Response to interpellation 2023/24:104 on universities in Dalarna
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
The debate concerns Dalarna University's status and its role for Sweden's competitiveness 1. L argues that the government is investing in quality and that decisions on university status require long-term considerations, stable state financial conditions, and agency analysis rather than individual politicians' assessments 1 2. L emphasizes that it is the historically large education investments that are most important 3 and questions whether individual politicians should decide on status changes 3. S argues that the university meets all criteria for a university and that a status change would strengthen the county's brand and support the green transition 4. S believes that it is appropriate to pursue the issue as the university has an extensive and high-quality operation 5.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Utbildningsministern Mats Persson (L)
Mr. Speaker! Peter Hultqvist has asked me what measures I intend to take to support the development at Högskolan Dalarna and pave the way for future status as a university.
I welcome the debate on higher education and research. Dalarna University today plays an important role for higher education and research in Dalarna but also for the entire country's competence supply. Knowledge and competence are crucial if Sweden as a country is to be competitive. Dalarna University is located in a dynamic region where several large companies are investing in establishing and expanding their operations. With its well-developed collaboration and co-production, the university has good conditions to continue being a key player in the region and an important piece of the puzzle for Sweden's competitiveness.
The government's long-term policy is based on strengthening Sweden as a competitive education and research country. The government's goal is that education and research at universities and colleges shall maintain a high quality from an international perspective and be conducted efficiently. Academic freedom shall be promoted and protected. If Sweden is to continue to develop as a knowledge nation, we need to make wise and long-term investments that strengthen the quality of education and research at our universities and colleges.
It is up to the government to decide on the designation university. Such decisions shall be made after a balanced assessment where quality is an important aspect. There are assessments based on societal development at large, for example demographic fluctuations and strategic research initiatives. It is also crucial that decisions to convert colleges into universities involve long-term considerations and stable state financial conditions. In addition, there must, of course, be strong educational and research policy reasons.
The government has made several initiatives to improve the quality of Swedish education and research. Among other things, we have decided to task the Swedish Council for Higher Education, UKÄ, with further strengthening quality and promoting excellence in the national quality assurance system. We have also ensured that a targeted initiative has been launched to expand engineering programs and strengthen quality. These types of initiatives strengthen higher education in Sweden and will also benefit Dalarna University.
Peter Hultqvist (S)
Mr. Speaker! Dalarna University has 13,936 students and 820 employees. The base is in Falun and Borlänge. The operations meet the criteria to be a university. The criteria are successful establishment of education at the research level, management of permits for degrees at the research level, high quality of education, high quality of research, and high quality of collaboration. Then, a weighted assessment of both long-term state financial conditions as well as educational policy and research policy reasons is added.
I want to add that Dalarna University has a competitive edge when it comes to language education. They have a large range. Only Stockholm University has a larger range.
Högskolan Dalarna meets the criteria on all points. The cooperation with the business sector in the county is also well-developed. A very large proportion of the students continue their professional lives in Dalarna after completing their education.
There are four main directions. We have programs to become energy, construction, data, and production engineers. We have four research training areas, teacher training, programs in nursing and energy and microdata analysis. We have specific program courses in technology with 1,600 students in energy technology, construction technology and production technology as well as data and systems science.
At the same time, Dalarna as a county is currently in a process where Hitachi in Ludvika has an enormously large investment of 137 billion. We have a transition following the closed Kvarnsveden paper mill in Borlänge where Northvolt is making a huge investment to be able to set up a new factory. These are things that have been achieved without support packages. At the same time, that type of investment is part of what can be called the green transition.
Supporting this by having a university in the county and providing increased research funds would strengthen the county's brand, facilitate and support the development of the investments, and have a positive effect regarding the personnel supply in the long term. For me, this is not a short-term issue but a long-term strategic issue. It is about attracting labor to Dalarna and supporting the local business community in such a way that the development power is maintained and developed. To that end, a step-by-step increase in academic competence is needed.
This is a decision that would support the green transition in Dalarna. But it also contributes across the board. The two investments that I mention are real future investments that also have an impact on Sweden's export revenues. They are also part of a new industrialization of Sweden.
I also want to remind [you] of the cooperation between municipalities, the business sector, and higher education that has long existed within the framework of Dalarna Science Park. There, there is a development environment that has contributed very positively and which is about precisely future thinking.
