Response to interpellation 2023/24:836 on the cuts within the school system
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
1 L argues that the government is taking measures for order in the school system through investments in emergency schools and holiday schools based on research 1. 1 2 L emphasizes that the government is investing in special education teachers and special teaching groups to provide the right support 1 2. 3 2 L believes that the state must increase governance to increase equality and has commissioned inquiries on student health and the grading system 3 2. 2 L argues that more state governance is needed regarding class sizes and teachers' teaching time 2. 2 L argues that students without previous schooling need more time for Swedish 2. 4 5 V argues that the school is suffering from the toughest cuts in 30 years 4 5. 4 5 V believes that the government prioritizes tax cuts and airlines over the school 4 5. 4 5 V demands that the state takes increased financing responsibility 4 5. 2 L emphasizes that the municipalities are primarily responsible for primary school 2. 6 L argues that the state already covers over 20 percent of the funding and that these investments will increase 6. 6 L advocates for a national school funding standard to prevent municipalities from investing too little 6. 6 L believes that the fight against inflation is won 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! Nadja Awad has asked me what evidence I and the government base ourselves on regarding the clear direction within school policy to invest in emergency schools and holiday schools. Nadja Awad has also asked me if I and the government intend to ensure that the schools receive the resources they need so that all children can receive the support they are entitled to.
The government is now taking a long series of measures to bring the school back to the basics and create order and clarity in the classrooms and to ensure that there is order in the school system. Naturally, the government relies on evidence in this work. The government also, of course, listens to experiences and views from relevant authorities, organizations, municipalities, principals, teachers and other stakeholders.
Safety and study environment in schools are priority issues for the government. That the school is calm and safe is crucial for students to feel well and succeed in school. There are schools that have very large disciplinary problems, and today there are often lacking practical possibilities to temporarily move students outside their own school when needed. The emergency schools provide an opportunity for principals to safeguard safety and study environment in the school and ensure continuity in education for all students.
According to Skolverket's report on the government mandate Support for the establishment of emergency schools, there is support in research that a temporary placement outside the own school unit involves opportunities that include, among other things, a chance to break negative patterns as well as receive more concentrated support. It can also provide an opportunity to map out and investigate the student's school situation in order to create long-term strategies for the student's continued education. It can also be mentioned that the state grant for personnel costs for emergency schools is well-established and that Skolverket during the 2024 grant round granted just over 94 million kronor in grants to the principals.
The government has also taken several other measures to reverse the negative development regarding safety and study environment. I mean that a cultural change in schools is needed where principals and teachers are given more powerful tools to act when students violate, threaten, or use violence. This and much more is currently being investigated by the inquiry Strengthened safety and study environment in schools (U 2023:06).
Few things are as important for Sweden's future as the school. All students who need support to reach the goals of education shall receive it. Today, there are far too many students who do not receive the support they need, and the support is also often provided too late. The school needs better conditions to provide the right support measures early on that strengthen the students' knowledge development. The government is therefore investing heavily in increasing access to special education teachers and special teaching groups. As a complement to these support measures, some students also need more teaching time in school, for example through holiday school.
The Government has taken several initiatives to strengthen the schools' resources and has, for example, through the budget bill for 2024 together with the proposal in the year-end budget, added approximately 1.7 billion kronor to the school. Among other things, the knowledge grant has been strengthened by 850 million kronor and thus amounts to approximately 7.5 billion kronor this year. The Government thus makes both general and targeted investments based on the needs that exist in the school system.
The state contributes to the school's funding, but it is important to remember that it is the municipalities that have the primary responsibility for funding preschool and school. Today, there are large differences between municipalities in how much they invest in the school. Therefore, the government has appointed the Inquiry on a national school funding norm for increased equality (U 2023:05), which shall propose a system for resource distribution based on a nationally binding school funding norm. The aim is to increase equality in the Swedish school across the entire country through state steering of the funding.
Nadja Awad (V)
Madam Speaker! I want to begin the debate from my side by asking how it is that the cuts within Swedish schools are the toughest in 30 years. Can Minister for Education Lotta Edholm answer that question?
Something very serious has obviously happened over time that has led to the cuts today being record-breaking. They have not just arisen out of thin air. They are, above all, a result of this government's policy.
The Minister for Education says that safety and a study-friendly environment in schools are priority issues. This is to ensure that students feel well and succeed in school. I and the Left Party completely agree with that. But, Madam Speaker, in what way will the schools become safer, in what way are the schools to be characterized by a study-friendly environment, and in what way will the students be given the prerequisites to succeed in school and feel well about school when, right now across the country, school staff who are supposed to create these prerequisites are being laid off and when the student groups are becoming larger and larger? I cannot make that equation work, and neither can the Swedish people.
And which students are most affected by these cuts? It is obviously students with various disabilities, such as neuropsychiatric disabilities like ADHD and autism.
