Improved access to learning materials
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
L wants students to have access to high-quality textbooks to increase equality and relieve the teaching staff 1. L wants to see increased state funding through a targeted government grant 2 and considers the proposal well-balanced 3. L argues that it is not strange that university students do not have the right to free learning materials 3 and that it is not profitable to let Skolverket review the content of all books 4. V argues that the government's austerity budget means that the money goes toward covering the municipalities' budget gaps 5. S wants students to have access to learning materials adapted to their needs 6 and considers it regrettable that students at komvux and sfi do not receive free learning materials 7. S argues that the Liberals have low ambitions in the matter 7. C considers that the investment punishes municipalities that have already invested a lot 8 and argues that it is better to hire teachers than to invest in textbooks 8. C wants a central review board for learning materials.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Speakers (13)
Fredrik Malm (L)
Madam Speaker! I would like to begin by moving for the approval of the proposal in the report.
Madam Speaker! The question of teaching materials is very important for Sweden, for the Swedish school system, for teachers, for students and not least for parents. For many years, the Swedish school has not prioritized textbooks. According to a report that came a few years ago from Lärarförbundet and Lärarnas Riksförbund - those who have now merged into Sveriges Lärare - Sveriges Elevråd and Sveriges Elevkårer, one in five teachers lacks the necessary teaching materials to be able to conduct sustainable teaching. Also a few years ago, Lärarnas Riksförbund conducted a survey among teachers which showed that teachers in the Swedish school spend an average of 80 hours per year preparing their own teaching materials, which are therefore not quality-assured by teaching material companies.
This is not sensible. We know that high-quality textbooks help students in their studies, increase equality in schools, relieve the teaching staff, and are a great support to parents who help children with homework. Yet, Swedish municipalities and independent schools have invested so little.
There is something called the Learning Materials Barometer (Läromedelsbarometern) which is compiled by the learning materials companies. The statistics they compile are the most uniform we have at our disposal, and there we can see how much – rather how little – resources are spent on learning materials in the Swedish primary school, broken down by municipality.
The latest year the Learning Materials Barometer has reported figures for is 2021. At that time, only 859 kronor per pupil was spent on average in Swedish primary schools on learning materials. It was still an increase from previous years. We are therefore talking about 859 kronor per pupil on learning materials in all subjects during one school year. That is, I can inform you, less than what a subscription to the newspaper Bamse costs - namely 940 kronor.
One can also compare with our neighboring countries. When Swedish students received learning materials worth an average of 859 kronor, the figure for students in Norway was more than 1,600 kronor on textbooks per school year. In Finland, the figure is more than 1,400 kronor per student.
Madam Speaker! From the Liberals' side, we made major investments in textbooks in our budgets when we sat in opposition. After the change of power in the autumn, the new school minister immediately got to work on major investments in teaching materials and reading. This is happening in several steps.
The first step is to increase the resources. That is the easiest; it is just a matter of allocating funds. The second step is what we are debating today, namely to clarify students' right to textbooks and learning materials and to clarify the definitions of them in the Education Act. After that, the government will make decisions to strengthen school libraries and initiatives to purchase fiction for schools. These are just a few examples of what we are doing to increase the desire to read among young people, to strengthen students' knowledge, and to raise the results in the Swedish school system.
In the budget proposal for this year, 680 million kronor were allocated to a targeted state grant for textbooks. In the budget for next and subsequent years, a permanent investment of 555 million kronor annually will be made on textbooks. This corresponds to approximately 1 million textbooks per year. It is necessary and very welcome.
One can note, however, that some municipalities do not seem to prioritize textbooks particularly highly. One example is the red-green government in Göteborg. They wanted to make large cuts to teaching materials during this year. This led to an outcry and articles in Göteborgs-Posten. The Liberals actively pushed the issue, and at the very last moment, the left-wing government in Göteborg – reluctantly, it should actually be said – submitted an application to receive a share of the state grant.
