualification or the psychologist qualification. If one does not want to do that, is it then the case that one wants to signal that one does not think the teaching profession is so important?

For me, it is obvious that the teaching profession is a profession that affects people's lives very much. It actually affects the entire society, but it affects the individual person's life so much that there must be a license, both for status and to secure the quality and knowledge that a teacher possesses through the license. The license is fundamental, and it is in many professions. I believe there are many who would be interested in hearing if it is the case that Miljöpartiet wants to remove the license for masses of other professions. That would be almost revolutionary.

The teaching profession is a popular profession, says the member, and the example of that is that many start the teacher program. It is true that many start the teacher program. It was also so in the Riksdag, at least for a while, that teacher education was the most common education among members. That is of course good, because teachers are often socially interested and certainly skilled at speaking. But it looks like that in a few different places – there are quite a few teachers among colleagues even in other professions because teachers drop out. That is the problem. We simply must ensure that teachers want to stay in the teaching profession.

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

Camilla Hansén (MP)

Madam Speaker! It is possible that I asked many questions, but I do not believe that I hinted anywhere that licenses would be abolished. On the other hand, we will debate a failed liberal reform regarding teacher licenses that has not led to the profession being more attractive. We are not a revolutionary party, rather a green party. I have also not heard anyone actually say: What is my dream job? Any of them, as long as it is a licensed profession.

Joar Forssell forgot to answer this: Where is the Liberals' funding for a good school here and now for the students who are in school until these reforms are implemented and have an effect? We are talking about 10, 15, 20 years until one sees the effect of a changed teacher education – a teacher education that is changed at the margins. What are you doing here and now?

My concern is also that you launch all these major reforms but are not prepared to finance them. What Swedish schools need are skilled teachers who have enough time with their students. If we do not get that, these reforms will not make any difference. Then they will only be an extra workload, which is also a risk for Swedish schools.

We do, after all, have in common that we want Swedish school to be a flagship. We want it to be the best in the world. Then we must have greater certainty regarding what happens here and now and that the changes actually have an effect. That is where the money plays a role, so I want to hear about the Liberals' plans for the financing of all these reforms.

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

Joar Forssell (L)

Madam Speaker! Thank you again for the questions! I am very happy to go into that.

We are doing a huge amount here and now, both things that are happening now and things that will happen in the future. I do not think anyone thinks that is strange. Even though there are needs here and now, one must still carry out structural reforms to strengthen the school in the slightly longer term.

Now it sounds like the Green Party is against strengthening the school on a structural level because they want to make investments here and now. The Liberals do not think there is any contradiction there. Sometimes in the school debate it can sound a bit like one has to choose one or the other. We are going to do both. That can be done if one prioritizes it, and the Liberals want to prioritize it.

We are investing in school social teams, smaller teaching groups, and books. I am actually very happy that I have heard Member Hansén himself say several times that Miljöpartiet stands behind the Liberals' view that books and literature need to be a larger part of both the students' everyday lives and the teaching itself. I am glad that the Liberals also got this through during the January agreement, when Miljöpartiet sat in the government together with the Socialdemokraterna. Then we also got investments through – perhaps not quite as large investments, but we at least got through the seeds for what we have done during this mandate period. I can say that I am very grateful for that.

We have done things in the past. We do things in the present. Everything that I mention now costs money, and it is money that we spend on the school. We invest a huge amount of money in the school, everyone who reads the budget knows that, and we will continue to do so.

But not all reforms cost money, and reforms must be made regardless of what is done here and now. Those things do not stand against each other. I think that is a strange perspective, which I perceive recurring in the school debate and in all sorts of debates in this chamber. It is believed that one must be pitted against the other. That is not the case. We must be able to do both, because both are needed. Investments and money were needed here and now, and structural reforms were also needed.

(Applause)

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

Isabell Mixter (V)

Madam Speaker! I reacted to some things in Forssell's speech, including that he spoke about the school being governed on ideological grounds.

I want to say that in that case, it is the Liberals' ideological foundations that are governing Swedish school. After all, it is you who have been responsible for all the major reforms that have been implemented in Swedish school over the last decades. If you mean that we today have a "flumskola" [vague/soft school] where the students have far too much influence, then it is you who have failed with your project. I know that Jan Björklund spoke about the "flumskola" having to go, but if you mean that we are still stuck in that, then it is the Liberals who have failed with that assignment.

I also want to say that I think the reforms coming from the Liberals and the government – sometimes it is difficult to know whether it is the Liberals or the government speaking – are strongly ideologically driven.

One example is when Simona Mohamsson says that a cultural change is needed in Swedish schools where we abolish student influence. This is hardly anchored in science or what is requested by Swedish teachers. That it would be a problem for students to have influence in school is something you have made up. Of course, it is the teacher who should lead the teaching; we all agree on that. But there is zero research support that it would make Swedish schools better if students are not allowed to have influence. There is zero research support that it would become better if teachers are allowed to punish students or if students are to pick up trash, as Simona Mohamsson said.

I become a bit thoughtful and wonder what Forssell actually means by ideologically driven school and why you have previously failed so fatally in implementing the reforms that you claim are required.

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

Joar Forssell (L)

Madam Speaker! I can begin with a reform that we implemented a long time ago which was truly ideologically liberal but which the Left Party in a sense helped with. It was when we introduced school for all children in Sweden. At that time, the Left Party did not exist; at that time, the Left Party was part of the Social Democrats. They broke away later. But in a sense, the Left Party was involved in implementing the liberal school reform that we did when we introduced school for all, and it was very ideological. I must give the Left Party credit for that.

When it comes to student influence, we have never said that we are against having student councils or student unions or organizing as a student. That, I understand, Vänsterpartiet holds close to its heart. On the other hand, it is the teacher who shall decide in the classroom and over the teaching.

There are examples of ideological experiments where student influence has gone too far. It was a long time ago, but I attended a primary school where we had a majority of students and parents on the school's board. It was perhaps taking it a bit too far. It was the Social Democrats who introduced it; possibly the Left Party was involved as well. I do not know that.

Another ideological example was when we introduced the tablet and that all students should have screens and put the books aside. I also went to school then, and my school was the first in Sweden to have a computer per student. It was very ideological. It was not driven by research.

What we are saying now is that we are going to return to a rule-based knowledge school that puts exactly expertise, real knowledge, and proper, genuine teaching at the center and that moves away from these ideological ideas, which in fact do not work. But on a philosophical level – if we are to move there in this debate, Madam Speaker – one can of course argue that all political proposals are, in some sense, ideological. Without ideas, we would not be able to have politics, so in that regard, I must once again give the Left Party right.

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

Isabell Mixter (V)

Madam Speaker! I thank Member Forssell for the acknowledgment that I may be right to some extent.

I want to return to the fact that there is no research support for it being positive to remove student influence. I want to emphasize that what Mohamsson has said is that student influence should be abolished, but now I perceive what Forsell said as that this is not correct and that one actually means that there should still be student influence in Swedish schools. In that case, it is a positive message.

I want to return to another question. Forssell spoke in his statement about the licensing system for some time. It is the case that the licensing system we have today is full of exceptions, and this is a very large problem. The exceptions are also exploited quite systematically in different school forms. Among other things, both independent schools and municipal schools that have instruction in English have exceptions from the requirement for Swedish teacher licensing. We in the opposition are united in the view that this exception should be removed.

Mohamsson said on September 25, 2025, that a legislative change is required to remove this exception for schools that teach in English. We have nevertheless not seen any proposals from the government. You are not standing behind the proposal that we in the opposition have submitted in light of the report in which the National Audit Office points out that it is unsustainable that there are so many exceptions and that it does not lead to us getting enough qualified teachers in Swedish schools.