What will happen, and what we have already seen, is that the students who do not receive the schooling they need to succeed are instead labeled as troublemakers and, for example, are forced to go through the government's emergency schools and "lovskolor" completely unnecessarily, when it was only a matter of receiving adaptations and special support—that is, the support measures they are entitled to according to the Education Act and the Discrimination Act—in the regular school education.
It requires the right and sufficient amount of school staff, smaller teaching groups, and that support measures are implemented in time. This is what the evidence says, and it requires money. It requires that the Swedish school receives the state grants it needs from the government. The municipalities cannot manage this entirely on their own, and they should not have to either. Neither the general nor the targeted state grants are sufficient right now under the current economic climate. Tens of billions of kronor are missing for the school to be able to maintain the current level, which is insufficient. And the sum only becomes larger and larger. This requires that the Swedish state takes increased responsibility for the financing.
But what does the government prioritize, Madam Speaker? It prioritizes tax cuts and subsidies for the very richest and a billion-kronor investment directed at the airlines. Why should the government finance the airlines' operations when it should at least start by financing the Swedish school? Why should the government finance the rich's tiling of the kitchen or house cleaning before the Swedish school? And why should the government finance tax cuts for those who do not even need them before the Swedish school? Vänsterpartiet considers these to be completely incomprehensible priorities.
Therefore, my questions to School Minister Lotta Edholm are: Why does the government not stop the cuts within Swedish schools? Why is an increased state responsibility not taken? Why does the government not take its financing responsibility and provide the state grants required so that all students - our students, our children and young people - receive the schooling they have a right to so that they can succeed and feel well in school?
Statsrådet Lotta Edholm (L)
Madam Speaker! It is true that the municipalities have had a tight economic situation for some years due to the inflation that has prevailed in Sweden. Now Sweden has won the battle against inflation. This means that we can make investments in welfare, and we will, of course, continue to do so. We are making large state investments in schools, and we will continue with that.
It concerns, among other things, investments in what the member mentions, for example smaller teaching groups, but also in school social teams to support, for example, those students who do not come to school. We are making large investments in emergency schools for those students who behave in such a way that they actually cannot remain in the regular classroom.
I think it is unacceptable that we have a situation in Sweden where we close entire schools because a few students threaten and harass in such a way that it is actually not possible to keep the school open, instead of us shutting out those students. But so that these students are not just kicked out onto the street, it is required that there is a receiving emergency school that sees their needs, makes an assessment of their academic results, and sees what other problems they may have besides behaving extremely badly.
I believe that this is an important initiative, and I also know that that initiative, despite the fact that Vänsterpartiet in Stockholm was completely opposed to it a long time ago, actually remains and has even been expanded because it is very successful.
Nevertheless, we must increase the equity in Swedish schools. I know, if I may put on a party hat, that the Liberals and the Left Party have somewhat similar views when it comes to the fact that state governance must increase. There are unreasonable differences today. There is a difference of 70,000 per pupil and year between the municipality that invests the most and the one that invests the least. Approximately half of these 70,000 have an objective basis, but we do not know what the rest is due to.
It is therefore clear that the state must continue to make large investments. But it is also important to remember that primary school, preschool, and upper secondary school are actually primarily a municipal matter.
Nadja Awad (V)
Madam Speaker! To clarify: When our children and young people do not receive the schooling they are entitled to, it causes enormous personal suffering for the student and the student's family. The school staff have to struggle and pay with their own health. The entire society loses out on it.
This is a result of cuts within Swedish schools. It is not that the schools have suddenly become very tough, but it is a result, above all, of this government presenting cut budgets which mean that Swedish schools are suffering right now.
I do not hear Education Minister Lotta Edholm talking about these cuts. I think one should do it – talk about the cuts, which are currently the toughest in 30 years. Something very serious has obviously happened that has led to the cuts being record-breaking. I mentioned tax cuts and subsidies for the wealthy and the billion-kronor investment in the airlines. This is what is currently being prioritized over our children's and young people's schooling so that they can succeed and feel good in school.
It is very good that Education Minister Lotta Edholm points out that Vänsterpartiet and Liberalerna stand quite close to each other when it comes to the government having to take increased state responsibility for the funding. But what do the Moderaterna think? What do the Kristdemokraterna and Sverigedemokraterna think? I am quite unsure if they agree with Liberalerna in this case. And how will it be then? How will the next two years leading up to the next national election in 2026 look?
It is completely wrong priorities that are now being made by the government within the school system. Emergency schools and holiday schools are to be established, but the regular school is to undergo cuts. Do they really mean business, Madam Speaker? And then school minister Lotta Edholm says that the government wants to invest in special education teachers, school social teams, and special teaching groups. But I wonder with what money. Where are the funds to come from?
Tens of billions of kronor are missing, which means that school staff are forced to be laid off and that the student groups just become larger and larger. These are not made-up figures. But it is exactly how the government treats these very serious figures instead of taking them seriously.