In the city of Stockholm, it is even worse. There, the red-green government has currently only applied for 5 million kronor, despite having the right to 43.5 million kronor from the state grant based on the student base that the city of Stockholm has. The red-greens who govern in Stockholm are therefore choosing to forfeit, as it looks at the moment, 38.5 million kronor that could go towards textbooks for Stockholm's students. It is deplorable.
We need high-quality textbooks and for all students. The bill that this report concerns concerns the definition of teaching materials in the Education Act and clarification in the Education Act of students' right of access to teaching materials. The Government proposes that the Education Act should be supplemented with definitions of the terms teaching materials, textbook and teacher tools.
Educational materials shall be defined as a whole or partially printed or digital work intended to be used in teaching and that corresponds with relevant parts of the applicable course, subject or subject area plan and curriculum.
It must be published by someone who conducts publishing activities of a professional nature. It is quite important, because it ensures that it is primarily book publishers and educational publishers who produce teaching materials in Sweden. One can sometimes see examples of otherwise in Swedish schools.
A textbook, Madam Speaker, shall be defined as a printed teaching material with or without digital components. Learning tools shall be defined as textbooks, other teaching materials and other printed or digital works - it can be fiction, for example - as well as equipment and materials used in teaching.
The Government also proposes that it should be clarified in the Education Act that students shall have access to textbooks, other teaching materials, and other learning tools needed for good knowledge development in accordance with the objectives of the education, at no cost.
Furthermore, the ambition must, at least according to me and my party Liberalerna, be that all students shall also be able to keep their textbooks.
Daniel Riazat (V)
Madam Speaker, members and observers in the gallery! It is not every day that Fredrik Malm and I stand in this chamber and agree on an issue, I must say. It is a sign of health, at least for me.
At the same time, we know that the government, on one hand, says that one should invest in more learning materials. They are also injecting funds into the budget, I should say. One of the few positive parts one can see in the budget is the one regarding learning materials. But we who have sat as municipal politicians know that those funds will never go to learning materials because the government, on the other hand, is in the process of implementing an extreme austerity budget towards the municipalities. That is to say, the money that they are now pretending will go to learning materials will de facto go to covering the holes that the majority of the country's municipalities have regarding the budget.
What is Fredrik Malm, the Liberals, and the government thinking here? I have said it before, and I say it again: the Liberals have sat in power and had responsibility for school issues and for textbook issues for very many years. For approximately half of the last 20 years, it is the Liberals who have sat in power and had the power over the school issue and over the Ministry of Education.
It is good that one is now backing away from one's own policy and choosing to invest more in this and that one is changing the legislation. But how are the municipalities going to afford to have more textbooks when the Liberals, together with among others the Sverigedemokraterna, are slaughtering the school? Rural schools, suburban schools, and others will find it extremely tough to even have employees who can purchase these learning materials.
Fredrik Malm (L)
Madam Speaker! We municipalized the school more than 30 years ago. "We" is actually wrong. "You" is expressed more correctly, because it was Daniel Riazat's party and the Social Democrats who did this. This means that it is a municipal responsibility to ensure that there are textbooks in the school. It is the municipality's responsibility.
It is just that very many municipalities do not take that responsibility. Some do; others do not. The same applies to the independent schools. Some independent schools take that responsibility; others do not.
Then one can wonder, Madam Speaker. If the general government grant is increased, there is a rather large risk that the municipalities will do exactly what Daniel Riazat is worried about, namely cover other black holes in the budget and not let the money go to textbooks.
What we are doing now is introducing a targeted government grant. It is so that municipalities cannot do this. One also cannot reduce its own allocations in a municipality to compensate with government grants. Then nothing is gained; that is precisely what Daniel Riazat warns against. That cannot be done as this government grant is constructed, but it is based on calculating a municipality's right to funds based on the student base in the municipality relative to the whole country, and that one cannot reduce the allocations based on an average from the three most recent years.
It is precisely to ensure that what Daniel Riazat warns against does not occur that this state grant is designed as it is.