I simply wonder: Will the government act in this matter?

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

Joar Forssell (L)

Madam Speaker! Beyond the headlines – I have also read the headlines that the member refers to – I have in conversations with my liberal colleagues and with government representatives read it as that we are not against all student influence just because it is student influence. On the other hand, we think that as a student, one should not be allowed to decide over the teaching and its content, the organization of the teaching, and what the teachers do. The classroom must be governed by the teacher.

It may be of interest to those listening to the debate to hear that we here in the Riksdag have what the members jokingly call student councils. There, we have influence over things such as what the premises look like or the menu in the cafeteria here in the house. That type of influence over the work environment and the like is, of course, much less problematic.

The Liberals want to abolish all exceptions in the teacher qualification. We also want to fine schools that have systematically hired unqualified teachers, and we want to ensure that the teachers' professional title is protected. So, we are in agreement on the substance.

I know, Madam Speaker, that the Left Party, unlike the Social Democrats, has never sat in government – the Left Party broke away, after all. It is a bit more difficult than being in opposition, because everyone must agree together. Then it takes a bit longer. One cannot just throw out proposals in the chamber; instead, one must prepare matters, negotiate matters, and investigate matters. We have a requirement for preparation in Sweden, and therefore it takes a bit of time. I am completely convinced that we will reach the point of abolishing the exceptions regarding the teacher's license. We want that, and it is we who, to a large extent, steer Swedish schools, together with our colleagues from the other Tidö parties.

When the Left Party gets to sit in government in the future – God forbid – perhaps they will also get to learn how it works.

(Applause)

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

Mats Wiking (S)

Madam Speaker! Today we are debating UbU9 Teachers and students. I would like to begin by moving for approval of reservation 7, which concerns students with different prerequisites.

For us Social Democrats, this is not just one report among others. It is about the children in our classrooms – about their future, their self-esteem, and their opportunities in life. I am a Social Democrat myself because I believe in true equality, and there are few places where equality is tested as clearly as in school.

Madam Speaker! Swedish schools have unfortunately become more unequal. The difference between schools and between students has increased. At the same time, we have an extensive teacher shortage. Several members have previously touched upon this in their speeches.

The government often speaks of historically large investments in schools, but when you meet municipal councilors and politicians responsible for education in the municipalities, you notice that the reality often looks different. The municipalities have been forced to prioritize and save during recent years.

Teachers testify to a workload that is difficult to manage, and students who need support sometimes have to wait, despite the school law being clear. It is not enough – as the government does – to talk about investments. Politics must also ensure that the resources actually reach the classroom itself where the students are.

Madam Speaker! We Social Democrats want to make different priorities. To begin with, we need more qualified teachers. The teacher shortage has, as many have previously pointed out, been one of the school's biggest challenges.

We want to make teacher training more flexible so that people with previous academic education can qualify as teachers more quickly. We also want to introduce teacher aspirants, meaning that unqualified individuals who are already working in schools can train while remaining in the profession. It is a way to take advantage of the competence that already exists in our schools.

It is also about the working conditions. No one can speak of a knowledge school if teachers lack time and resources for their mission.

Madam Speaker! The school must function for all students – even for those who need more support. Today, approximately 10 percent of students have a neuropsychiatric disability. Far too many of these students do not receive the support they are entitled to according to the Education Act. This means that children end up in a school environment that is not adapted for them. It leads to stress, anxiety, and in many cases, increased school absence. We Social Democrats therefore believe that the state must take greater responsibility for equality.

We want to develop and disseminate evidence-based methods for the work with NPF throughout the country. We want to ensure that all schools have access to special pedagogical competence, and we want to strengthen the follow-up so that the right to support in the Education Act is actually followed.

In our budget, we Social Democrats made a special investment to develop and disseminate best practices regarding NPF. Today we see that many schools have come a good way in the work surrounding children with NPF, but if one looks at all of Sweden, there are still major deficiencies. We need to develop best practice in order to be able to invest in what experience shows and what is proven. We also need to strengthen the school follow-up so that the right to support in the Education Act is actually followed.

Madam Speaker! When we talk about a school for everyone, we must also talk about the adapted school. Students in adapted schools are children with intellectual disabilities. They often need more individual support and more specialized pedagogy, as well as a safe and stable school environment. For these students, the teacher's competence is absolutely crucial. Special teachers and special educators with the right education are required.

We know that many municipalities have difficulty recruiting staff with that competence. This risks leading to students not receiving the teaching and support they are entitled to. When it comes to adapted school, it is approximately 15 percent of the staff who have the correct education. That means it is 85 percent who teach without having the correct competence in education and background.

We Social Democrats want to strengthen the supply of competence even in the adapted school and ensure that students there also have access to teachers with the right education. For many of these children, school is absolutely crucial for the possibility of being able to live a more independent life later.

Madam Speaker! We also see a worrying development regarding children's mental health. More and more children and young people describe stress, anxiety, and pressure linked to school. This places demands on us as legislators.

We Social Democrats therefore want to strengthen student health and improve cooperation between school, BUP and social services. We also need to develop a national knowledge base on the causes of the increased mental ill-health among children and young people. School shall be a place for knowledge – what is being stated is completely correct – but it shall also be a safe environment where children can grow.

Madam Speaker! I often hear stories from parents whose children have fallen through the cracks. They describe years of meetings and investigations and a struggle to get the support that the law says the child is entitled to. It should not be that way. A child's right to support should not depend on how strong the parents are in their contact with the municipality or the school. It should be a self-evident right.

Madam Speaker! We Social Democrats therefore want to invest in more qualified teachers, make it easier for unqualified people to train as teachers, and strengthen the support for students with NPF. We want to develop evidence-based methods in schools, strengthen student health, and ensure that the adapted school receives the right competence and resources.

Above all, we want to restore equality in Swedish schools. The school should be society's strongest protective factor, not a place where children's opportunities are determined by zip code or the municipality's finances.

It is about knowledge, it is about equality, and it is about every child getting a real chance to succeed.

(Applause)

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

Jörgen Grubb (SD)

Madam Speaker! I shall now debate the committee report UbU9 Teachers and students.

Together with my party, I stand behind the proposal in the report.

I intended to focus on the relationship between teachers and students. As politicians, it is our task to provide schools with the conditions to create an environment where both teachers and students can thrive and where students develop and are educated. Today's school is not always a bed of roses; I have understood this after all the meetings with teachers over the years. To be the one who educates students one moment and in the next moment be an extra parent and counselor places high demands – and sometimes they become unreasonable.

Unfortunately, over the years, political decisions have been made that have worsened the teachers' working situation. Among other things, a municipalization of the school was carried out, with rather vague steering documents, and we also have the mass immigration with its consequences. There is also a lack of clarity regarding how the teacher should use their working time – how many lessons one should have, how much time one should have for administration, and so on.

We within the Tidö parties have an investigation on this on the table, and a proposition will be submitted shortly. There are proposals here that reduce the teacher's administrative burden. It concerns fewer development talks – one a year instead of two – and development plans limited to just the knowledge development itself. The teaching mandate is regulated more clearly in the Education Act, and regarding teaching time, a maximum time and a minimum time for planning are provided.

Madam Speaker! In the meeting between teacher and student, fantastic things can happen, for example when the teacher sees that the student understands what is being taught. The so-called light turns on, and the joy is visible in the student's eyes when the student feels proud of having learned something new. This is surely the case in many classrooms even today, which is fantastic. But for this to be achievable, and also to happen a bit more often, it requires order and structure in the classroom.

