Response to interpellation 2023/24:39 on the study associations' efforts for integration into the labor market
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
The debate concerns the study associations' efforts for integration and the budget allocation for adult education. L proposes extensive state grants 1 and argues that the government has secured funds for refugees through the EU system 2. L claims that the government prioritizes education 3 and that their budget for folk high schools is at the same level as the government's 4. S considers the study associations to be a cornerstone for integration and argues that the government, through cuts, undermines their work 5. S argues that the Liberals' budget significantly reduces the support 6 and that the government is withdrawing 250 million kronor 7 8. S says no to the cut 8.
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)
Utbildningsministern Mats Persson (L)
Madam Speaker! Serkan Köse has asked me how I intend to act to ensure that student unions can continue to offer support to asylum seekers and foreign-born women and thereby promote skills development as well as contribute to a more sustainable and effective integration into Swedish society.
The Government proposes in the budget bill for 2024 that approximately 2.4 billion kronor be distributed in state grants to folk high schools and that approximately 1.7 billion kronor be distributed in state grants to study associations in 2024. The state support for adult education is thus proposed to also be extensive moving forward.
Madam Speaker! It is the Folkbildningsrådet that decides on the specific conditions for the state grant for folkbildning. There is nothing in the government's management of the state grant that prevents studieförbunden from continuing to offer support to asylum seekers and foreign-born women and thereby promoting skills development and contributing to a more sustainable and effective integration into Swedish society.
In addition to the state grant for adult education, civil society and other actors organize many other initiatives to provide, among other things, meaningful employment for asylum seekers while awaiting decisions on residence permits. In the budget bill for 2024, the government proposes, for example, a reinforcement of the funds for early interventions aimed at, among others, asylum seekers and persons with temporary protection under the mass exodus directive. The appropriation is proposed to increase by 20 million kronor in 2024 and is estimated to increase by 10 million kronor in 2025. The initiatives can, for example, involve language training, networking, and knowledge about Swedish society. The County Administrative Board coordinates the work and decides on state grants for the initiatives, which are usually carried out by civil society.
Madam Speaker! I understand that the reduced contribution will have consequences and require reprioritizations within the student unions. The Government proposes, for that very reason, a gradual reduction of the general state grant to student unions in order to give them time to adapt to the new conditions. But I want to emphasize here that the state support for student unions will also continue to be extensive and enable very important activities all over the country.
Serkan Köse (S)
Madam Speaker! Thank you, Minister for Education, for the answer! Folkbildning is not just a form of education. It is a foundation of our national identity, with roots that stretch far back into our history. Ever since the early years of the 1900s, when workers gathered in study circles to educate themselves and fight for their rights, folkbildning has constituted a platform for community, debate, and the pursuit of knowledge.
Madam Speaker! It is with study associations that the heart of this folk education tradition, this identity, has been shaped and preserved. Thanks to study associations, millions of Swedes have found both community and a voice. At the beginning of the 1900s, folk education and study associations such as Arbetarnas bildningsförbund emerged in parallel with the rise of the Swedish welfare state.
Studieförbunden have always been a bridge between citizens from all strata of society. Studieförbunden offer opportunities for those who may have lacked formal education during their early years or for those who wish to continue their learning journey through life.
Madam Speaker! Studieförbunden are not just educational institutions. They are places where the people's voice echoes, engagement takes shape, and the people's influence is felt.
In these times of rapid change, with technological and societal challenges, the role of the study associations has become even more critical. The study associations have adapted to the digital era, with online courses that offer qualitative education regardless of geographical or socioeconomic position.
Madam Speaker! Popular education does not only encompass traditional subjects. It also emphasizes critical thinking, civic engagement, and the survival of democracy. Such education is invaluable in a time characterized by disinformation and polarization.
Madam Speaker! Studieförbunden have been a central pillar in the integration process, especially for asylum seekers and foreign-born women. Studieförbunden have acted as bridge-builders between newcomers and Swedish society, particularly during challenging periods such as the corona pandemic. If we look back to 2016, when almost 80,000 asylum seekers came to Sweden, we see that studieförbunden stood in the front line and offered opportunities for education and social understanding.
Madam Speaker! The Swedish Government Offices' report from 2020 underlines the importance of the study associations. It shows how, thanks to the study associations' efforts, newcomers were able to be integrated faster into Swedish society, overcome exclusion, and strive towards work and further studies. Despite this insight and the clear need, the study associations now face potential cuts. If these become a reality, the budget for 2026 could decrease by half a billion from current levels. This could threaten the progress in integration work and undermine our tradition of lifelong learning.
