Response to interpellation 2023/24:175 on initiatives to strengthen the engineering nation Sweden
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
L proposes an industrial strategy and a STEM strategy to strengthen the engineering nation Sweden 1. L intends to increase the compensation amounts for education within natural sciences and technology to increase teacher-led time and quality 1 2. L also prioritizes funds for more places within the university college (yrkeshögskolan) and vocational adult education 1. L argues that the investments are national and that the green transition is occurring throughout the country 2 3. L believes that the investment provides more places in technical education in northern Sweden 4. L emphasizes that the investments at Luleå Technical University and Umeå University are important because the needs are great there 4. S argues that the expansion of places in engineering education ends up in southern Sweden despite the fact that the needs are greatest in the north 5 6 7. S believes that the government misunderstands how the expansion in Lund benefits the competence supply in the north 5 6 7.
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! Linus Sköld has asked me how I intend to act to meet the immediate and long-term need for engineers in northern Sweden.
In Norrbotten and Västerbotten counties, an extensive new industrialization is underway linked to fossil-free production and electrification. The Government sees great opportunities for northern Sweden to lead the new industrial revolution and become an engine for green innovations.
The Government intends to develop a strategy for the new industrialization and societal transformation in Norrbotten and Västerbotten counties. The investments in northern Sweden are key investments for the industry's transition, with a focus on raw materials and products that are early in the value chain and thus constitute input materials that are crucial for the entire country's industrial transition and competitiveness. The Government also intends to develop an industrial strategy.
To manage the challenge of securing the right competencies to enable the green transition, efforts are needed in research and higher education. To attract students to higher education, investments in education at the primary and secondary school levels are also required. The possibility of retraining and education also needs to be strengthened. For that reason, the government in the proposal for the 2024 budget has prioritized funds for more places within both the university college and the vocational adult education.
Mr. Speaker! Sweden needs more people studying at higher education institutions in the fields of education that are grouped under the term STEM: Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. The Government has therefore begun the work of developing a STEM strategy, which spans the entire education system from preschool to doctoral studies and research.
In the budget bill for 2024, the government proposes several different initiatives for education and research that shall strengthen the engineering nation Sweden and meet the great competence needs. Among other things, an expansion of the civil engineering programs and an increase of the compensation amounts for education within natural sciences and technology are proposed.
The increase in the compensation amounts for education within natural sciences and technology will enable more teacher-led time and access to educational environments that can equip students for their future professional lives. The quality initiative covers 100 million kronor in 2024, 200 million kronor in 2025, and 305 million kronor in 2026. For this initiative, Luleå University of Technology receives 4 million kronor in 2024 and 12.4 million kronor in 2025. Umeå University receives 4 million kronor in 2024 and 13 million kronor in 2025, within the framework of that initiative.
In light of the rapid technological development, the opportunities for transition and further education for those who have already completed an engineering education also need to be improved. Therefore, in the budget for 2024, the government also proposes a broader investment of 93 million kronor to permanently expand education at an advanced level at several higher education institutions. Both Luleå tekniska universitet and Umeå universitet are included in this investment. For 2024, Luleå tekniska universitet receives 5 million kronor and Umeå universitet receives 4.5 million kronor within the framework of that investment.
The Government follows the ongoing developments and also follows previous and ongoing initiatives in the matter.
Linus Sköld (S)
Mr. Speaker! I thank Mats Persson for the opportunity to debate the engineering educations and the investments in them.
In this issue, there are common points of contact between the government's policy and our own. No one denies the need to strengthen Sweden's position as an engineering nation. But this debate is about where the expansion of engineering education ends up. The government communicated this initiative as a measure to meet the competence needs that the green transition entails. The green transition – the transition of industry to climate-neutral processes – has come furthest and is located furthest north. But the investments to strengthen engineering education land furthest south.
Mats Persson falsely claims that the government prioritizes funds for more places in the vocational education at komvux - if by more places he means that more people should be able to educate themselves for the money that is set aside, it is incorrect to claim that. After having claimed this, he responds by talking about completely different things.