Today, it does not always work so well in all classrooms. We have students who disregard the teacher's reprimands and students who threaten and exercise violence. Of course, they cannot remain in the classroom, but they shall be taught in another location so that the teaching teacher can conduct their lessons and the other students can obtain study time and knowledge.

We also cannot have what is in Malmö and in other places where every fifth ninth-grader lives under honor oppression – every fifth! It is obvious that it is harder for them to learn something in school and feel safe.

It is also not acceptable that a large proportion of students suffer from what is called mental ill-health to varying degrees. However, in the near future, there will be a tightening of the teaching on this in the curriculum and subject plans, which we welcome. It is very good. It naturally does not solve everything – there are not many things that solve everything perfectly – but it is at least an improvement compared to how it has been previously.

We also need help from the parents. They need to send well-behaved students, students with healthy values and norms, to school. Of course, many – the vast, vast majority – do so, but we need practically all parents to do it. The few who do not do it, in fact, ruin it for everyone in the classrooms.

There is also a great burden on our teachers who, during certain lesson times, are to conduct teaching with a multitude of different methodologies simultaneously because many students in the same classroom are to have special adaptations. It goes without saying that it is difficult to have five or six different things going on at the same time.

You hear that there are both pros and cons in today's school system. We in the Tidö parties therefore have a large number of investigations that will soon form the basis for government bills that will improve the Swedish school system. I would like to take the opportunity to mention a couple of them.

We have an investigation on safety and study environment. In it, it is proposed that the principal shall have the primary responsibility for maintaining safety and study environment. It is also proposed that expectation documents be established between school, student, and parents, as well as measures to ensure zero tolerance towards bullying, graffiti, and vandalism. Furthermore, it is proposed that stricter provisions regarding relocation and suspension of students be introduced, as well as a clarification that it is the teacher who decides on the teaching and its structure.

We also have an investigation on improved support in school. There, standardized tests are proposed as early as grade 1 to identify students with special needs and the introduction of support teaching, for real, either individually or in smaller groups, for the subjects that each student needs. I saw such things myself when I was young. It worked at that time and should work now too. It means that those with special needs for support receive help from another teacher who is specially trained for just that purpose.

Madam Speaker! The Sweden Democrats have long wanted to achieve a better order regarding school meals. We see that in many schools, single-course meals are served in a vegetarian spirit and that vegetarian food is served four out of the five days of the week. Malmö is a typical example here. It is not okay. Not all students are vegetarians and do not wish to become so either.

We want the students to be served a versatile diet according to the plate model. Every day, a meat dish and a vegetarian dish shall be served, as well as special meals for those students who can provide medical reasons with a medical certificate. Special meals due to religious or cultural reasons shall not be offered, but those students can eat any of the alternatives offered.

Madam Speaker! We consider that education, to the extent that it is possible, should be organized so that it stimulates mobility and exercise. If the school gives students the opportunity for some form of daily physical activity – it does not have to be a hard training session for an hour but perhaps a walk – it is a win for learning and for everyone. It is also a win for the calm in the classroom.

For the same reason, as a small help to this, we want to reintroduce the regulated outdoor days. Unanimous research – I have heard nothing to the contrary – shows that increased physical mobility is good for health and that it also increases the ability to learn.

Madam Speaker! Finally: We have a long way to go to restore a Swedish school where students and teachers are completely safe and devote themselves solely to acquiring knowledge without disruption and extraneous tasks. But with the changes that the Tidö parties are now working on, one thing is certain: The future looks a bit better for teachers and students. We think that is fantastically good.

(Applause)

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

Niels Paarup-Petersen (C)

Madam Speaker! Jörgen Grubb and I both have our homes in Malmö and are aware of the problems that exist in this Social Democratic bastion, not least the problems with honor oppression.

We both know how difficult it has been to get this issue on the agenda; I can say that it is a struggle that I have participated in for 15 years. I appreciate that there have been major changes in recent years when the problem has finally started to be taken seriously. I appreciate that things have happened, because it has been a major problem that we have not been allowed to raise those questions locally – or do anything about them – under the government that existed.

Then I can also say that I would have appreciated if the Sweden Democrats did not continue to deport students to countries with honor oppression. That would, so to speak, also have been good for those students.

I would very much like to ask Jörgen Grubb one thing. Our parties are quite strong in the countryside, but several initiatives from this government are extremely focused on large cities. The money goes to the large cities. The targeted state grants are primarily applied for by large schools in cities or central locations, not by schools in the countryside or in sparsely populated areas. According to the school funding norm, Lomma should invest much more money. Pajala, Gällivare, and other municipalities that have a very hard time putting the schools together will receive a third less, according to the government's view on how the school funding should be distributed and how it should look.

How does this relate to making the whole country live and ensuring a good school in all of Sweden? It is a question that I would very much like to have the Sweden Democrats' answer to.

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

Jörgen Grubb (SD)

Madam Speaker! I do not know what Niels Paarup is talking about. It is the municipalities that distribute the school funding. Then they use structural grants to make a somewhat unequal distribution, if they so wish, or perhaps as a compensation for certain needs. I do not understand Niels Paarup's question at all.

If Niels Paarup now thinks that this is such a big problem, one might wonder if it is a new problem. Is it something that has come up today? No. Niels Paarup's party has supported several different governments over many years, but we have not heard or seen anything from his party in this sense. I do not know what Niels Paarup is looking for me to answer.

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

Niels Paarup-Petersen (C)

Madam Speaker! It is difficult for me to truly reconcile with this. If the Sweden Democrats' representatives in the Education Committee are unaware that there is a partial report from an investigation called Tools for a more equitable resource distribution to schools, it is of course problematic. It is also a challenge for the government that the cooperation within these structures is so poor.

I am, therefore, speaking of a partial report from the Inquiry into a national school funding norm for increased equality. This was included in the Tidö Agreement. It feels like there should be conditions for the member to be aware of this.

In the sub-consideration, a general school funding norm is proposed. According to this, for example, Pajala or Gällivare would save around 30 percent, or receive a school funding amount that is 30 percent lower, which would mean that they would have to close almost all their schools. One can of course think that is good if one is Sverigedemokrat, but we do not think so.

No, it is nothing new that the distribution looks like this. That is why we have in our policy a distribution where sparsity is included in the distribution of the national resources. The government or the Sverigedemokraterna have not.

We say that people should be able to train to become teachers throughout the country, while you want to reduce the number of teacher educations. We say that there should be a sector grant so that the smaller schools and the smaller municipalities can use the money based on their own circumstances instead of Mohamsson's office here in Stockholm deciding what they should spend the money on. What the hell is Pajala going to build an emergency school for? They have one student every five years who is going to go there. They can get money for that, but if they are going to solve the problem in some other way, they cannot get any help from the state or the Sverigedemokraterna.

Is it only here in Stockholm that one knows how things should be done in Pajala or in Malmö? It is absurd. Why do the Sverigedemokraterna stand behind this Stockholm-focus and centralization? That is what I wonder.

We have also submitted proposals on sector grants.

I appreciate that we can have a debate, but I think it is relevant to read up on other parties' proposals before criticizing what they stand for.

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

Jörgen Grubb (SD)

Madam Speaker! I object to false information. I have not criticized any proposal from the member.

The member speaks about an investigation that hasn't even produced any common proposal. The member does not know what we Sverigedemokrater think about it. All of this is just made up. There is an investigation, yes, but no decisions of any kind have been made. We have not communicated our position at all. There is nothing. We are naturally not interested in reducing the school funding in rural areas by 30 percent.

