Response to interpellation 2024/25:206 on the consequences of cuts to student unions

Utbildningsministern Johan Pehrson (L)

Madam Speaker! Kalle Olsson has asked me how I, at this point, assess the consequences of the study associations' cuts and whether I intend to take any measures in light of this.

Popular education, both the study associations and the folk high schools, is important for both society and the individual. The Government safeguards popular education.

Every budget is about priorities, and the proposal for an adjustment of the state grant was preceded by careful considerations within the Government Offices. The level of the state grant to study associations has, from 2024 onwards, been adjusted in favor of measures within the folk high school and other areas, for example within adult education.

Through the government's budget bill for 2024, the state grant to the folk high schools was reinforced by 100 million kronor in 2024, a level that is expected to remain permanent. In the budget bill for 2025, the government has also proposed a reinforcement of the special education support by 25 million kronor.

I want to emphasize that for 2025, the government proposes that approximately 1.6 billion kronor be distributed in state grants to study associations and approximately 2.4 billion kronor to folk high schools. In total, this amounts to approximately 4 billion kronor for the activities of folk education. It is a continued extensive state support for study associations and folk high schools all around the country. It is also important to point out the importance of the shared financing responsibility for folk education. This means that the state, the regions, the municipalities, the principals, and individuals have a shared responsibility to finance the activities of folk education.

The Government closely follows the development of non-formal education through the reports that the Folkbildningsrådet submits to the Government. In this context, I also want to mention the Folkbildningsutredning's report Education, training and participation - non-formal education policy in a new era (SOU 2024:42).

In recent years, several examples of fraud and errors within folkbildningen (non-formal education) have been revealed. It is therefore important to continue working with the Folkbildningsutredningens proposals, which aim to ensure more purposeful management, follow-up, and control of the state grant to folkbildningen. The report has been referred, and I look forward to reviewing the responses from the referral bodies before the continued preparation of the investigation's proposals.

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Kalle Olsson (S)

Madam Speaker! I thank Minister Pehrson for the answer, even if it may not have been much of an answer to my question. We can return to that.

We are soon a year into the government's multi-year cuts to the student unions. Over a three-year period, half a billion of the state funding to the student unions is being removed. I note that the minister, in his answer, uses the word "adjustment" when describing the cuts – as if we are talking about a small change on the margin. Had it been a question of an adjustment, we would probably not have needed this debate.

This is about the government cutting one-third of the state subsidies to student unions. It is, of course, not possible to fully oversee the consequences yet, especially not the long-term ones. But it is a brutal change. We see very worrying trends regarding where we are headed.

Jämtland, my constituency where I take my starting point, is one of the regions in the country where the highest percentage of citizens participate in study circles. Jämtland is also a distinctly rural county. One of the major fears when the government put forward these deteriorations was that smaller towns in the countryside and in rural areas would become the big losers. We know that citizens in rural municipalities participate in the activities of the study associations to a significantly greater extent.

Until these cuts began, there were study associations in almost all of the country's municipalities. That in itself is completely unique. It is perhaps only the Church of Sweden among civil society actors that can measure up to that presence.

I have spoken with representatives from the study associations at home, and it is a very gloomy picture that is being conveyed. Premises are being terminated. Staff are being laid off. At one of the study associations, there are now only two employees left.

Madam Speaker! It goes without saying that when staff and premises disappear, it becomes very difficult to keep the operations running - especially when we are talking about a county like Jämtland, which constitutes 12 percent of Sweden's area. It is the same thing in the inland of Västerbotten and Norrbotten. In order to be able to conduct meaningful activities, you must have a reasonable geographical presence. It does not work to ask someone to travel 10, 15 or 20 miles to participate in a study circle.

The development is not unexpected. What is happening is exactly what was warned about early on: Smaller towns in rural and sparsely populated areas will be the big losers when the government takes on study associations.

I notice that Johan Pehrson wants to involve the folk high schools in the reasoning. Don't do that! There is no folk high school in Svenstavik, Strömsund or Malå. On the other hand, there are study associations on site – or there were, at least. But what happens in the regions now when study associations are forced to withdraw and lower their ambitions, when the weaving room in the village must close, the course to take a hunter's exam is cancelled and the language café ceases? Yes, the first thing that happens is that it becomes quieter and more boring. But more seriously, civil society is being broken down. The common bond is loosened. Contact surfaces disappear, and finally, what remains – yes, what, Johan Pehrson?