I think the minister should take the opportunity to move the positions forward here and ensure that Högskolan Dalarna receives the university status that it is qualified for.
Utbildningsministern Mats Persson (L)
Mr. Speaker! One cannot underestimate MP Hultqvist's commitment to Dalarna. I understand the commitment that Peter Hultqvist, as a Member of Parliament from Borlänge, has for Dalarna and its regional interests.
The government's task is to have a greater interest than merely the regional one. We have to take responsibility for all of Sweden and have a national perspective on this, which differs from the perspective of the member from Dalarna.
The green transition is very important. Therefore, the government is now making the largest investments in educational initiatives in modern times linked to the green transition. For the first time in 15 years, funds are being allocated to increase the quality of our technical education, to get more teacher-led hours in our engineering programs and in natural science subjects. We are making targeted investments linked to battery research in close cooperation with the industry. We are making targeted investments in 6G technology, which will have a direct impact on the green transition.
Now steps are being taken that have not been taken in modern times. The policy under previous governments has been passive and has not acted, but now steps are being taken that have not been done before. It will, as said, for the first time in 15 years be more teacher-led hours at the technical educations at our colleges and universities.
To that shall be added the massive investments that are now being made in educational initiatives for adults, that is, adult education, in not least the university college, also linked to the green transition. All around our country, large investments are being made to expand the education system.
The reasons why colleges that are functioning well, in this case Högskolan Dalarna, must take the step and become universities are not entirely obvious to me. It is also interesting that the member makes the assessment that Högskolan Dalarna manages to meet the criteria to be a university. It may be that the member holds that opinion. But Sweden is not a banana republic. We are a society built on order and regularity. It is required that independent authorities, not an individual member from Dalarna, carry out such an analysis and assessment.
Lastly, I want to say that I share Peter Hultqvist's commitment to the green transition. Dalarna is important not only for Dalarna but also for the entire country. It is naturally important to make massive educational efforts, and it is not a single politician who decides or judges whether a college should take the step to become a university without the authorities making that assessment. As Peter Hultqvist surely knows, a decision was made in May 2022 by the previous government which means that the authorities assess whether an educational institution meets the quality requirements that apply for a college to be able to take the step to become a university.
Peter Hultqvist (S)
Mr. Speaker! I think it is a rather strange answer that Mats Persson gives me. I am trying to ask a serious question regarding how one can contribute constructively to the development of Dalarna as a county, present a proposal about something that has national significance, and report huge investments that are not just about Ludvika and Borlänge but actually about Sweden and its export income.
What the minister contributes is an approach where he first tries to diminish the value of the question I put forward by talking about how he has some kind of broad national interest and I only a local-regional perspective. I have been involved in politics for nearly 50 years. I certainly understand the national perspective. I also see in these contexts the national significance such a decision could have. I think it is poor of the minister to have that approach.
The Minister also introduced the banana republic perspective. I have not placed this at that level. I can only state that at Högskolan Dalarna there is activity of high quality and that there is evidence that it meets all the criteria I initially presented. Ultimately, it is a government decision and a political will that decides the matter.
I have respect for the fact that this is to be analyzed by authorities and so on, but I would like to urge the Minister to raise the level and respect that a question is being posed that is seriously intended and comes from a development perspective. I think it is low to reduce my interest to some kind of local-regional level and that it would be a banana republic argument. I am actually surprised that the Minister takes on this from that perspective.
Of course, one can spend time listing how much the government does regarding the green transition, but now it is about two huge investments that are part of the practical green transition and which need to be supported by the development of the educational institution at the academic level in the county. The question is what the government can contribute to support the development in the long term.
I have a proposal that is very concrete. It is that the higher education activities that are documented to be good and which in many respects meet the quality requirements could also serve as the basis for university status. It is clear that this has a great impact and great significance. This is therefore not just some ordinary decision but a big step forward. If the minister does not consider the activities at Högskolan Dalarna to be sufficient, he will have to report what it is in the activities that do not live up to quality measures and the like.
Change the attitude in the next post, Minister! Raise the level of the debate and do not talk about how I would only have a local perspective or if this is a banana republic. It does not suit a minister. He must rise above it.
Utbildningsministern Mats Persson (L)
Mr. Speaker! Thank you for that, Peter Hultqvist! I take the liberty of presenting my arguments as I wish to present them, and if the member has views on that, the member is welcome to present them.