The member is fantasizing about something that might or might not happen. I am sorry, but I cannot say more than that. It is completely incorrect information that the member is trying to spread here.

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

Isabell Mixter (V)

Madam Speaker! I have a few questions for Jörgen Grubb after his speech just now.

He spoke about political decisions that have worsened Swedish schools. I wonder if Grubb missed mentioning perhaps the biggest failure in Swedish schools in recent decades, namely the friskola reform. We now see how limited companies make very large profits on the money of Swedish taxpayers. Money that should actually go to teachers and students instead goes straight into the shareholders' pockets.

Grubb and his party do not seem to think that this is a problem. On the contrary, I have many times heard the Sverigedemokraterna defend this system in the name of freedom of choice. They argue that it is great that the system allows Swedish tax money to go towards the profits of limited companies.

I think this is one of the biggest failures we can see in Swedish schools today. Money that is supposed to go to teachers and students should stay in the school and not go to profits.

The question I actually want to ask Grubb concerns the exemptions from the requirements for teacher certification that are included in the reports we are discussing today. The National Audit Office's report points out that there are far too many exemptions from the requirement for teacher certification. We have seen how this is systematically exploited by independent schools. For example, they very often have instruction in English, and then they do not need to have teachers with Swedish teacher certification.

Joar Forssell previously mentioned that it can be difficult to sit in a government and negotiate with other parties. I wonder therefore: Is it Jörgen Grubb's party that is braking this, or is it someone else? How do the Sverigedemokraterna view removing the exemptions from the requirement for a teacher's license?

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

Jörgen Grubb (SD)

Madam Speaker! I and the member from Vänsterpartiet spoke about the friskolor even the last time we met here. The Sverigedemokraterna were not even sitting in this chamber when it was decided that friskolor should be allowed. Since then, different parties have had different views on what compensation one should receive in the friskolor and so on.

We are where we are – now we are here. The Sweden Democrats believe that one should have the freedom to choose a school. For there to be freedom to choose a school, there must be different types of schools – that is the basic principle. It will not work to only have municipal schools and then say that the students can choose a school, because then there won't be much freedom of choice. We need to have different forms.

Not everything is perfect when it comes to this. Sweden is no longer perfect. It was perfect when I grew up – back then, people didn't care about the school form, they just went to the nearest school. Everyone was the same, because all schools functioned in the same way or at least very similarly. Sweden had a state-controlled school at that time, which we would like to see today. It was very good.

Now the conditions are different. More than 400,000 pupils go to some form of independent school every day. Vänsterpartiet wants to close the independent schools. In that case, these pupils will have nowhere to go. It will take some time – I do not know how long – before they are relocated or the municipalities buy the schools. I do not know how Vänsterpartiet intends for this transition to take place. It is of interest that it is presented if one now has the stance that Vänsterpartiet has. I think one should be clear on that point.

I also wonder: Is this something new? It also existed three, four or five years ago, when you were with those who held government power for eight years? Nothing happened.

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

Isabell Mixter (V)

Madam Speaker! I shall respond to Grubb's claim that we would want to close schools for 400,000 students. It makes it very clear that it is the form of operation that would be decisive as to whether these schools should remain open or not.

What we are saying is that one should not be allowed to conduct school activities in the form of a limited company. One should not be allowed to take out profit from Swedish schools. It is a self-evident matter. The vast majority of Swedes – and the vast majority of teachers – agree with this. If one conducts school activities solely to make a profit, I think one is in the wrong place.

So, this is not about closing down all independent schools. What we are saying is that they should not be allowed to operate as limited companies.

Sweden is unique. It is only in Sweden that it is free to make a profit on taxpayers' money within the school system. This system does not exist in any other country. Jörgen Grubb makes it sound like what we are proposing would be communism or something of the sort. In that case, all other countries in the world are communist. It is only in Sweden that this extremely strange system exists.

We must settle this, and it makes me distressed that the Sweden Democrats and other parties on the bourgeois side do not want to. That is also why nothing has happened. For example, nothing happened during the last parliamentary term. We have submitted proposals regarding this earlier, but you vote no, Grubb. How are we supposed to get a majority when there are parties that block us from moving forward and stifle this?

I still want to hear the answer from Grubb on the question: How do you view the exemption from the requirement for a teacher's license?

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

Jörgen Grubb (SD)

Madam Speaker! This is very interesting. Vänsterpartiet should not shut out 400,000 students, but how many of these 400,000 students do not attend schools where some form of profit is made? Profit is also made in municipal schools. Malmö municipality made almost 100 million in profit on the collective upper secondary school during the last period. In joint-stock companies, profit is made because one must invest. That is how it works. It is clear that it is not a market economy that Vänsterpartiet wants. Then, market economy is not the solution to everything either.

You can do as we do instead. You did not do that during the eight years when you supported a government led by the Social Democrats, Isabell Mixter. What we care about in our group, the Tidö group, is the result. We set tough and clear demands. That was not done during your eight years, even though you yourselves claimed to have the same problem picture. No demands were set by you, but we set demands. Soon there will be a full investigation with demands; the friskolorna shall not be able to take out unreasonable profits but must deliver. You will be made aware of this.

The nice thing is that sometimes you can deliver a product perhaps 2 percent cheaper if you are more efficient and better. The important thing is what kind of product you are coming with. In this case, it is a question of well-educated students who enjoy themselves. Above all, they attend these schools voluntarily, which is something one never hears from your side. It must be very strange for you that they attend there voluntarily.

I think the system is quite good as it is, but we will also come with improvements.

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

Mats Wiking (S)

Madam Speaker! I would like to ask the member a bit about order and discipline in school, which the Sweden Democrats often talk about. I also believe that order in school is very important, but order is not created just through rules but also through support for those students who have the hardest time coping with the school environment.

Today we have a school where every tenth student has a neuropsychiatric functional impairment. Reports show that the support for these students is very unequal from school to school and is often dependent on the school's resources. Experiences show that when the school does not function for students with NPF, the effect is often that they have difficulty concentrating, talk, and have difficulty sitting still.

With the large classes that we now have in Sweden – which furthermore tend to increase in size – students with NPF often end up in difficulties both academically and socially. One can, for example, risk being kicked out or expelled from the lessons. With a school that cannot handle students with NPF, we risk that more are knocked out, in my and the Socialdemokraternas opinion.

What concrete reforms does SD want to implement so that school functions better for students with NPF?

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

Jörgen Grubb (SD)

Madam Speaker! I did mention something about this in my speech, if I remember correctly. Naturally, one must increase the knowledge of how these students are to be handled.

10 percent sounds like quite a lot. But it is possible that it is every tenth student in the whole of Sweden. There are naturally different scales and intensities, which I believe we are both aware of, Mats Wiking.

The problem is that the teachers are expected to manage all lesson time while having a lot of different types of adaptations for different students, including these. We cannot sit here and talk about every unique case, but we see it as that in some cases they probably do best by receiving support by their side. Then there are some who want a group.

When it concerns many of these students, I have for my part heard – I cannot speak for the others in my group – that it is often a very great advantage if one gets better order and tidiness in the class and less noise. In some cases, this is what is required. But I am not saying that it saves all 10 percent.

We have invested very much in this. I honestly believe that the member also wants this. But we have not seen it from the member's party over the last eight years when talking about order and discipline. It has been a major issue for the Sverigedemokraterna and for parts of our Tidö group. We are glad that we are getting this through with order and discipline and study. I believe that it is of great help for these students as well, besides that they can come and sit to the side in certain subjects to get extra calm and quiet. It is more than what has happened over the last ten years, I can guarantee that.

