Response to interpellation 2023/24:611 on marketing during high school selection
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
The debate concerns marketing and a lack of objectivity in the choice of upper secondary school. L argues that students and parents need reliable information and that the government is working on a regulatory framework for a common, mandatory school choice to ensure legal certainty 1 2. L emphasizes that the state must take greater responsibility to create a system where all schools are included 3 4. S criticizes that a large proportion of guidance pages are owned by a school group, which creates a blurring of the lines between guidance and marketing 5. S argues that self-regulation is toothless and that profit-driven companies prioritize their own interests over the students' well-being 6.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Statsrådet Lotta Edholm (L)
Madam Speaker! I have been asked if I consider it a problem that a large proportion of the various guidance pages for upper secondary school choices and YH choices are owned by one and the same school group, and what measures I intend to take to ensure that students and parents have access to objective and impartial information regarding upper secondary school choices and YH educations.
Students and their guardians should be able to rely on the information provided about different schools and their educations. It is a prerequisite for a functioning and informed choice of school.
To ensure reliable information for students and guardians, Skolverket shall, according to the Ordinance (2015:195) on a national information system for the school system, make certain tasks regarding school units available to the public in a national information system. Naturally, the statistics cover all schools, both municipal and independent. The information is provided in Utbildningsguiden on Skolverket's website, where information on vocational higher education programs is also available.
The municipalities also have a statutory responsibility for information. According to Chapter 29, Section 19 of the Education Act (2010:800), the municipalities shall inform guardians and students about education in school forms for children and young people within the school system and about such pedagogical activities as referred to in Chapter 25 and which are offered in or by the municipality.
A prerequisite for a well-functioning school choice system with high legitimacy is that it is legally secure and predictable. The Government therefore wants to introduce a clear regulatory framework based on a common and mandatory school choice, supported by better information to guardians and students regarding what choice options are available. The work to move the issue forward is ongoing within the Government Offices.
When it comes to upper secondary education, Sveriges Kommuner och Regioner, together with Friskolornas riksförbund, have developed support material to provide school principals, both public and private, with support in designing marketing efforts according to good standards, which comply with good marketing practice according to the Marketing Act (2008:486) and where the main message to students concerns the studies' structure, implementation, and results. Marketing efforts that are designed according to good standards help students to make well-informed choices regarding upper secondary education.
Paula Örn (S)
Madam Speaker! Thank you, Minister of Education, for the answer!
In my first question, I did not actually perceive any answer to whether the Minister feels it is a problem that so many of the guidance pages are owned by a single school group.
In my second question, the Minister highlights four things: the Education Guide is available on Skolverket's website, the municipality shall provide information, work is being done on the issue in the Government Offices, and SKR and Friskolornas riksförbund have material for marketing efforts according to good standards.
If we take it from the beginning, it is of course very good that Skolverket has a page with objective information, Utbildningsguiden. But my question is: How in heaven's name is a poor 15-year-old or a parent supposed to manage to find the page?
What is completely dominant when searching for upper secondary schools online is, in fact, completely different sites. There is gymnasieguiden.se. It is owned by Academedia. We search further and find gymnasiekoll.se. It is owned by Academedia, and furthermore only shows Academedia's own schools.
There is studier.se. It is owned by Academedia. Framtid.se sounds appealing for the kids. How will it be there? It is also a site that is owned by, lo and behold, Academedia. There, one is also referred to another guidance site, frågasyv.se. Does anyone want to guess who owns frågasyv.se? Academedia does.
If you don't just want to ask seven but talk with seven, you can do that on the site snackamedsyv.se, which is owned by Academedia. If you are a bit unsure about your choice, you can also consider whether you want to change upper secondary schools on the site bytagymnasium.se, which is owned by Academedia. If you are a bit more internationally oriented, there is something called globaleducation.se, which is owned by Academedia.
There is, however, one, gymnasium.se, which is not owned by Academedia. It is instead owned by Keystone Education Group, which in turn is owned by Viking Venture, which in turn is owned by Rothschild & Co, Tesi, Adams Street and so on. It is venture capitalists who are there to make money.
I perceive that the Minister seems to claim that because there is a page, we have, so to speak, solved the problem. But I think it is a huge problem that a 15-year-old looking for pages seems to end up only on Academedia's pages.
I have also looked a bit at the agreement on good standard. It contains important things. It states, for example, that marketing shall take place in a versatile, objective and correct manner.
My impression is that it does not seem particularly diverse when so many of the pages are driven by a single group, Academedia. The other major player is Keystone. On their pages, the one who is a customer, the one who pays to be seen, is visible.
As I previously said, on some of these pages - gymnasiekoll.se, snackamedsyv.se and bytagymnasieum.se - only Academedia's own schools are shown.
I would therefore like to ask: Does the Minister think that the requirement for comprehensive and objective information is met on a page where one only provides information about the schools of one's own agency?
I also take the opportunity to repeat my first question: Does the Minister think it is a problem that such a large proportion of the pages about upper secondary school choices are owned by a single school group?
Statsrådet Lotta Edholm (L)
Madam Speaker! I find the first question to be problematic. We must ensure that it is resolved in such a way that it benefits students and parents when they are to choose a school.
That is why the government is now working on directives for an investigation into a common, mandatory system for school choice. It will solve a good deal of the problems.