Let us break this down. What the government itself calls the engineering package in the budget has, when it comes to higher education and research, five components: more places in engineering programs, foundation courses so that more people can become eligible to enter an engineering program, strategic research within technical research, a quality payment to those who conduct engineering programs to get more learning time and thus better throughput, and finally more programs at an advanced level so that those who are already engineers can further their education.
Three of these five components in the engineering package are prioritized for three designated universities, and they are not Luleå and Umeå. Those that are designated are Lund, Chalmers in Gothenburg, and Uppsala. They are large universities that admittedly have well-reputed technical educations, that is not the point. But it will not make it easier for us to provide competence for Northvolt or H2 Green Steel or LKAB or SSAB in the transition processes they are in now.
Mats Persson is answering a different question than the one I am asking. How will the expansion of places in the engineering programs in Lund facilitate the competence supply for H2 Green Steel in Boden? That is the question Mats Persson needs to answer, not how much of the quality money ends up in Luleå. That was not what I was asking.
I will assume that the minister is not trying to mislead or deceive me but has simply misunderstood the question. Now he has another attempt. How does he intend for this to benefit the competence supply for the green transition in the north?
Utbildningsministern Mats Persson (L)
Mr. Speaker! I would like to thank the interpellor Linus Sköld.
The government is now carrying out the largest investment in modern times on technical education and engineering education. It is the largest and most important investment we have seen on the floor of the Riksdag in very many years.
Our country is an engineering nation, and the engineering nation Sweden needs large investments in education on the technical side. The Government chooses to do this in a broad way, that is, through a number of different measures. The Member of Parliament highlights several of them in his contribution. It is a whole. There is not just one proposal that solves the problems, but a number of different measures are needed.
For example, the government is now, for the first time in 15 years – we have inherited the problems from the previous government – increasing the compensation to all universities and colleges around our country, so that they can conduct more teacher-led instruction within all technical educations, not least engineering educations. This also applies to the teacher training in mathematics, to take a concrete example. It is a broad initiative aimed at raising the quality of the educations, so that more of those who begin an engineering education also complete it, so that fewer drop out.
The second thing we are doing is also major investments in education at an advanced level, so that people who already have some form of education can further their education in the middle of life or build on their competence after having completed a bachelor's degree or equivalent. This investment is also national and covers more or less all higher education institutions, not least the two institutions in Norrbotten and Västerbotten counties, Umeå and Luleå, which the member mentions. These are investments that will also reach the universities. It is an important part of the large reform package that will now be decided upon.
It is about 1.5 billion that will be allocated to the technical educations over the next three years. It is the largest investment in modern times.
In addition to that, there are some targeted initiatives for certain specific universities and research efforts. This is linked to the fact that the application pressure to these institutions is very high, while other institutions have the conditions to have more places in the engineering education without the need to allocate new money.
Overall, this means more educational places throughout our country, not least in northern Sweden because the needs are very large there. I believe that many people see the need for this. And the response to the government's investments in this has been very positive.
Mr. Speaker! Last but not least: I welcome that the Social Democrats also welcome these initiatives and say they stand behind them. It is because there are enormous needs that we must do something about.
Linus Sköld (S)
Mr. Speaker and Minister! That does not actually answer the question about educational places. I still have no objections to the concentration of resources when it comes to technical education. I look forward to the STEM strategy that the government indicates they are working on. I hope that it will contain things that the Social Democrats can also stand behind. We are, as said, in agreement that we need to continue to have a strong position as a technologically advanced country – the engineering country Sweden, as Mats Persson calls it.
What I am asking about is how an expansion of places in Lund is to lead to a better supply of engineers in Luleå or, for that matter, Skellefteå. Mats Persson consistently avoids answering that question and instead talks about other things. It is concerning.
Mats Persson must have added many years of investments into the 1.5 billion. That kind of sum is not what it is about for 2024 or 2025. One must have added how much money it becomes annually over a longer period of time.
The investments that are prioritized for certain universities – the three identified are Lund, Chalmers and Uppsala – apply to more places in engineering programs. It also applies to foundation year programs, so that more people will become eligible to enter the engineering program. And it applies to the strategic research investments.