In light of this, I would like to ask the Minister for Education: What is the real price of these savings? And why do we risk undermining the invaluable work of the student unions when their importance is so obvious and recognized?
Louise Thunström (S)
Madam Speaker! When the Minister for Culture reported on the budget at the Cultural Committee's meeting last week, one could read in the Minister's presentation that education is a bourgeois core task.
Madam Speaker! I grew up with the image of the educated bourgeoisie. I have always looked up to it. It has been something worth striving for for me. Even though as an adult I have not always shared the social analysis or the perception of which political reforms need to take place, the respect for the bourgeoisie's educational ideals has nevertheless been great for me – deep and broad knowledge within language, humanities and culture to refine the human being and make her a better social being, and responsibility, respect and thoughtfulness as a contrast to the fast, vulgar and populist. Through education, perspectives and the ability to analyze are broadened.
But where is the cultured bourgeoisie today? I can at least not see it in Sweden's Riksdag. This government shows nothing of the educational ideal that its predecessors held in such high regard.
Does this government even know what education means? Being educated is not the same as being schooled. Education in many ways stands in contrast to schooling. The goal of schooling is a specific and limited professional competence, while education aims to transform the human being and her inner capacity, freedom of thought, and moral and ethical views.
In a time when the labor market often demands more than formal knowledge, yes, even specifically demands it, this government takes further steps towards a material view of knowledge. In a time when democracy is threatened in many places in the world and in Europe, when trust in our commonality decreases, when the rift between city and country increases and when cohesion becomes ever more important, the government slaughters a third of that which carries education in large parts of this country.
I am fully aware that the task of politics is about prioritizing and that one cannot promise everything to everyone, as it is often expressed even though no one ever actually believes or has claimed it. But this is about something completely different.
The slaughter has been preceded by several years of criticism against study associations. It is with the Sweden Democrats at the forefront that cuts have been pushed through. The criticism is said to stem from the fact that fraud with the grants has occurred. We Social Democrats are the first to say that fraud must not occur, and we welcome the demands that are placed on follow-up and control.
But this, Madam Speaker, is about something else entirely. The cuts in the support to study associations are primarily rooted in the Sweden Democrats' ideology and political strategy. This is particularly noticeable in my neighboring municipality Uddevalla, where the SD government is removing all municipal funding for study associations.
If the government is serious about more people getting a job and their own livelihood, it is inconsistent with removing a large part of what enables those who are furthest from the labor market to get a chance. More paths are needed, not fewer, to move from exclusion to joy of life, work, studies, and one's own livelihood.
Therefore, I ask: What does the government actually mean by that education is a bourgeois core task?
Sofia Amloh (S)
Madam Speaker! I would like to thank my colleague Serkan Köse for the opportunity for this debate.
There are infinitely many stories about how important folkbildningen has been for incredibly many people. It is with great sadness that I and many across the country, in all 290 municipalities, receive the government's announcement that they want to dismantle folkbildningen and studieförbunden. There will be fewer people who get the opportunity to break their isolation and find themselves in a new and important context. There will be fewer people who get the opportunity to grow and free themselves from an exclusion.
Fewer people will get the opportunity to learn Swedish. Fewer people will get a new chance to enter society and the labor market. Fewer people will get the opportunity for freedom with this dismantling.
Madam Speaker! This should be seen in the light of the other parts of the budget. It is about the municipalities' possibilities for crime prevention work and being there where it is needed 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It will be difficult to find funding throughout the municipalities for what is needed, such as keeping the youth centers open when there is no mandatory legislation. The dismantling of the active labor market policy is another part of this budget that we are witnessing. In the Tidö Agreement, it has also been agreed to make changes to, for example, the Settlement Act, which has been incredibly important for shortening the time it takes for people to enter society.
These are just a few examples of how the government is hitting hard against the efforts that give people the opportunity to integrate. It is about giving people the chances that are needed. We cannot afford to take away chances or opportunities for people to establish themselves, enter society, find a sense of belonging, and enter the labor market.
The dismantling of folkbildningen is a fact in this budget. It is from January 1st that study associations in the country will receive 250 million less in appropriations. My question is: Would Mats Persson have carried out this dismantling of study associations if he did not have the Sverigedemokraterna hanging over his shoulder?