Johan Pehrson does not answer the question of how he assesses the consequences of the cuts to the study associations. Does he have no opinion on that issue? Now, a year has passed. Is Johan Pehrson satisfied that the study associations are forced to lay off employees and premises and lower their ambitions? Does he agree that this is a severe blow to the countryside?

(Applause)

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Karin Sundin (S)

Madam Speaker! During November, I have visited four of the study associations in Örebro County to get a picture of what is happening in their operations now that the state grants are undergoing a brutal change, as Kalle Olsson said. These are four study associations with slightly different focuses in their activities and completely different conditions for operating.

I met operations managers who, on one hand, are excited and happy about the solid work that the Folkbildningsrådet has done in reviewing how the grants should be distributed among the different activities of the study associations. They see that it provides great opportunities for a greater focus on quality in the operations and better conditions for cooperation between different associations. They believe that a good foundation for the future was created. On the other hand, the same operations managers have seen the government pull the rug out from under the funding for those operations. Instead of developing, they are forced to phase out large parts of the operations. We are seeing the consequences of that across the entire country right now.

Minister Johan Pehrson and I are both from Örebro. In several places in Örebro county, studieförbund are now dismantling their signs. It is becoming darker and quieter in our county in Hällefors, Laxå and likely more places ahead.

I want to highlight a particular aspect of the cuts that are now taking place. It concerns the music activities. I know that Johan Pehrson, just like myself, enjoys listening to Lars Winnerbäck. It is not strange; I have understood that he is the absolute favorite artist of the Swedish party leaders. Lars Winnerbäck is one of the artists who has been careful to say that he would never have become who he is without the municipal music school and Studiefrämjandet.

I myself look forward to Kent taking the stage again next year, 35 years after they decided to form a band together. They did so, according to legend, in a rehearsal room at Balsta musikslott in Eskilstuna. Balsta musikslott is operated by Studieförbunden i samverkan.

These are not just anecdotes, but the list of bands and artists that have emerged from study circles and study association rehearsal rooms is long - so long that one cannot ignore it when noting that Sweden is the world's second-largest net exporter of music after the USA. But with this government, the activities of the study associations are being strangled. Now, rehearsal rooms are being closed on a broad front in Sweden. It is happening in Gothenburg, Borås, Umeå, Luleå, Gävle, Falun, Kristianstad, Västerås, Norrköping, Linköping and in Karlskoga in Örebro county.

In Karlskoga, Studieförbundet Vuxenskolan and Studiefrämjandet are closing a total of 15 premises. In the rehearsal rooms that remain, the fee for those who participate is being raised. We see the same thing – that the fees are being raised – in the activities that remain. Then there will be fewer, especially among those with a small wallet, who can engage in music activities in Sweden. Diversity decreases. Fewer young people will have the opportunity to form bands that can contribute to Swedish music exports.

I have heard Johan Pehrson explain and defend the slaughter of study associations by stating that one prioritizes education that provides jobs. But I wonder which jobs are created by there being 15 fewer rehearsal rooms in Karlskoga. Which jobs are created by young musicians not having the opportunity to practice together, and in what way does that lead to more jobs?

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Tomas Eneroth (S)

Madam Speaker! Johan Pehrson has just been listening to descriptions of the consequences of the cuts for student unions when a third of the resources are removed. We can already sense the consequences across the entire country. We can see the consequences in the music activities. In fact, a report has just been released, Replokalskris i musiksverige, which deals with the fact that music venues are currently being closed all over the country.

I myself come from a musical family and have played in churches and parish halls, people's houses and venues everywhere. I can testify that if it had not been for the study associations, those scenes and opportunities for young musicians to spread their wings would not have existed. There are no commercial actors who want to arrange musical activities and training activities in large parts of the country.

There is a list of famous bands that have started their careers in study associations. We can add The Hives and as many bands as we want to that list in Sweden. The list is long, and it shows what great importance study associations have for music activities in Sweden.

Now music houses and culture houses are being closed down. The list is long, and I can continue the one that Karin started: Malmö, Borås, Västerås, Kristianstad, Gävle, Falun and Luleå.