Then I also think it is problematic that Skolverket's website for this ends up so far down when Paula Örn tries to search for it herself. What it is due to, I don't really know. I am not that technically savvy.
We must take a holistic approach to the entire issue. It does not only concern upper secondary school, but it also concerns primary and secondary school. It is also a very important choice where it is important that parents receive objective information.
It is a bit of a legal matter to look at the question: What type of information should go into such a system so that one can make a well-balanced choice? It should not just become a list of schools. That is quite uninteresting.
One must decide what type of information it should be so that a well-balanced choice can be made. The Government has been working on this right now.
Paula Örn (S)
Madam Speaker! It is good that work is ongoing. I would like to continue to look a bit at these issues.
The Minister for Education mentions the agreement on good marketing practice. My interpretation is that it does not seem to be going so well in this matter either when the profit-driven corporations are to regulate themselves. One point that is raised is that it is important and necessary to distinguish between guidance measures and marketing.
If a 15-year-old browses onto the site frågasyv.se or snackamedsyv.se, my impression is that one believes they are on a site dedicated to guidance, that is to say that one is supposed to receive help. But in reality, one is on one of all those sites that are designed for Academedia's marketing.
Let me clarify further. When one enters such a page, one might wonder whether it is a matter of guidance or marketing. One is then met with texts where it says: How does the high school choice work? The high school choice can feel confusing at first glance. Application, priorities, re-selection, and much more. Here we clarify the concepts.
This text is retrieved from the site gymnasiekoll.se, where one can only see Academedia's own schools. One is therefore making a clear conflation between guidance and marketing in the way that one in the document that the Minister for Education refers to has promised not to do.
On another side it can say: Become a member. Get help. Ask questions to syv. What do you like? Test yourself and get help.
When you are to test which upper secondary school suits you, you are asked to answer questions about whether you like Indian food, Italian food, or Thai food the most. It does not feel like serious guidance. It is unclear. On all these pages, it is incredibly unclear whether one is engaged in marketing or guidance.
Academedia thinks that one is engaging in marketing. Their communications manager said in an article about the criticism of the pages that guidance to their schools is something that many others also do. The problem is that many others do not own eight pages dedicated to marketing disguised as guidance. The problem is also that Academedia violates its own established regulations regarding marketing according to good standard.
Madam Speaker! Another point that is being highlighted is that the legislation must be followed. That is surely the least we can ask for. The basic rule for advertising is that it must be identifiable as advertising, especially when it is directed at children and young people.
If you click and search very carefully, you can find a clarifying text. It states the following: How much information is presented for each school and how the school is presented in search result lists etcetera varies depending on whether the upper secondary school has chosen to pay to be visible.
So, it is a question of advertising. One buys how much one is seen, and it is absolutely not clear on these pages that the one who pays the most is seen the most. Doesn't the Minister for Education think it is starting to be time to take action against these pages because the self-regulation obviously does not work? Is it not time that we ban that type of misleading school advertising and marketing?
Statsrådet Lotta Edholm (L)
Madam Speaker! As I said in my previous contribution, this is problematic, and I am completely convinced that the state must take greater responsibility and create systems at either the state level or the municipal level. All schools must be integrated into one and the same system. It is the only way to bring order. It is clear that it is important that students receive objective information so that they can make well-considered choices based on all the schools that exist. It is important. The question that Paula Örn has raised is important.
The agreement that has been reached is between the Federation of Independent Schools and SKR, not the state. It is important that both parties take responsibility for the agreement that they have actually signed so that it becomes clear from the outside what they have agreed upon.
I look forward to us appointing the inquiry. We are working at high pressure with this, and these are important issues that Paula Örn highlights.
Paula Örn (S)
Madam Speaker! The agreement is between SKR and Friskolornas riksförbund, but it is the Minister for Education himself who highlighted the agreement in his response as an example of why it seems to work. I hope that we can now agree that it does not work and that the state must step in and take its responsibility.
It is a bit unclear whether the Minister is referring to a new investigation or the ongoing investigation on school information. Since the investigation that was submitted last spring, I have not seen anything indicating that steps are being taken to ban that type of advertising. I want to be clear that it is not just about which pages appear at the top of a search engine, but it is about our youth's future, their opportunities for fair and equal information. Furthermore, it is about ensuring that they are not misled by commercial interests when they are to make one of their most important choices in life.
Where should they turn if things go wrong, based on these pages? The Marketing Act or the agreement is completely toothless. There are no consequences for schools that choose to ignore the rules. As a Social Democrat, I cannot accept that the high school choice is completely distorted by profit-driven companies that prioritize their own interests over the students' well-being.
Academedias education director has himself said that the purchase of the guidance pages was part of their growth strategy, that is to say that more students should choose them.
We must act against the development and fight for an education system that is truly impartial and truly accessible to everyone.
Statsrådet Lotta Edholm (L)
Madam Speaker! It was not my intention to make it appear as if the system is working today. I actually do not think so. The interpellation answer is an explanation of how it looks today, that is to say that Skolverket has a responsibility and has a website regarding these issues. Furthermore, the municipalities have a responsibility to inform all their residents about different types of school choices, and SKR has signed an agreement with Friskolornas riksförbund on how this shall be done.
But I am convinced that different legislation is needed, which involves a mandatory school choice and provides a system for this. The government will appoint an inquiry into this because it must be investigated further before it is implemented. That is the absolute ambition. I agree with Paula Örn's views that today's system is unfortunate.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.