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

Mats Wiking (S)

Madam Speaker! I thank Jörgen Grubb for the answer.

The proportion of NPF students is at least 10 percent. Attention and other associations and organizations that work with those issues have investigated this for quite a long time. This was also present in our time, but back then people did not talk about diagnoses in the same way.

The school obviously needs safety and a quiet study environment, just as the member mentioned. This can be achieved in many different ways. If one expels students from the school, there is a risk that it is these students who will have the most difficulty managing the situation. As I mentioned, they have difficulty sitting still, and the concentration difficulties become greater in large groups and large classes.

That is why it is very important that there are resources out in Sweden's municipalities and Sweden's schools so that one can create smaller groups and provide special support to the students who need it. Those resources risk not existing if we drain Sweden's municipalities of money.

I and we Social Democrats believe that if a student with NPF does not receive the right support in school, it often risks manifesting as anxiety and concentration difficulties, as I have spoken about. Then, we have seen that the focus easily shifts to disciplinary measures instead of support.

My questions to Member of Parliament Jörgen Grubb are: How do the Sweden Democrats want to ensure that students with NPF receive the right support in the classroom so that order in the school is created through better conditions and not by students needing to be thrown out of the teaching? What does SD want to do so that the support works for students with NPF?

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

Jörgen Grubb (SD)

Madam Speaker! For me, it becomes almost a bit anecdotal when the member brings up how it was "in our time." We belong to the same generation, after all. I remember very well how this was handled in my time. I attended a few different schools during my primary school years. We had a couple of students who went outside for certain subjects. They could sit outside the classroom in some kind of corridor where there were benches and tables. There they sat with Swedish, math, or something else once or twice a week to get some peace and quiet. They had a special teacher. They were perhaps not huge troublemakers, if I'm being completely honest, but they simply needed help. It worked very well. It was not that they were kicked out.

I, however, was kicked out of the classroom a few times during my school years – with all rights. I simply couldn't keep my mouth shut. I never hit anyone and never was mean to anyone, but I had difficulty staying quiet, and then you have to go out. Then you learn it, and then you get to come in. When you get home, you tell your parents what the teachers said and then you get a perfectly fair scolding.

Our method is not to kick the students out. I want to make that clear. That is not the point. We are completely convinced that the focus should be order and tidiness in the existing classroom.

It benefits all students. It is not only the 10 percent of students who benefit from it, but also the other 90 percent. We think that is a big thing that is super important.

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

Camilla Hansén (MP)

Madam Speaker and members of the House! Two years ago, the Education Committee was on a study trip to my home municipality, Örebro. It was very pleasant. We had lunch, among other things, at one of Sweden's best school restaurants.

School meals have been debated quite extensively in the media and on social media over the last few weeks. There is talk of nutritional deficiencies, iron deficiency, and hungry children. They are hungry when they come home from school. I imagine that some of us who ate lunch before 12.00 will also be hungry when this workday is over.

It sounds in the debate as if Swedish schools have started serving substandard food. If one truly cares about children's eating habits, one can start with what the National Food Agency says.

Children eat approximately 250 grams of fruit and vegetables a day. The recommendation is 500 grams. Fewer than one in ten schoolchildren reach that level. Most eat some vegetables every day but only around 150 grams a day.

At the same time, we know that a well-planned vegetarian diet works for children of all ages. This is stated by the National Food Agency and the Nordic Nutrition Recommendations.

Furthermore, school meals are nutritionally calculated. They are planned by professional nutritionists and chefs responsible for ensuring that the children receive sufficient energy, protein, iron, and other nutrients.

To present vegetarian school meals or vegetarian days as some kind of threat to children's health, there is simply no support for.

Of course, school meals should be well-prepared and good. They should be prepared by skilled chefs. There should be a good atmosphere in the dining halls so that people can truly enjoy their meal.

My question is: Should we not have a knowledge-based school meal in Sweden?

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

Jörgen Grubb (SD)

Madam Speaker! Food preferences are naturally different. There are those who are vegetarians. There are those who are fruitarians. There are those who are more or less meat-eaters, or whatever one should call them.

We advocate for a mixed diet. I find it difficult to see the fault in that. If one wants to eat half a kilo of vegetables a day, there is the possibility to do so. There should be the possibility to eat meat, which I myself eat every day and want to eat. The food in Örebro was among the worst I have been served in any case. It is my preference. Others think it is the best thing that has happened.

It is very important. Here we provide the opportunity for everyone to have classic home-cooked food if they want it, which I think is fantastic. I know there are many others who also do that. Then there are those who want vegetarian, and that is good. Eat vegetarian then, but many eat a mix.

The opportunity is provided for that in our proposal. We shall not force anyone to become a fruitarian or a vegetarian. I am completely opposed to such activist decisions. Here, one should be able to choose what one thinks is fair, what one enjoys, and what one wants to eat.

You cannot push food into someone's mouth and tell them to swallow. I think it is dishonest towards our youth and actually towards everyone.

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

Camilla Hansén (MP)

Madam Speaker! I interpret the answer to my question regarding the public meals in Sweden to be based on knowledge as a no. They shall be based on the Sweden Democrats' personal preferences to eat too few vegetables and too much meat, something that is a risk to public health.

I think that sounds like a bad idea when we are going to use our common public money. It is large sums of money that go to the public meals in Sweden.

It is obvious that it should be good, nutritious, economical and sustainable. I do not understand why one should have any other basis for spending our public money when it comes to school meals.

We know that we eat too much meat in Sweden, both for personal health and regarding the emissions that animal production accounts for.

It is clear that there is an economic dimension to this. Legumes are more economical sources of protein than meat is. It still matters when one is to manage tax money.

It is not about banning meat. School meals should account for 30 percent of the daily energy and nutrient intake. The remaining part is provided by oneself or one's family.

The school meal shall, of course, be an important part of our public health work. We cannot use tax money to offer unhealthy food to children, young people, the elderly, and those who are admitted to hospitals, who receive part of public meals.

It is a tool for establishing good eating habits for life. It is a tool that ensures children, regardless of background, develop the habit of eating healthy food even if they do not receive it from home.

No one is saying that one should not be allowed to serve meat in school. But it should, of course, be good meat from Swedish organic farms that one eats in a moderate amount for one's own health. Should we really not listen to the knowledge that exists about healthy food?

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

Jörgen Grubb (SD)

Madam Speaker! We have never said that one should eat unhealthily. I do not know where the member gets that from. She can perhaps listen to this speech afterwards. That would probably be a great help. It is just a tip.

We are talking about the plate model, which has never before been any concern in Sweden. I do not know if there is any researcher who is a vegetarian and who is trying to pull it in some other direction. But it has never been a problem, and it is not a problem either.

It is also about what the students want. There may be those who are not so very fond of vegetables. Should they then be forced to eat it? No. Are they not very fond of meat? Then they should not be forced to eat that either.

It is very simple. Both options should exist. I find it extremely difficult to understand why the member is against there being both a vegetarian and a meat option. Then one gets the opportunity to choose, and receive support from one's parents regarding what is good and bad.

We also write that it should be according to the plate model, where one gets the different components that the body needs. I cannot understand how one can be against this if one does not have some kind of activist thought to push it towards the vegetarian side.

We have no activist intention to lean towards the meat side. Both options should be available to choose from. We think it is quite obvious. The students should like the food, feel comfortable, and eat. They need a meal to get through the entire school day.

(Applause)

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

Isabell Mixter (V)

Madam Speaker! To begin with, I would like to say that I think the level of the debate is quite low. We have devoted an entire exchange of remarks to discussing school meals in a debate that is supposed to be about teachers and students. It is usually said, somewhat mockingly, that school meals are what guardians and also students are most interested in and have the most opinions about.