Linus Sköld (S)
Madam Speaker! The goal is that folkbildning (popular education) shall give everyone the opportunity, together with others, to increase their knowledge and education for personal development and participation in society. It is in this way that the goal for the folkbildning policy is stipulated and written down in the government's own budget. It sounds like an activity that would be quite good for integration, for personal development, and for participation in society.
It is no coincidence that it was primarily the study associations that, during the refugee crisis in 2015, were given the task of conducting Swedish from day one, i.e., to give newcomers the opportunity to learn Swedish and social orientation from the first day as asylum seekers in Sweden.
In the 2023 budget proposal, the government halved the support for the "Swedish from day one" activity, and the plan for 2024 was that it would disappear. And judge my surprise when this is not included in the budget for 2024. Still, I hear the minister say that there is a grant that is proposed to be increased by 20 million for 2024 and 10 million in 2025, but it is not a grant for the folkbildning. I would like the minister to clarify what he means when he says this.
What kind of activities have the study associations been able to organize? The study associations work for knowledge, education, personal development, and participation in society. These are, for example, Swedish and social studies in Norrköping, the Språngbrädan activity in Sandviken, activities for Ukrainian refugees in Uppsala, textile crafts with and by Romani women in Stockholm, the meeting place Starka kvinnor in Boden, the Hand i hand activity in Sandviken, and so on. These are places where people educate themselves together and learn skills that are important for establishment in Swedish society, not least for foreign-born women.
With surgical precision, the government is cutting away the possibilities for these activities to exist. One removes the targeted support for Swedish from day one, and now one also removes a third of the general support for the study associations. How does Mats Persson intend for this to support integration?
Utbildningsministern Mats Persson (L)
Madam Speaker! Thank you to my fellow debaters for an excellent debate! I thought I would start by addressing the important role of the study associations when it comes to offering activities, not least when it comes to refugees to Sweden. I completely share the view that the study associations in recent years and historically have been very important in being able to quickly and flexibly offer different types of interventions.
When the political system and the publicly run systems often have a tendency to be slow, sluggish and bureaucratic, there has been an enormous capacity broadly in civil society to offer a range of different interventions to those who have come to Sweden. Naturally, the study associations and folkbildningen are a part of this. The study associations and folkbildningen are naturally a part of civil society broadly.
Right now, we unfortunately have a current refugee situation, which is due to the horrific war in Ukraine that Russia is responsible for. Since the war broke out in February 2022, the government has, via the EU system, within the framework of what is called the ESF Council, injected money. Up until now, it concerns 600 million, of which 300 million have gone to folkbildningen. Very, very recently, the government decided to give a mandate to the ESF Council which means that they have now allocated an additional 315 million kronor, of which 146 million kronor go to folkbildningen so that they can offer study circles and other activities specifically for refugees or asylum seekers. This is a very important activity, not least in light of the situation in Russia and that we have many Ukrainians here.
This is not from, so to speak, the state budget. It is nothing that the Riksdag decides on. But it is public funds. It is money that Swedish taxpayers have paid to Brussels which is now coming back and being used in Sweden for, I think, very important initiatives. This is something that will have a very great significance going forward, I believe.
Mr. Speaker! Louise Thunström chooses in her contribution to draw a dividing line between education on one hand and cultivation on the other, and asks if it is really the case that cultivation is a bourgeois core task. I think it is an unfortunate division. For me, there are no watertight partitions between education and cultivation. Education is a prerequisite for people to be able to grow. Education is a prerequisite for being able to gain other perspectives and view society with new eyes in relation to what one could previously. And being part of a community at a workplace, as for example a vocational education can lead to, also means that one grows as a human being. One gains a different perspective, and one is cultivated as a human being.
Mr. Speaker! I do not, therefore, share the view that there are watertight compartments between education and cultivation. Both parts are needed in Swedish society for us to be able to build the strong, good society, and we shall do it together.
Serkan Köse (S)
Mr. Speaker! Thank you, Minister for Education, for the answer! Let us state that we live in a time of global uncertainty with challenges that extend across national borders. In these times, the question of integration, cohesion, and understanding of one another becomes increasingly central. Sweden, with its long tradition of openness and inclusion, has always seen education as a key actor when it comes to building bridges between cultures, traditions, and experiences.
Mr. Speaker! Since 2015, Studieförbunden, with their initiative Svenska från dag ett, have shown that they are ready to take responsibility, which Linus Sköld also explained. Studieförbunden has stood as a bastion and a support for the many who have fled war and conflict and has offered more than just language instruction. Studieförbunden has, through its work, succeeded in reaching those who are often forgotten in the activities of the larger institutions.