I respond to the member's interpellation and the member's question, and I note that very large green investments are taking place in Sweden right now, all around our country. Several of them are taking place in Dalarna. Investments are also taking place in Gothenburg, Stockholm, Skåne and along the Norrland coast in both Sundsvall and Skellefteå, Luleå etcetera. All around our country, large industrial establishments are taking place linked to the green transition. It is incredibly welcome, and it is also why the government is taking a number of different measures linked to the entire education system, both universities and colleges as well as vocational training, to meet the type of needs that different industrial establishments have.
In this situation, it is important that there are trained individuals within both higher education and vocational training to be able to meet, for example, the large investment that Hitachi Energy is making in Ludvika. It is a whole that the government promotes in the policy we pursue and which became very clear in the budget decision, which now entails historical investments in education linked to the green transition.
One aspect that Peter Hultqvist highlighted is that, given the industrial establishment that has taken place in Dalarna, there are grounds to change the status of Högskolan Dalarna to a university.
Firstly, it is the member who makes the assessment that there is sufficient quality in the college for it to be able to become a university, and I do not believe that individual politicians should take a stand based on their own assessment. We shall let the authorities perform that analysis. It is also based on a parliamentary decision that Peter Hultqvist himself, in his capacity as minister in the previous Social Democratic government, was involved in placing before the Riksdag. The member surely wants to live up to his own decision to follow the authorities' recommendations? The question was whether an individual politician decides this or whether it is the authorities who make an assessment.
Secondly, it is naturally also important that Dalarna University of Applied Sciences itself, that is, the management and the board, has an interest in changing its role from a university of applied sciences to a university. As far as I am aware, no such proposals, letters, or requests have come in from the management – neither from the rector nor from the board.
I believe it is important that we have order and clarity in our systems. If we are to make large investments in education linked to the green transition – which is currently being done in the form of enormous investments, which I believe will be needed even more in the future – we must also have respect for the fact that we have a system where we safeguard academic freedom and have order and clarity. Individual politicians' assessments of how things are should not be guiding; instead, we should listen to academia and the authorities.
Peter Hultqvist (S)
Mr. Speaker! I do not know if the Minister believes that I live in some kind of general vacuum. It is clear that I have spoken with both board members and the principal in this context and then discussed various development opportunities. I have also had a meeting with the college management in Dalarna. As a Member of Parliament, one has those types of relationships. One does not act in one's own interest.
Now I noted that the banana republic was gone from the reasoning and that the dimension that I was only to be some kind of local and regional representative in a literal sense was also missing. On the other hand, it remained that I in some way was not to accept the authorities. But it is clear that there is an order for how this is to be decided. It is quite clear that such an order exists, and those analyses must, of course, be made.
It cannot be forbidden or incorrect to pursue an issue. It is free to raise this issue with the minister. The minister may, of course, answer in the way he himself considers reasonable and well-considered. Then one may have different opinions. But I believe that the question of university status for Högskolan Dalarna will return to the minister in different contexts and in different forms. It is probably not concluded by virtue of this debate. I hope that it is then the purely factual level that will apply.
The reason I am bringing up these investments is that it is a matter of big things that, in the long term, need a lot of support educationally. This college has developed very much since the start and has an extensive, large and high-quality operation as well as successful research parts. There is, therefore, a basis for raising the issue of universities.
Utbildningsministern Mats Persson (L)
Mr. Speaker! I thank Peter Hultqvist for the interpellation debate. The debate on this will continue. I do not believe that the most important thing is whether a college gets a changed status and becomes a university, but the most important thing is that we make the historically large education investments that we are making right now.
I think this debate shows an ideological dividing line in the view of academic freedom versus individual politicians stepping in and pointing with the whole hand and deciding how something should be. Given the historical experience we have, not least of how Högskolan Dalarna has been treated politically by previous governments, it is clear that it is extra sensitive how we handle these types of issues. We all remember how the management at Högskolan Dalarna a few years ago, from the perspective of the students and teachers, wanted to concentrate the operations to a part of the region, but the government forbade the free academy from making that decision. The government pointed with the whole hand, ran over the management at Högskolan Dalarna and said that the operations should be in a certain specific location, namely Borlänge. We all remember that history as one of the most flagrant interferences in academic freedom in Sweden in modern times.
With that fund and against that background, one can ask whether it is individual politicians who should decide whether the status should be changed from college to university, or whether it should be something that the free academy and our independent agencies take responsibility for and decide on.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.