No other actor is coming in to offer alternatives; instead, there are young people and children standing there with nowhere to play instruments and practice music. There are musicians who have been able to share their experience and spread joy and culture, but who are now losing their assignments and opportunities.

This is happening in a situation where the municipalities are cutting back on the activities of the cultural schools as a result of the same government that Johan Pehrson sits in reducing the appropriations to the cultural school, typically enough, but also the appropriations to the municipalities. This means that in approximately 80 percent of the country's municipalities, they now do not have the money or the means to invest in the cultural school, but instead, they are raising the fees and reducing the resources.

We get a quieter Sweden. We get a more boring Sweden. We get a more dull Sweden. And we get a Sweden that becomes culturally poor. It is the irony of fate that I stand here with a Liberal. Once upon a time, the Liberals stood together with the Social Democrats and fought for popular education—for culture for everyone and for making Sweden not just a rigid state that disciplines its citizens, but a true People's Movement Sweden, with education, enlightenment, and culture for all. It is this that has created the Sweden we know.

How should Johan Pehrsson act to ensure that we do not now destroy the opportunities for Sweden to be a rich cultural country?

I have previously, in a written question to Johan Pehrson, requested that the government at least carry out a mapping so that one knows what the consequences will be of the brutal slaughter of study associations that is currently being carried out. In the answer to the question, Johan Pehrson said that one is not prepared to carry out any such mapping.

I still intend to ask the question once more: Is there not a point in knowing how much folk education, educational, and musical activity is now disappearing in Jämtland, Kronoberg, Örebro and the whole country and what consequences this actually has?

Let us ensure that we have a proper debate about what culture means in Sweden. Do not shirk the responsibility, the government! Right now, a death blow is being dealt to culture, and Sweden is becoming quieter and more boring.

(Applause)

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Christofer Bergenblock (C)

Madam Speaker! Thank you for allowing me to participate in this debate! I am actually registered for two upcoming interpellation debates on healthcare issues and other issues that the Tidö parties are engaged in, such as reporting and interpretation fees, but I cannot refrain from entering this debate.

I come from Halland and live in Varberg. There, we had a report in the newspaper just a few days ago about the cuts that are now being forced within the study associations in Halland. It might not sound like much in this context, here in the Swedish Riksdag, but 13 positions are now being forced to be collectively cut at the turn of the year from the study association Vuxenskolan, from ABF, from Sensus studieförbund, and from Studiefrämjandet in Halland.

What does 13 services mean then? Well, it ultimately concerns study circles that will not be carried out. It concerns cultural activities that will not be carried out. It is people out there who are affected. It is not primarily about the 13 people who will lose their jobs, but about the children and youth and the old and elderly who would have participated in the activities, and about the immigrants who wanted to educate themselves, perhaps in Swedish, or become a more integrated part of society. It is they who would have participated in the activities.

This is what the government is striking against and is about to slaughter by removing a third of the state appropriations to the study associations.

At the same time, we are in a period where more and more responsibility will need to be placed on civil society. Associations will need to take a greater responsibility in society. Study associations should rightly take a greater responsibility in society. Churches and communities will have to do so so that we can fulfill our common mission within the welfare state in the future.

That the government at the same time intervenes and strikes hard against one of the actors that is an important part of civil society naturally means that it will become much more difficult to fulfill the assignments ahead.

Why do the Liberals, the Moderates, the Christian Democrats and the Sweden Democrats do this, one might ask. Well, in that article in Hallands Nyheter which described what is happening in Halland, a member of the Riksdag from the Sweden Democrats actually answered that exact question. The answer read: "Some of these study associations have clear Muslim and political connections and an interest in blackening SD and the other governing right-wing parties."

So said Erik Hellsborn from Sverigedemokraterna in the newspaper. It is therefore about silencing voices that are critical of the sitting government. We who have our background in the popular movement and in civil society know how important study associations are for the democratic society and for the development of democracy.

My question to Johan Pehrson is therefore: Does the Minister stand behind what the Sverigedemokraterna say is the motive for why the grants to the study associations are now being reduced?

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Utbildningsministern Johan Pehrson (L)

Madam Speaker! No, is the answer to the last question. I find it hard to believe that Christofer Bergenblock thinks it is so.