What other educational institutions will receive is a quality payment. I do not deny the need for more teacher-led time so that we can achieve better throughput in the engineering programs. It is very welcome. This also applies to more programs at an advanced level. I also do not deny the need for better opportunities for transition, so that people can further their education at an advanced level. It is commendable and good.
But why are the other three components for higher education and research located geographically so far from the places where the needs are greatest, if the purpose is to solve the skills supply in the green transition? That is the question I want an answer to, Mats Persson.
Utbildningsministern Mats Persson (L)
Mr. Speaker! As has been said, these are investments that concern the entire country and that encompass more or less all educational institutions. They will get to take part in the investments. It is a national raising of the ambition level that corresponds to 1.5 billion over the next three years. All students who are studying a technical education at our educational institutions will benefit from it. It also means that there will be specific investments targeted also at the educational institutions that the member highlights. They can also be targeted towards the green transition.
We are seeing the green transition right now in our entire country. I think the perspective of pitting different regions against each other is an unfortunate framing. We see, in fact, that several of the business establishments that are occurring and have occurred in Sweden in recent years are taking place in northern Sweden, but also in southern Sweden and in central Sweden. It is a national perspective and national investments that are required to get this in place.
I do not, therefore, agree with the member's view that the green transition is occurring only in northern Sweden. It is occurring in our entire country. Several of the companies that are active in northern Sweden are now applying for and want to build operations in southern Sweden, which I welcome. It is a matter of recognizing the power in what is happening both in northern Sweden and in our entire country. In that case, educational initiatives are needed all around our elongated country, both in the north and in the south.
Linus Sköld (S)
Mr. Speaker! Once again, the Minister misunderstands or chooses to misinterpret what I say. I am not saying that the green transition is happening only in northern Sweden. But the green transition is happening first and has come furthest in northern Sweden. The competence supply needs are also hardest to fill in northern Sweden.
It is in northern Sweden that the economic boom seems to persist, despite a declining economy in the rest of the country. Norrbotten and Västerbotten still have a gross regional product that is increasing. At the same time, the out-migration seems to persist. One could choose to do something about it by facilitating the supply of skills where the needs are greatest.
Despite Mats Persson saying that these are investments that will benefit the whole country, it states in the government's own budget bill that the three components in this package that I have pointed out are prioritized for Lund, Chalmers, and Uppsala, not for the whole country. It is almost 100 miles from Luleå to Uppsala. If you travel from Kiruna, it is probably another 40 miles. It is not prioritized where the needs are greatest. The investments in research, the investments in basic research, and the investments in more locations do not end up where the needs are greatest.
Mats Persson continues to pretend that it is an initiative for the whole country and attributes to me the opinion that the green transition is not happening anywhere other than the very far north. I think that Mats Persson should address what I say instead of making up that I am saying something else.
Utbildningsministern Mats Persson (L)
Mr. Speaker! I understand that it is frustrating for the Social Democrats to watch as we now make the largest investment in the engineering nation Sweden in modern times. I understand that it is difficult to welcome it and that one instead constantly wants to find faults and question. I understand that it lies in the opposition's DNA, but I appeal to the opposition to try to act in Sweden's best interest and realize that this is something that everyone wins from.
The initiative provides more places in technical education in northern Sweden. This does not mean that we believe – or that anyone believes – that it is just a matter of expanding education in three locations and that it solves the problem. In this package for an engineering nation Sweden, large educational expansions for northern Sweden and the green transition are included. This is important because the needs are great there.
It is about investments in Luleå University of Technology, and it is about Umeå University. It is also about investments in vocational education, where the government is now tailoring - or more clearly pointing out - that more places should go towards the green transition and the technological shift that is occurring. This means to a large extent that more people can be educated for the jobs that will exist in northern Sweden.
I appeal to the opposition to welcome this. It is the largest investment in modern times. We are investing 1.5 billion in the coming years. There will be more teacher-led hours in the technical education. It is increasing for the first time in 15 years. Welcome it, please, for Sweden's sake!
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.