Mr. Speaker! With Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the playing field changed once again. Once again, the study associations stood ready to receive, support, and integrate. But this work will not come without a cost. Despite previous financial support, it soon became clear that the funds were not sufficient. Nevertheless, it can be stated that the Liberals, in their budget proposal for 2024, significantly reduce the support for the study associations.
Mr. Speaker! Folkbildningen is not just an institution. It is part of our country's DNA. It plays a crucial role in the integration process, offers invaluable educational opportunities – for example, Swedish language instruction and vocational preparation courses – and functions as a bridge builder between individuals and the labor market. That is what we are discussing in this interpellation debate.
According to research, participation in study circles and other folk high school activities has proven to be effective. It increases the probability that the unemployed find work, especially among foreign-born individuals.
Mr. Speaker! Reducing the support for this activity is not only a blow to the individuals who benefit from these services. It is also self-harming behavior.
In view of this, I would like to ask the Minister again: How do the Minister and the Liberals intend to ensure that student unions continue to offer this invaluable support to asylum seekers and foreign-born individuals, which the Minister also praises, to promote skills development and to contribute to a more sustainable integration into our society?
Louise Thunström (S)
Mr. Speaker! In many places in our country, study associations are the guarantor of cultural and leisure activities. Where I live, it is study associations that provide the absolute largest part of the work with integration, often in close cooperation with the municipality and, for example, the church.
It is through the study associations that newcomers in the countryside can practice their Swedish or where those as lonely elderly can find community. It is there that one can learn to play guitar and take a skipper's exam or learn how an association works. It is through the study associations that activities for people with disabilities are organized.
Mr. Speaker! The urban has become the norm in Sweden. It is with the big city's perspective that much of what we decide on occurs. When the big city becomes the place where people are expected to want to live, the feeling of exclusion grows among all of us who live somewhere else. The motto that the whole country shall live becomes a cliché without content.
We must stick together in this country. Opportunities for culture, leisure activities, and education must exist throughout our country. That is how we strengthen cohesion and thereby democracy, freedom of speech, and the will to stand up for and defend our country's principles and values.
Mr. Speaker! With the government's budget, one-third of the study associations' activities will disappear. It will mean empty premises and extinguished signs in many places in our country. Folk education is a tool for people's personal freedom and development, but it is also a tool for society's development and for our common welfare, which is crucial for an equal society.
Sofia Amloh (S)
Mr. Speaker! I want to begin by thanking the Minister for the very fine description in the latest entry of what folkbildningen and the study associations do and their importance. I fully agree with it. But therefore it is even more regrettable to see that one is withdrawing 250 million kronor from January 1st. It is one thing to say and another to do.
We Social Democrats want more stories - more narratives - that describe how people have been given a second chance, a third chance, and even a fourth chance to break out of exclusion, to enter Swedish society and the Swedish labor market, and to be part of the liberation that is needed and that people have a right to.
We Social Democrats say no to this cut and dismantling, and we have kept the 250 million kronor in our budget. We want, in fact, 290 municipalities with signs that shine and that create the opportunity for all people to tell more stories about having had the opportunity to be strengthened and enter into Swedish society.
Linus Sköld (S)
Mr. Speaker! Now I have debated folk education with Mats Persson for several hours, and he returns to the statement that the activity is important. In every possible way, the activity is important, says Mats Persson.
It just doesn't add up. I would like to have an answer to the question of why Mats Persson does what he does if he thinks the activity is important. If he thinks it is fundamental for democracy and if he thinks civil society is important because Sweden is more than the state – why reduce the general state support? Why cut out Svenska from day one? Why micro-manage and move towards political steering of the content? He cannot answer once again that he thinks the activity is important while simultaneously doing these things.
I would like to know why he is making these draconian cuts to the student unions. I would like to know why he does not restore the cuts to the folk high schools from last year if it is indeed the case that he thinks the activity is important. Not even once do I want to hear that the activity is important if he does not provide an answer to the question of why he, in that case, is making these changes. It must simply be over now.
I have put forward the theory that this is an order from the Sverigedemokraterna. If Mats Persson does not accept that theory, I think he should object to it in his final post. Otherwise, I will interpret it as him having accepted my theory.
Utbildningsministern Mats Persson (L)
Mr. Speaker! Linus Sköld and the Social Democrats are very upset and concerned that the government is not putting back money that existed previously. It is a staggering claim because the Social Democrats presented their shadow budget about an hour ago, where it is exactly the same level of investment in the folk high schools as in the government's budget.