If one has followed the debate on how things have looked in the student unions, one can observe that the scrutiny and control of the operations that has been carried out by both the media, the National Audit Office and others has shown that there has been an incredible amount of cheating, errors and outright fraud.

It is hardly strange that one can say that one is investing in student unions when one takes the citizens' tax money and submits 1.6 billion. I have great respect for the fact that you think it is too little. One can, of course, think that we should submit even more money. The word "slaughter" however remains for you.

I think it is important that the study associations now prioritize and focus on what they consider to be most important. Cooperation between study associations was mentioned, and that is certainly excellent for streamlining the use of tax money so that it benefits folk education and does not disappear into administration.

I am the first to say that I am closely following the effects of the change. If one sends in somewhat fewer resources from the state, it is clear that it likely leads to tough prioritizations, which I have great respect for, and a need for efficiency. I follow this closely. We are still investing 1.6 billion, even though I respect that one might think it is too little.

Madam Speaker! During my long - rich, perhaps it is fair to say - but in many parts happy life, I have been a circle leader in the service of folk education. I have cleaned the premises of folk education, I have wiped the walls of clay after pottery courses and ceramics courses, and I have handled waste from combustion furnaces. I know what role the study associations play. I know what important role they can play.

I also know which courses they have that, so to speak, do not by definition hit the very core of folk education but constitute activities that can be conducted even in other forms. Associations have other premises. We are talking about music, and we see amounts of music development and bands being started at youth centers, which is fantastic. As mentioned, the churches also have premises, even if not all music obviously fits to be played in the church, generally speaking. It might instead become a certain genre. But there is a breadth there, I have seen when I have been out on visits. Even in local heritage societies, there are premises.

I follow this closely, I read the reports and I meet the people who are desperate. But I also meet those who think it is important that one prioritizes and ensures that the study associations cooperate maximally to reach people with a meaningful folk high school activity, which is the foundation for the study associations.

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Kalle Olsson (S)

Madam Speaker! I was a bit taken aback when Johan Pehrson started talking about cooperation and mentioned the community life and the church. That is precisely the problem now, Madam Speaker: No cooperation happens when study associations are forced to leave the smaller towns. When they are no longer there and when they have terminated their leases on their premises, it is simply not possible to have any cooperation. That is the whole problem here: There is no one to cooperate with. It becomes particularly palpable just in the smaller towns, where there might only be one – or soon none – employee left.

I gave some examples in my first speech on how the conditions are now radically worsening and what it looks like when staff and premises are laid off. Then, as I said, one must know that we have not seen the end of the cuts. We will soon have lived through the first year, but new savings will come next year. The year after that, there will be further savings.

What happens when one becomes very small is that one also becomes vulnerable. It may depend on a single person who remains at the office of the study association. It is often a person who is very passionate and wants very much. I spoke with an operations manager the other day who said: We have to see how long one can endure - one must burn so totally to be able to keep things going. He sat alone in the office in the interior of Västerbotten.

The great danger now is precisely that student unions, over time, cannot, are not able to maintain the cooperation with the surrounding society that Johan Pehrson mentions. One simply loses relevance and importance because one has become so weakened. One is no longer the partner that municipalities, organizations, and other associations turn to, and so one slowly withers away.

It is clear that this is the Sweden Democrats' wet dream, long-term plans and hopes - call it what you will - but the tragic thing is that the Liberals, of all parties, are acting as henchmen for this policy. Or is it that Johan Pehrson sees something that we do not see? Does he see how other actors are now stepping forward and filling the voids that the student unions leave behind? In that case, he is welcome to explain that.

What we others see happening now is precisely how the SD government, with high precision, is attacking the civil society—that fantastic tree with all its branches and offshoots that has connections to and collaborations with youth groups, theater groups, pension organizations, and farmers' organizations. This also applies to the political parties; Johan Pehrson's own party conducts its internal training within the framework of study associations. In the same way, we Social Democrats and our trade union friends learn meeting techniques and how to write motions under the auspices of ABF.

The question is, as stated, whether Johan Pehrson sees signs that other actors are now stepping forward and filling the voids that the study associations leave behind. Does he see market forces making their way into the villages and doing what they have, in any case, never done before? Does he see any signs of that?