Daniel Riazat (V)
Madam Speaker! It is indeed the municipalities that have that responsibility.
At the same time, we know that the Liberals were in power and governed approximately half of the country's municipalities during the last mandate period. They carried out very large cuts, did not purchase learning materials, and laid off staff. They made large cuts in student health and various other things. We therefore know that that responsibility was not taken by the Liberals, nor by the Ministry of Education.
Everyone who is familiar with municipal finances and the Riksdag's budget also knows that even if appropriations are targeted, they will to a large extent need to be used for other things. Even if money is sought from various different municipalities, it will therefore be very difficult to carry this out because of the slaughter, quite simply, that you are performing in the budget.
In previous parliamentary terms when the Liberals have been part of the government, you haven't had teaching materials, but you have had teachers. In this parliamentary term, you seem to be aiming to not have teachers but to have teaching materials. I do not know if any of these thoughts are healthy for the Swedish school.
What would be needed is that you compensate the municipalities based on the laws that are implemented in the Swedish Riksdag. When we make decisions in the Swedish Riksdag that there shall be access to learning materials, then we must also ensure that the budget for the Swedish school in general is so good and originates so much from the needs that exist that it will be possible to manage to do this.
In this case, we will see a school that will remove school librarians. One will have to cut down on the number of teachers. One will have to remove all staff who are important and essential for the school. But then one will get some teaching materials.
I think educational materials are very good. Vänsterpartiet has, for about 15, 20 years, proposed what will now be implemented. But there must also be staff. There must be a budget in order to be able to handle this, and the government does not have it.
Fredrik Malm (L)
Madam Speaker! I agree with Daniel Riazat on one point: I would also like to see increased state funding for schools - in fact, entirely state-run if my party and I were to decide. It is also the Left Party's view now, as I understand it, that one should strive for state ownership for Swedish schools. This is in order to strengthen equality. Today we see very large differences between municipalities and between different schools.
But it is difficult to argue that Sweden, from the situation we have now, should compensate the municipalities for everything. The municipalities have responsibility for Swedish schools. Swedish schools are municipalized. Municipalities have tax tools. Municipalities may have saved money, not least during the pandemic years, so that they have surpluses in the barns. And municipalities can make their own priorities.
The problem is that Daniel Riazat's party friends in the City of Stockholm, together with the Social Democrats and the Green Party, have chosen to prioritize demanding only 5 million when they are entitled to 43.5 million to provide textbooks to the school students in the City of Stockholm. I criticize this.
Daniel Riazat claims and criticizes that there are liberal municipalities where the Liberals have been involved in governing that have saved on schools. Yes, they exist. There are left-wing party municipalities too. There is no party in this chamber that is free from guilt for having ever saved on schools in any of Sweden's 290 municipalities; I can guarantee that. I believe we are always equally critical when it needs to happen.
But there are also other factors that influence. It is impossible to fully compensate for inflation. It is completely impossible for a nation like Sweden, because then we fuel inflation even more. And if we have external crises and other things that affect the Swedish macroeconomy, it is a bit sad that one sort of makes it into daily politics when Sweden is also affected by global factors in a way that no government could fully counter.
Aylin Nouri (S)
Madam Speaker! Fredrik Malm spoke warmly about the importance of students having access to free learning materials. This goes hand in hand with what is stated on the Liberals' website: Access to high-quality learning materials is important for both teachers and students. Access to learning materials looks different today at different schools, and there are students who do not get access to up-to-date learning materials. That students get access to learning materials that are adapted to their needs is important so that every student shall have the opportunity to reach the grade criteria or the criteria for assessment of knowledge that apply.
Madam Speaker! The emphasis is therefore on the students. I am therefore somewhat surprised that the Läromedelsutredning's proposal regarding the right to free teaching materials for students in municipal adult education and SFI is not included in the government bill that is before the Riksdag. Do the Liberals not think that adult students should have free teaching materials? If the member believes that they should have it, which party is it then that has stopped the proposal from being included in the bill? In the report, it states that the proposal is still being processed in the Government Offices. What is it that is causing the delay?