Linus Sköld has stood here and complained that this will lead to inflation eroding the money. I have asserted the opposite and said that the investment we are making, which is a permanent investment in the folk high school, is important to give people a second chance. It is important to ensure that people can get an education in the middle of life and so that those who have had it tough in school can get a chance to, for example, study general studies. I have asserted that it is an important investment so that we can have high ambitions for the folk high schools' activities as part of folk education.
I have been told that this is not correct because inflation will erode all the money. Note that I am then somewhat surprised when I see that it was only an empty threat and empty talk. When the Social Democrats present their budget, there is in fact no other figure than the one the government has presented. I am astounded and very surprised.
Mr. Speaker! When it comes to the question of integration and the possibility of using the power that exists in popular education and study associations to give people the opportunity to enter society – not least the possibility of being able to offer, in a fast and flexible way, for example Ukrainians who are now coming to Sweden an opportunity to join a study circle and get a connection to Swedish – the study associations and the popular education actors play a very large role. That is why the government recently decided on and gave a mandate to the ESF Council. In that way, we will be able to bring home some of the money that Swedish taxpayers have paid to Brussels.
We can bring home some of these funds, specifically 150 million kronor until June 2024. In that way, we will be able to strengthen the operations, and it will be a very important contribution and a very important investment so that the study associations can carry out this important activity. I think this shows a strength where we use the power that exists in civil society to offer all of this. It is therefore a total of 300 million to civil society from now until June 2024. And civil society is larger than the study associations; there are more actors than the study associations who are important in this. It feels important.
Serkan Köse (S)
Mr. Speaker! For just over three hours we have discussed the importance of popular education and the study associations. We have both analyzed it from a historical perspective and pointed out how it is today and in the future – how we view the importance of study associations and popular education for societal development.
It can be noted that the Minister referred twice to the Social Democrats' budget, which was presented an hour ago. He argued that the Social Democrats are buying the government's budget and the cuts that the government has announced, but that is not quite correct. It can be noted that the Social Democrats in their budget for 2023 presented more money for the folk high schools than the government did. At the same time, it can be noted that we in the Social Democrats' budget say no to the government's cut on student unions. It is therefore a difference from the government's policy.
Again: For three hours we have discussed popular education, and one can state that the Minister has several times had the chance to answer the question of why he thinks the cuts are important. It would be interesting and good if the Minister, in his concluding remarks, could frame the discussion: What do the Liberals want with popular education? What do the Liberals want with study associations? What do the Liberals want to say to all those people out there who are waiting for an answer from the government? They might be going to take a course in popular education, that is, with those who are waiting to receive support – the popular education organizations and study associations. What is the message to all those people who are watching this?
Is it the case that the Minister actually shares our view but is being held hostage by the Sweden Democrats and is forced to defend the cuts? If one reads the Liberals' documents and sees the Liberals' view on popular education, one sees that we are in complete agreement. Therefore, it becomes completely incomprehensible to me that the Minister cannot say what the Liberals think about the importance of the study associations and popular education for societal development.
Utbildningsministern Mats Persson (L)
Mr. Speaker! I thank you for a good debate.
I perceive that the debate follows a pattern we recognize, namely that the rhetoric is incredibly heightened. The tail-wagging is extremely high from the Social Democrats' side, and they use words and accusations that create a very high tone in the debate. But when it actually comes down to the nitty-gritty, it turns out that their own proposals are not so different from the proposals the government has. When it concerns, for example, the hundred million kronor for the folk high schools, which they have spent several hours here denouncing, it turns out when it actually comes down to the nitty-gritty that they were at the same level.
The second thing I note is that when the Social Democrats run out of arguments, they always land on following the talking point that Sveavägen 68 has sent out, which concerns the Sverigedemokraterna. Every single post therefore concerns the Sverigedemokraterna.
Mr. Speaker! The Government is making a very clear prioritization in the budget: We prioritize education, education, and education. An important part is adult education, and a significant part of that is the activities of the study associations. But it is also about making clear priorities, and the Government prioritizes that 20,000 more people will be given the opportunity to attend some form of vocational training next year. In addition to that, we ensure that our schools are filled with textbooks. We also ensure that more people are given the opportunity to attend a folk high school and get a second chance to improve their grades or study a vocationally oriented education. It is a clear prioritization we are making.
We do not promise everything to everyone, but we must make tough priorities. Just as the Swedish people at home at the kitchen table need to make tough priorities in their household budget, so too does the government.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.