In his answer, Johan Pehrson also mentions the municipalities and regions. Does he imagine that it is they who are now to fill the gaps? Is it those municipalities that, with this government, will receive less money that are to clean up and compensate when the government turns its back on the study associations?

(Applause)

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Karin Sundin (S)

Madam Speaker! The Minister for Education speaks of cooperation, and cooperation is good. The study associations have cooperated for many years, among other things in Balsta musikslott in Eskilstuna. But one cannot cooperate away a saving of half a billion; it is not possible.

Politics is about prioritizing, and as Social Democrats, we would never prioritize in the way the current government does. They prioritize lower taxes for high-income earners before almost everything else—before the needs of healthcare, before basic infrastructure, before the climate transition, and before popular education and the activities of study associations. The Tidö government prioritizes those who already have before what would be good for Sweden in both the short and long term.

In today's debate, Johan Pehrson should explain in what way it is a wise prioritization to pull the rug out from under the activities of the study associations all over the country - in Örebro län in Karlskoga. In what way is it a wise prioritization to pull the rug out from under the study associations' opportunities to contribute to job opportunities and the Swedish music export? In what way does what is happening in Karlskoga contribute to a better society?

I take the liberty of concluding my final post in this debate by quoting Lars Winnerbäck again, from Östgöta Correspondenten in September last year:

"Why should I pay for some idiots to get to play the oboe? Of course you should! We do it together so that society feels attractive enough to participate in. So that we feel solidarity and belonging. Because we know that those who fall outside and do not feel that solidarity seek out darker fringes. And they do not become profitable."

In what way is this profitable for Sweden?

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Tomas Eneroth (S)

Madam Speaker! In the discussion about the societal development we have seen in recent years, we often hear, not least from the police, that preventive work is becoming increasingly important.

It is about ensuring that young people end up in environments that are not harmful to them or lead them into a path of crime. Is there anything better than entering the sports movement, civil society, or the music and cultural activities of the study associations? The best way to vaccinate correct values is through experiences of making music together, discovering joy, and gaining confidence and self-esteem. Then, one is not lured into other careers or other risks.

This government, however, enters and cuts, with precision, at just civil society. People with a civil society background are being hunted in some state agencies. One argues for and implements a policy that pulls the rug out from under study associations and organizational life. If the answer from Johan Pehrson is that we should cooperate, the fundamental question must obviously be: With whom then, if there is no one left?

It might be possible here in Stockholm, with the ABF house and everything. There are many actors here. But in Kosta, where I come from originally, there are not so many actors to collaborate with. This also applies to other small towns in the country, or for that matter, medium-sized municipalities. It is also there that we see that they are now cutting back on the municipality's cultural offerings. Soon, it will probably be almost only the church left that can offer venues for free music-making.

Therefore, the fundamental question, which Johan Pehrson actually has not answered: Why does the government not want to know how things stand? Why does one refuse to conduct a mapping of the effects of the savings on student unions? Is it safer to turn a blind eye to reality? Produce the underlying data so that we can see whether it is the government's picture of the effects of the "adjustments" that is correct or if it is the opposition's picture of the dramatic consequences that is correct! Make a compilation!

(Applause)

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Christofer Bergenblock (C)

Madam Speaker! I thank the Minister for the answer to my question. It was a clear no - the Minister did not stand behind what the Sweden Democrats say this is about, that is, silencing critical voices. Obviously, it is the case that there are different motives in the government for the draconian cuts that are now being made to the study association activities.

When Johan Pehrson presented his motive, I was nevertheless distressed. The motive was stated to be the cheating and the errors that have existed and the frauds that have occurred in the study association activities. Does the Minister seriously mean that we should punish the study associations in Halland, which have done right, if a study association in Botkyrka has done wrong?

I am a teacher myself. It easily happens that one starts shouting at the students who are present rather than those who are absent. It is human to do so in that way. But now we are nevertheless in the chamber of the Swedish Riksdag and debating the government's motives for making these cuts. I am very distressed by the motive that the minister cites.

We know that these cuts will not hit student unions in general. They will hit specifically hard against rural residents, the elderly and people with disabilities, who have the most subsidized activities. How does the Minister intend to compensate for the cuts that are now being made regarding people's opportunity for development and to make their democratic voice heard?