Fredrik Malm (L)
Madam Speaker! Given how the Swedish school system looks, it is something else to be of age and attend municipal adult education with various supports from society where it is factored in that one should be able to cover additional costs. There is nothing that prevents a school within municipal adult education from offering free learning materials, but one has no obligation to provide them. On the other hand, one has the right to purchase learning materials at the price the school purchased them for. It would be a bit strange if those studying at komvux have the right to free learning materials while all those studying at university and college do not. I cannot see that that order would be preferable.
Our conclusion is that the proposal is well-balanced, and we vote for it.
Aylin Nouri (S)
Madam Speaker! It was unfortunate to hear Fredrik Malm be so clear that he is satisfied that the proposal that students at komvux and sfi should have the right to free learning materials is not included in the government bill. I felt a glimmer of hope when I read in the committee report that the proposal is being handled in the Government Offices, but here the Liberals are clear that this proposal is not important.
We Social Democrats do not agree, but point out exactly what the Educational Materials Inquiry points out: When students at komvux have to purchase expensive educational materials themselves, there is a risk that they do not do so, which negatively affects the teaching and the individual's opportunity for knowledge development. Municipal adult education is central, especially in these times. That these negative effects are accepted is regrettable, and I hoped that the Liberals had higher ambitions than that. We, at least, do.
Madam Speaker! I note that it states in the bill that the proposal does not involve any increase in ambition. That too is regrettable. But Fredrik Malm is welcome to elaborate on why he thinks that students at komvux and sfi have less need for free learning materials.
Fredrik Malm (L)
Madam Speaker! When one listens to the Social Democrats, one could believe they have been pushing this for all time. Now it happens to be the case that the bill we are debating is based on an investigation whose first report the Social Democrats received already in February 2021. But it didn't become a bill; instead, it ended up at the bottom of a filing cabinet in the Ministry of Education. When the Liberals then entered the ministry, we took immediate action to move forward with this, and we will also move forward with those parts of the investigation concerning the school libraries.
The Social Democrats did not want to see the targeted state grants we are now providing so that the municipalities can prioritize textbooks for the students. But what happens? Well, when it comes to Sweden's two largest municipalities with new red-green governments, in one case an application was received for the first time in the cabinet's tenure after the media began writing about the savings the Social Democrats intended to make on textbooks, and the City of Stockholm has only applied for a very small part of what it is entitled to in order to be able to provide school students with textbooks. It therefore becomes strange when the Social Democrats speak of ambitions. The Social Democrats have, unfortunately, been dragged forward to the position of thinking that textbooks in school are important.
Niels Paarup-Petersen (C)
Madam Speaker! In connection with the exchange of remarks that just took place, I thought I would mention that in a headline from January 2023, it states that Gothenburg, which is red-green, spends the most money on teaching materials in all of Sweden. It may be worth keeping in mind when one tries to draw simple conclusions from the speaker's chair.
What happens then if one spends a lot of money on learning materials? Well, in the government's new initiative, you get no money. All those municipalities that have not spent money on learning materials are rewarded, while the municipalities that have spent money on learning materials are punished. That is the consequence of how the grant is designed. Not only Gothenburg, but Linköping, Eskilstuna, and other municipalities that have really invested in learning materials and thus done what we all want, get no money because they have already invested. Fredrik Malm is absolutely convinced that the absolute best thing for the students in Eskilstuna, Linköping, and Gothenburg is textbooks. But it could also be that some teachers are about to be laid off and that is where the money was needed.
Malm is worried that teachers will be hired instead of books being purchased, but perhaps it is also good that teachers are hired. At least that is what I might think. I am not so worried about teachers being hired in Sweden's schools. I am worried that they are being laid off, because that is what we are seeing right now. If a school considers that it needs to retain a teacher instead of investing even more in textbooks, the school knows better than Member Malm what it needs to spend the money on.