We need to have this debate at a higher level than that. There are those who are professionals at preparing school meals for our children. Let them continue with that.

I still think there is a huge discrepancy between how it sounds from the government parties when one talks about students having to behave and do as they are told, and when it comes to school meals – then they are suddenly supposed to decide for themselves. In other respects, they are to be obedient. I think that is interesting, and it is something I have reflected on.

Madam Speaker! I shall stick to the committee report. Teachers are the most significant thing we have in Swedish schools. They have the opportunity to make a great difference for students. They have knowledge of what works best in the classroom, and they know how best to get students to stay focused and learn what is in the curriculum. Nevertheless, politicians – who hardly know best – want to interfere in how it should work in the classroom.

The Liberals are making a popcorn move about teachers being allowed to punish students who misbehave, perhaps by making them mop the cafeteria. It is a measure that I, as a politician, have never been asked about, neither when I was an education politician in Sundsvall nor as an education policy spokesperson here in the Riksdag. What teachers are requesting, from what I have heard, is more colleagues and smaller classes, as well as that politicians should stop interfering too much in their work.

Education is also at its best when students are allowed to have influence. Of course, teachers should lead in the classroom, but when students are allowed to be involved in deciding about their school, it works best.

Madam Speaker! Swedish students deserve skilled teachers across the entire country. Today, the differences regarding qualified teachers are very large in the country and between schools. Övertorneå has the lowest proportion of qualified teachers in the entire country. Only 44 percent of the teachers have certification and qualification. The proportion of qualified teachers is lower in rural areas, in socioeconomically disadvantaged areas, and in independent schools.

I do not mean that teaching children is brain surgery. Unauthorized teachers can, in many cases, be skilled, but we have nevertheless decided that Swedish students shall be taught by qualified teachers. One can then ask why we allow so many exceptions from the requirement for a teaching license that was introduced in 2011. The purpose was, after all, to raise the quality of the teachers, increase legal certainty for the students, and increase the attractiveness of the teaching profession. But 14 years later, we can read in the Swedish National Audit Office's report that they find no indications that these ambitions have been reached. The number of teachers with a degree has remained at the same level as before, while many teach in subjects they are not qualified in.

The licensing system is so full of exceptions that insufficient measures are taken to ensure that students are taught by qualified teachers. The exception regarding requirements for teacher licensing for certain private school activities must be removed. This applies, for example, to Waldorf schools and schools that conduct teaching in English. It is an exception that is systematically exploited by limited company schools.

It is no coincidence that many independent schools choose to have instruction in English. It is a way to obtain exemptions from the requirement to employ teachers with Swedish teacher certification and thus be able to employ cheaper teachers. According to an article in DN, there is a difference of 3,000 kronor in salary between those employed at a municipal school and at Internationella Engelska Skolan.

In the autumn, a report from the School Inspectorate showed that English was used unreflected and without pedagogical consideration in the teaching at this type of school. The students sometimes have difficulty understanding questions and tests because they are in English. The teachers also cannot always speak Swedish, which has led to situations where students have had to step in and interpret. It is completely unprofessional to conduct Swedish school in that manner.

We have also received many reports of incompetent and, in some cases, grossly unsuitable teachers working in Swedish schools. The worst examples are, of course, teachers who use violence against students or sexually exploit children. To counter the risk of misconduct, it is necessary to tighten the regulatory framework so that school principals become obliged to report unsuitable and incompetent teachers.

School should be a safe place. Students and parents should be able to be sure of that. Unfortunately, there are far too many examples of unsuitable teachers having left a school and then received a new position at another school without anything being reported to Skolinspektionen. It has also occurred that schools have actively hushed up such incidents in order not to damage the school's reputation. When it comes to limited companies' schools, it is not strange, as they risk losing profits. They want to protect their profitability. Therefore, principals need to be obliged to report unsuitable and incompetent teachers, both with and without certification, to Skolinspektionen.

Skolverket should be given the opportunity to check the disciplinary record and also the suspicion record in connection with a person applying for a job at a preschool or school. Disciplinary sanctions for teachers need to apply to both certified and non-certified teachers, especially since many non-certified teachers are teaching today.

The proportion of licensed teachers must of course increase. An investigation needs to be conducted on how this can be achieved and how the licensing system needs to be changed. Particular attention should be paid to the exceptions that currently exist. There must be stronger incentives for school administrators to ensure that untrained or partially trained teachers become licensed.

Madam Speaker! All children are covered by compulsory school attendance. Therefore, it is a self-evident matter that the school must function for all students. More and more students are unable to cope in the school environment and become stay-at-home students. More and more young people are suffering mentally. More and more students have diagnoses and do not receive the correct support in school.

We must create a school that is capable of meeting and supporting all students. Today, teachers are left to struggle alone in classes with 30 students with different needs for adaptations. It is not strange that it does not work. For large classes, the task becomes much harder, and when other parts of the school are simultaneously cut back, it becomes even harder. Neither student health services nor other types of peripheral resources are functioning as they should today.

We cannot just watch and let our students fail. A teacher who was interviewed in Kaliber's review of the school, which was released on Monday, said – excuse me, Madam Speaker – that we give our children F's as in fuck you. He compared it to how it looked previously, when the school could be compensatory. He also meant that we can give all students the opportunity to succeed, as long as we want to and invest – and that is what we need to do.

Completing school is a key factor for a functioning adult life. The competence regarding mental health among staff working in schools and the work to promote school attendance and complete grades need to be strengthened. School health needs to be significantly reinforced, and we have prioritized that in our budget.

We must move away from a school system where politicians year after year turn a blind eye to the fact that so many students leave school without eligibility for upper secondary school. To reverse the trend, more resources are needed for the school. Classes should be reasonably sized, students should be taught by qualified teachers, and support should be provided where the needs exist.

Madam Speaker! I vote in favor of reservation 4 in UBU9 and reservation 1 in UBU16.

(Applause)

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

Johanna Rantsi (M)

Madam Speaker! Swedish schools face great challenges. For a long time, knowledge results have been declining. Order in the classroom has deteriorated, and the teaching profession has lost in attractiveness. Such problems do not arise overnight, and they do not disappear on their own either. The Moderates' starting point is clear: the school shall once again become a knowledge school. This means that the focus shall lie on teaching, on the teachers' professionalism, and on the students' actual knowledge.

Madam Speaker! One of the most important issues in today's reports concerns the teaching profession. It is absolutely crucial that we decision-makers provide teachers with the right conditions to be good teachers. A skilled and committed teacher is absolutely crucial for students' knowledge development.

I believe everyone agrees that we need more teachers. But the solution is not to lower the requirements or to turn a blind eye to the quality problems, on the contrary. We need to strengthen the professionalism of the teaching profession. That is why the government is reforming teacher education, raising the requirements in teacher training, and giving teachers better opportunities for continuing education throughout their professional lives. During teacher training, one should be able to devote more time to studying how students learn and to test evidence-based methods.

At the same time, we are reducing the administration for teachers and clarifying what actually is included in the teachers' mandate. I wonder, Madam Speaker, if anyone among all those who know someone who works as a teacher knows someone who chose the profession because of the administration. I know many teachers, but everyone I know chose to become a teacher to educate students and prepare them for the future. Teachers should not drown in documentation. They should teach.

Almost 40,000 trained teachers have today chosen to opt out of the teaching profession. We talk about the need for more people to undergo the training, but we must also definitely ensure that those who are teachers today stay in the profession. That they opt out of the teaching profession despite being trained is serious. Teachers must be allowed to be teachers.