It is important that the government takes this seriously, now that we know, for example, that students with NPF lack the right support and adaptations in school and are missing out on grades. A quarter of these children are at home from school all or for a large part of the time. This is shown by a recent survey from Riksförbundet Attention. And it will only get worse and worse.
Lack of grades and high absence in school leads to poor mental well-being, which causes many young people with NPF not to progress to studies or work. It causes, as I said earlier, enormous personal suffering for the student and the student's family. The school staff struggle and pay with their own health, and the entire society loses out on it.
So I ask the question again: Why do Education Minister Lotta Edholm and the government not take the cuts within Swedish schools seriously?
Statsrådet Lotta Edholm (L)
Madam Speaker! I am completely convinced that we must increase state control in Swedish schools. The government has therefore now taken the initiative for a number of different investigations that will lead to this. This involves, for example, a large investigation into student health. We want student health to regain the care mandate it previously had, and the investigation is also tasked with defining what students actually have a right to within student health. The investigation shall also look at different types of staff categories that should exist.
We have commissioned a large-scale grading investigation to obtain a more functional and more fair grading system and to address grade inflation, which is also a major issue of equivalence in Swedish schools. We have commissioned an investigation on safety and study environments, because we know that it looks very different across the country and between different schools.
We also ensure that there is funding for the initiatives we are making, for example, smaller, special teaching groups, and these are now being expanded significantly in Sweden. It is not only because there are large state grants to apply for, but also because we have a change in the view on students who need special support. We are moving away from the rather naive inclusion idea, where all students, regardless of what difficulties they had, were to sit in a classroom with perhaps 30 students, which in reality often led to pure exclusion, where the student might have to sit in a corridor together with an untrained student assistant. So we cannot have that. We must ensure that the students who need support receive qualified support in, for example, smaller, special teaching groups.
I am also convinced that we need more state governance, for example when it comes to class sizes, teachers' teaching time and so on. The system we have today is fundamentally very unequal and gives students very different opportunities.
But we must also remember that some students actually need more time. It is naive to believe that a 14-year-old who comes to Sweden without having had any schooling at all would manage to pass in all subjects at the end of grade 9 without also being given a bit more time in the Swedish school. Such a student needs to be given a bit more time to learn Swedish and to make up for knowledge gaps resulting from the fact that the schooling before the student came to Sweden was poor.
There is, therefore, much to do in this regard, and the state also takes a large responsibility for resources. But it is also important to remember that it is a shared responsibility, where the municipalities are primarily responsible for the Swedish primary school. It is a decision that actually both the Liberals and the Left Party were against when it was made.
Nadja Awad (V)
Madam Speaker! I can only state that Education Minister Lotta Edholm and the Tidö Government are not taking the cuts in the Swedish school seriously, even though the cuts are now the largest in 30 years. I think it says something that they are the largest in 30 years.
One does not prioritize Swedish school, which is our common welfare, but instead one prioritizes tax cuts and subsidies for the rich and maintaining the operations of the airlines.
In the debate here, it has been stated that the state should take greater responsibility for the school, but I find it difficult to believe what is being said, because the government is not even taking its own responsibility right now, and by that I mean the financing responsibility that the government nevertheless has towards the municipalities and the municipalities' schools so that the schools can maintain current quality and even improve it. Tens of billions of kronor are missing. This is not something that Vänsterpartiet has made up, but it is stated by the unions and by Sveriges Kommuner och Regioner.
What is it that is happening then? We cannot keep the school staff. Right now, staff are being laid off. The groups are getting larger and larger. The students are having increasingly higher school absence. The municipalities cannot take all the responsibility.
The government cannot place all the blame on the municipalities and say that the municipalities should carry the heaviest burden. I think it becomes skewed when the government says that.
Statsrådet Lotta Edholm (L)
Madam Speaker! No, the municipalities shall not take the full financial responsibility for the school, and that is not the case. Just over 20 percent of the primary school's funding is state-funded, and that proportion has increased year after year. Governments, regardless of party color, have seen that one must support the municipalities in order to be able to create an equal school. The investments will naturally continue and will also increase in the future, precisely because the state must take a responsibility to ensure that we get a more equal school.
But I mean that this is not enough. We need a series of changes in the school area to achieve a more equitable school. This includes, for example, a national school funding norm, which means that the municipalities are not allowed to fall below a certain limit when it comes to how much they choose to invest in their school.
As long as we have a municipal school, we must however be aware that it is precisely the municipalities that have the primary responsibility. I belong to a political party that considers the school system to actually be of national importance. It is not just about the students we are talking about here and now, but it is also about Sweden's opportunity to be a prosperous nation and a nation that is built on innovative power, on people working and so on.
School is important, and it is important that we maintain and persevere in the state initiatives that are currently being made. But it is also important to say that the fight against inflation is won. Consequently, the pressure on our municipalities is also decreasing.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.