Fredrik Malm (L)
Madam Speaker! First and foremost, I think it is very strange to pit teachers against textbooks in the way the Center Party does.
Niels Paarup-Petersen is completely right that in January 2023, Gothenburg invested the most in learning materials in Sweden, namely 2,049 kronor per pupil according to the latest Learning Materials Barometer. The reason for that was that the municipal councilor responsible for the school issue in Gothenburg was named Axel Darvik and belonged to the Liberals in a bourgeois government in Gothenburg. It is precisely this extensive investment in textbooks that the red-greens in Gothenburg want to reduce.
Just as Niels Paarup-Petersen notes, it is the case that if the municipalities lower the ambition regarding learning materials, they will have problems with the state grant. The point is, after all, that more should be invested in textbooks and learning materials.
Now we have managed to cover a bit of the cost for a subscription to the newspaper Bamse - which I mentioned in my speech, Madam Speaker. Now we are at least at a little over 1,000 kronor. But it would still require approximately 30 or 40 percent in additional additions to learning materials in Sweden before we are caught up with what Norway spent two years ago.
The need for investments in teaching materials must absolutely not be weighed against the question of teacher appointments – they naturally belong together. But the need will remain, and it will grow. Therefore, we want to make the targeted state grant of 555 million permanent going forward.
Niels Paarup-Petersen (C)
Madam Speaker! We agree that it is important to invest in teaching materials. I would, however, like to point out that it was actually Member Malm who pitted teachers against teaching materials in a previous speech. I still want to set that straight.
We agree on how important it is to invest in learning materials. I miss one final ambition: The learning materials inquiry mentioned that the right to learning materials should be included in the Education Act, but we still do not have any central review board. This is something that we from Centerpartiet have also submitted proposals for, so there I hope we can move forward.
When we previously raised this, Fredrik Malm's party leader Johan Pehrson stated that the School Inspectorate should instead go around the schools and look at all the books. Given that the School Inspectorate has limited resources and already has great difficulty reaching all the schools they would need to reach, I think it is a bit difficult to go around and check if all teaching materials are good or if they contain strange things about the Chinese government.
I hope that we can establish a central review board because we share the ambition that we should have good and many learning materials in school.
I want to return to the point that it is good that we invest in learning materials. But it must not be the case that the municipalities that have done the most to get more learning materials are punished, because that is the case today. In all activities, it applies that if one has invested very much in one thing over a period of five years, perhaps one needs to invest very much in another thing. But that part is completely gone.
It is very good that the Liberals were involved in getting good educational material initiatives through in Gothenburg. But that is also done in many other places. Perhaps one sees a need at a rural school or a suburban school to invest in teachers first and foremost, now that the government has cut the funding for schools. But then one receives a penalty.
Fredrik Malm (L)
Madam Speaker! It is probably only the Center Party that can see an increase of 680 million for this year for textbooks for Sweden's school students - and on 550 million next year and 550 million the year after - as a punishment. It is probably only the Center Party that has that view on this issue. It is very strange.
What Niels Paarup-Petersen raises regarding the review of teaching materials, however, I think is an important issue. We know how important it is that teaching materials maintain a high quality and that a quality review can be carried out. It should however be said that at least a bit over 90 percent of the physical textbooks are produced by three or four educational material companies in Sweden that are very serious. They are quite long processes. If one is to produce a new textbook in, for example, geography or mathematics in Sweden, it can be a lead time of four, five, or six years. It can also become even longer if the Riksdag makes changes to curricula and such, but that is another issue.
But I believe this must be weighed against the question of whether one wants to task Skolverket, which already has very large commitments, to also review the content of all textbooks in Sweden. My conclusion is that it might not really be worthwhile to do so.
But there is also the other aspect, which I touched upon briefly in my speech, namely the collection of statistics. The textbook companies are an interest actor for those who produce textbooks. This type of statistics on how much is invested in textbooks in different municipalities should also be held by an agency.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.