The government has introduced a combined state grant for staffing reinforcements that combines the existing state grants for, for example, teacher assistants, special education teachers, teachers in special teaching groups, and student health. The grant amounts to 1,350 million kronor this year and an additional 200 million for staff within student health. It is another step in ensuring that teachers can devote themselves to the core mission and not peripheral tasks that other professional groups can perform.

Madam Speaker! In consideration of UbUl6, which we are also debating here today, the teacher certification system is being addressed.

The idea behind the license was good: to strengthen the quality of teaching and clarify the profession's responsibility. But we must also state that the system has not functioned fully. The exceptions have become many, and the controls are insufficient. Today, there are also teachers in schools who stand completely outside the system for disciplinary sanctions. It is not reasonable.

The Moderates therefore argue that the teacher qualification must be strengthened. The controls of teachers' qualifications must be tightened, and the supervision should also include teachers without qualifications. Students and parents must be able to trust that the person standing there in the classroom is both competent and suitable to be a teacher.

We welcome the National Audit Office's report. It provides a good basis that we are now working further with both within the party and in the Government Offices.

Madam Speaker! Another issue that recurs in the report is the students' support and conditions in school. It is important, but we must also be honest: Swedish school has for all too long provided support all too late. By the time the problems are detected, students have already managed to fall behind.

That is why the government is now implementing reforms for earlier knowledge tests, clearer support measures, and strengthened student health. We Moderates also want to see specific measures for particularly gifted students who need even more challenges in school.

We are also strengthening the cooperation between school, social services, and the police because the school sometimes encounters problems that it cannot solve alone. During my years as a teacher, I have experienced it as completely absurd when authorities have not been allowed to speak with one another – not even for the children's best interests. We are changing this now.

Madam Speaker! There is also a question that has been politically sensitive to speak plainly about for far too long: safety and order in school. Without order in the classroom, there will be no teaching either. It is fundamental.

The government is now implementing reforms that strengthen the powers of principals and teachers, introduce a mobile-free school day, and give schools better opportunities to act when students disturb the teaching. These are reforms that many teachers have requested for a long time. Even if they might not be needed at some schools – where there is already order and discipline – I, as a teacher, have nevertheless lacked legal support, guidelines, and support in being able to maintain order in my own classroom. I can be honest about that. These are, therefore, long-awaited reforms in the teaching profession.

Madam Speaker! The Moderates' school policy is fundamentally about three things: more knowledge, a stronger teaching profession, and safer classrooms. When the teaching works, when the teachers have the right conditions and when a study environment prevails, then the students can also succeed. And that is ultimately what school policy must be about.

Madam Speaker! Today's parliamentary debate is titled "Teachers and Students". In this regard, I would like to share a short story about one of my students.

Before I entered the Riksdag, I worked for eight years as a high school teacher at Angeredsgymnasiet in northeastern Gothenburg, a school located in the middle of several of the city's vulnerable areas. The school gathers students from all over Gothenburg, many with difficult home circumstances. The compensatory mission is very large.

Several years ago, I had a student in the social studies program. I believe he was in year 3 at the time. The student was hardly ever in school. Here we are not talking about absence from certain lessons, but rather about attendance during a few specific lessons. How could such a smart guy waste his time, I wondered.

I and a close colleague, Josefin, decided: Now we take this into our own hands. After the end of the workday, we jumped into my small car and drove at full speed to Hjällbo. A short while later, the doorbell rings at the family's home. A sibling opens the door and asks: Who is it? It turns out to be the brother's teacher coming for an unexpected visit.

Eleven has since told me that he thought his siblings were joking with him when they tried to wake him up at five in the afternoon and said that his teachers were there. But that was not the case. There we stood in the doorway.

Eleven came to school the day after and a few days thereafter. He did not attend all lessons but significantly more. He passed grades in several subjects, though not all. A couple of years after high school, he decided: He would go to a folk high school. Today, he has completed his high school examination.

Madam Speaker! This student visited me in the Riksdag this week. He told me then how often he had thought about this moment, how many times during his life it has meant something to him that there were adults who believed in him.

Today, the student has applied to Stockholm University. I hope to be able to celebrate his graduation in a couple of years, because I still believe in him.

Madam Speaker! There is nothing more important for students' knowledge development than skilled and engaged teachers. It is absolutely crucial that we, as decision-makers, provide teachers with the right conditions to be just good teachers and be able to focus on knowledge, learning, and engagement.

Teachers all over Sweden do a fantastic job for an incredibly large number of students. With this story, I want to remind of that, because it is not always seen by oneself. Many times, teachers can change lives.

In conclusion: A big thank you to all the teachers out there who make a difference!

Madam Speaker! I would also like to take this opportunity to move for approval of the committee's proposal.

(Applause)

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

Niels Paarup-Petersen (C)

Madam Speaker! I note that the member is one of those teachers who do not work in schools. There may be many different reasons for that, but I also hope that more can return to that work at their own pace and when they so wish.

It was an excellent speech. I will do my best to reproduce one sentence correctly: Without order and tidiness, there is no teaching. That is true. The step before is that without qualified teachers, there is no order and tidiness, and then there is no teaching.

I believe that we are actually in agreement, but the challenge is that the government wants to train fewer teachers. There is no inclination whatsoever to support our proposals that unqualified teachers should receive support to train to become qualified teachers. This means that schools, especially in areas of exclusion and in rural areas, will have fewer qualified teachers. And then the school results become worse. This is, among other things, because the study environment becomes worse, as it is also a consequence of not having qualified teachers.

We share the view on how important these issues are. But again, I say that the government is doing nothing. Yes, there is a hope that people will return to school. I share that hope, and I hope that it happens. Parts of what the government does can contribute, but I believe that parts of the eagerness that some ministers engage in can lead to the opposite. As long as more teachers are not trained and as long as we do not ensure the funding of school reforms presented by the government, which is not happening at the current moment, the overall package will however mean that teachers will likely get worse conditions because each teacher will have to carry a heavier burden. The only way will be for each teacher to teach less. Then there will be more unqualified teachers, if we do not want to train more qualified teachers. I do not believe that is the right path for Swedish school.

How do the Moderates intend to do to educate more qualified teachers when the government is currently heading in the other direction?

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

Johanna Rantsi (M)

Madam Speaker! The member is correct that I am one of the qualified teachers who is not currently in school. If it pleases the member, I can inform that I am on leave, have retained my position, and intend to return and continue my work.

Is it something I am missing, it is precisely these young people, our fantastic future here in Sweden.

I share the member's view that it is extremely important to have qualified teachers. Trained teachers must be both qualified in terms of certification, that is, trained to teach as a teacher, and be qualified in their subject. It is something we talk about quite a little, that is, that one can be a certified teacher and also teach in subjects other than those one is qualified in. In that regard, the school and the principals have a major responsibility in the distribution of work.

It is extremely important that we strengthen the role of the principals, that is to say the principals' opportunity to be good pedagogical leaders. The principals' inquiry was presented not so long ago, and it has not been treated politically yet. But I can state already now that we Moderates think it is important that it emphasizes the principals' pedagogical leadership mandate. One role is to be able to manage work and ensure that the right teachers are in the right place.

What is important is that teachers are allowed to do what they are trained for. That is something we and the government are investing heavily in, among other things with the state grants for staff reinforcement, also for other groups in the school. We are investing in state grants for school social teams to relieve teachers of tasks that other professional categories in the school can carry out. It can be anything from reporting absences to sending letters and speaking with other authorities.