(Applause)

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Utbildningsministern Johan Pehrson (L)

Madam Speaker! It does not seem like we are getting any further. Here we have four truth-tellers who know exactly how it looks, but still they want to map it out. They know exactly how it will turn out. It will become a darkness. It will become a cultural twilight. This, which concerns 1.6 billion, will become a fatal blow to popular education.

I have great respect for the fact that one wants to invest more, but this is not the only activity that needs to prioritize, streamline, and review what can be done better or what someone else might potentially do.

I heard that there are teachers in the room. Excellent! We prioritize school. We prioritize vocational training. We prioritize that people should be able to become self-sufficient, so that they can pursue interests and perhaps invest in a course that is fee-based – study associations have both courses that are free and those that cost money.

They receive 1.6 billion from the state to invest in this. I understand that one can say and think that they should have even more, but we believe that there is an opportunity to streamline and do this better.

I am following this closely. Studieförbund are not the only ones who contribute to popular education. We have prioritized allocating permanent resources to the folk high schools. We have also made large investments in libraries, not least in Sweden's schools, to ensure that children learn to read, which is a prerequisite for participating in part of the studieförbund's activities. It is also a prerequisite for being able to write a text at all, regardless of what level one reaches.

I do not want to review Lars Winnerbäck, but I have seen a lot of activity continuing in many music venues. One has, therefore, 1.6 billion to distribute.

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Kalle Olsson (S)

Madam Speaker! Many of us here are critical of the government's cuts to student unions. When one is critical, it is customary to try to present and explain why one believes the activity is important. I hope it has become clear during this debate why we do it.

It would naturally be very good if the government took the issue seriously and systematically reviewed how this affects study associations - not least in the smaller towns, which I have returned to several times.

I did not intend to say anything more about why student unions are important, but I intended to let Johan Pehrson do that himself. This is what Johan Pehrson and Liberalerna write:

Studieförbunden are a hub in the culture's infrastructure. They are unique in that they arrange cultural activities even in very small localities. Popular education makes people co-creators instead of passive consumers of culture and education. The support for studieförbunden shall be characterized by long-term perspective.

This, Madam Speaker, was Johan Pehrson and his party's words before the 2022 election. They have moved from these beautiful – almost passionate – formulations to today, two years later, administering brutal cuts to the same student unions. It is almost surreal. As the opposition, it is difficult to reconcile with that and to put words to it.

At the same time, we all know what this is really about. It is about the Sweden Democrats, a party that abhors the idea of people gathering, organizing themselves, learning new things and having fun together or, for that matter, contributing to integration. For SD, it is a life-threatening and almost existentially threatening idea that we, thanks to the study associations, would manage integration and cohesion and become a better society together. It is significantly harder to see what Johan Pehrson sees as so threatening in free individuals taking responsibility for themselves and their region together.

We are now approaching 2025, which will be another year of cuts. Does Johan Pehrson look at that with confidence? Does he see a reason to act or to in some way pull the emergency brake?

(Applause)

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Utbildningsministern Johan Pehrson (L)

Madam Speaker! To responsibly carry out this reprioritization to other educational initiatives for folkbildning requires that a plan be presented and that it is shown in a timely manner that this happens in stages. I mean that it is to take responsibility.

I see how the student unions are now struggling to transition. I see how new courses are coming to the student unions and how they are changing the content. Much of this is absolutely fantastic. That is why we continue to make such a large investment from the state on this together with others.

We have no other goal with the policy we pursue than that the municipalities should become more prosperous, receive higher tax revenues and - with the government's state grants - be able to prioritize study associations or other actors. When people gather, it does not always have to take place under the auspices of study associations. That people participate in a book club outside the auspices of study associations is also folkbildning (popular education), one must remember. It is not the case that the folkbildning of study associations is the only folkbildning that takes place. I am thinking, for example, of the folkbildning that takes place in our libraries and the cultural activities that exist at the folk high schools, where we inject resources, for example, to help people with different forms of functional variations to gain increased access. This is a very important activity that also is included in the concept of folkbildning.

I foresee that priorities will continue to be made, but we are also allocating other resources to other areas that contribute to public education, for example, libraries in the Swedish school system.

The interpellations debate was hereby concluded.

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