I experience that the most important thing is to purify the teaching profession and ensure that teachers get to do what they are actually best at.

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

Niels Paarup-Petersen (C)

Madam Speaker! I agree with the last part of Johanna Rantsi's reply, namely that it is important that teachers can focus on what they are trained for. But she also returns to something that she also took up in her main speech, namely various state grants.

Several members in the chamber here today come from different parts of the country and have noted this regarding the targeted state grants. You sit in the minister's office and talk about school social teams. What does it look like in the small municipalities in Dalarna? Do all schools have the opportunity to establish school social teams? Is it possible to open an emergency school in Malung-Sälen? Is this the most relevant way to use the money for those municipalities? No, it is not.

In Gällivare municipality, approximately 50 percent of the teachers have qualifications. Then the government comes and says that they are going to build an emergency school or establish school social teams, but they definitely must not use the money for more teachers and wages that can compete with the mining wages.

This is not the answer to how Sweden's students can get more teachers who know their stuff. The concrete question is: How do the Moderates intend for us to get more qualified, competent teachers, when the government's policy is to train fewer – while simultaneously saying no to the Center Party's proposal to finance the training of unqualified teachers who are already in the school's operations?

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

Johanna Rantsi (M)

Madam Speaker! I do not quite know if the member is following the reasoning, but if teachers are allowed to do what they are trained for, it also removes a large part of other tasks that teachers do today. Then teachers can devote themselves to what they are trained for, what they want to do, and they do not need to spend time on peripheral tasks.

We will purify the teacher's role. More will want to stay in the profession, and we do not need as many since teachers will no longer spend two hours a week copying stencils. There should be a focus on the core mission.

When it comes to the state grants, I can agree with your view to some extent. Now we are merging many of the state grants so that municipalities do not need to apply for a state grant for special teachers, a state grant for school social teams, and a state grant for teacher assistants. The more grants we merge, the smaller the bureaucratic burden for the municipalities will be.

Then I believe we can merge more grants. I would like to see us move towards more general state grants to the schools. The challenges are different in Piteå, Malmö, Lund, and Göteborg. I would like to see us direct the state grants a bit more generally to the schools, and then the schools can choose what is important.

I do not believe there is any contradiction in the municipalities cooperating. Does every municipality have to have an emergency school? It is completely unreasonable to build an emergency school for one student here, zero students in another municipality, and three students there. This is about municipalities merging and cooperating and coordinating their resources so that they can be utilized in the best way. Then we also utilize the teachers' competence in the best way.

I thank the member for the pleasant questions, and I wish you all a pleasant weekend.

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

Niels Paarup-Petersen (C)

Madam Speaker! I would like to begin by moving for approval of reservation 2 in UbU9 and reservation 4 in UbU16.

It is funny that so many people talked about school meals. I noted that one is apparently supposed to start by saying: "When I was a child..."

I come from a country where school meals didn't even exist. We had disgusting sandwiches with us from home that lay in a warm bag during the entire school day until they were to be eaten. Rye bread with spegepølse – tasty, but not after three hours in a warm school bag.

Vegetarian food is a blessing in comparison. Then I think that people should be able to choose for themselves. There I am perhaps not quite on the Miljöpartiets line.

But this is not a school meal report, no, this report is called Teachers and students. That is where we are to focus today's debate, even though we have talked about many other things.

I want to start with the students. If people have forgotten, it is for them that the school is for, not for various ideas about school meals.

The students deserve a schooling that is primarily about them. They deserve politicians who care that the school they encounter is the best possible one, built on knowledge, evidence, and a profession, not on today's feelings of ministers. It is important, and it is the path we must walk.

In order for students to have the best possible schooling, we also need to defend student influence, which under this government is under constant attack despite that of all things in Swedish school is perhaps the most Swedish value. It is that which has built Swedish school since the 50s. It is that which makes Swedish school endure and that we still have a school that is actually better than almost all other countries, at least if one looks at the students who are born in Sweden.

We are also better at taking care of many of those who have come from outside, but we have very many who have come from outside. This has caused the general results to have become weaker and the challenges to have been greater – definitely.

If you care about the students, you must also be able to say that far too many students are not passing school today. Records are being broken under the Tidö government. Never before in Swedish history have so many left Swedish school without passing and being able to proceed to upper secondary school as under the Tidö government.

We then ask the government: Should not these students, if they have an average that is passing, be allowed to enter the vocational programs, as you think it should work in perhaps five or six years, with a new grading system etcetera? Then the answer is no. There are 100,000 more students who will have finished Swedish school by the time this is in place.

We say that there are solutions that could change this now. Those who have passed and who you think should be allowed to go to school in five years could be allowed to do so already next year. But the government says no. It is actually not about caring about the students and their best interests. It is the value for me.

Then it is about the teachers. I believe we all agree that it is the teachers who create the conditions for the students to then succeed in school and get something out of being there, beyond friends.

There must be much more building on trust and confidence in the profession than today, without various finger-pointing regarding how one teaches. We definitely shall not in the chamber of the Riksdag define what is the correct method. Think if, through science, other methods are arrived at in a few years. Then we would have to go through a three- or four-year legislative process with investigations to arrive at the conclusion that it is now new science that applies. So we cannot steer. It is not a suitable way to steer a school operation. Even if we agree that it is correct methods that are applied, it is not us who shall define science. I can, not least after this debate, say that there are very many who are far from knowing what it entails.

If you want better and more teachers, it is actually time to invest in the school. The government says that it is investing in the school, but it is only by counting in all possible subsidies to families with children that the government even comes close to investing in the school. All parties outside the government invest more. The Center Party actually uses 10 billion less in total in the budget, because we believe, in contrast to the government, the Social Democrats and other parties, that one should take responsibility for the Swedish economy. Still, we succeed in investing more in the school. I think that is something one can take away. It is possible to invest in the school.

It also means that those who are unqualified must be educated so that they become qualified. And it means that we must demand that all teachers be qualified. This is possible to do. But the government says no. Why? Because they fundamentally think that other things are more important. What is it then that they think is more important? Well, punishment, school uniforms and nice buildings are apparently much more important than teachers for school results in Swedish schools.

I am skeptical, but it is not because we do not believe that beautiful buildings are important. I completely agree. There is a reason why the Swedish Riksdag has been built beautifully; it is because one wants to show that what we do here is important and the democratic foundation for Swedish society.

The reality is that Sweden has the most unauthorized students in the entire EU and OECD, and the number also constitutes a Swedish record right now. We have the largest proportion of teachers in the entire OECD and EU who are not fully qualified – and they want to train fewer teachers. We have the most students who are suffering – and they want to remove their influence over their everyday lives.

Then I and the Center Party think it is insane to go out and say that we are now going to invest in what the school looks like, that is, not in the teachers who are in the classroom but in the entrance one walks through. I want to say it as clearly as possible that this is not what makes a difference.

Yes, Madam Speaker and the Liberals, of course school buildings should be beautiful, even magnificent, when they are built. But the problem right now is that schools are being closed all over the country. That is the real problem. Beautiful buildings do not actually solve the teacher shortage. High ceilings do not compensate for low wages. And a grand entrance does not help at all the student who does not get to leave school with passing grades and move on to upper secondary school.

That is why I and many others, including among the teachers, become irritated when we hear a government that saves on the school in this way, undermines the trust in the teachers, and goes around poking at all sorts of details go out and say that we should, instead of investing in the teachers and ensuring that there are more qualified teachers, invest and focus on how the surface looks. I believe that irritates many because it defines the very challenge with the government's policy: It is superficial. That is the problem.

(Applause)

(cont. § 9)

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