Response to interpellation 2024/25:672 on the status of course literature
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 position of course literature and a declining market for new sales. L argues that Sweden is in a crisis and that the government has proposed mapping via UKÄ and SCB to obtain a better basis before measures are taken. L emphasizes the importance of a well-functioning market and that student aids are secured. S argues that the market is heading towards collapse due to low margins for authors, increased use of English literature, and students' reduced purchasing power. S believes that the government is acting too slowly and demands faster interventions, such as targeted student grants or legislative changes, to secure access to course literature 1 2 3 4 5 6 7.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Utbildningsministern Johan Pehrson (L)
Madam Speaker! Linus Sköld has asked me how I intend to act to ensure that Swedish course literature is also produced in the future. He has also asked me how I intend to create the conditions for a functioning course literature market.
We are in a literacy crisis in Sweden, and the government is implementing a number of initiatives on literature and reading promotion to meet this. Teachers at universities and colleges are warning that the crisis is beginning to show itself there as well. These facts are serious. The literacy crisis risks not only affecting students' ability to comprehend academic texts, but it also has a direct impact on Swedish course literature. Access to books and knowledge is the foundation for both education and research.
I met with actors in the higher education sector as late as December to discuss how we tackle the opportunities and challenges we face. It was a good first discussion, but in order to be able to assess the need for measures, we need to get a better picture of what the development looks like.
The Government has therefore, in the autumn budget for 2025, proposed that the Swedish Council for Higher Education be tasked with mapping how students' access to and use of course literature in higher education has developed over time. We have also proposed that Statistics Sweden be tasked with mapping how reading comprehension among higher education students has developed. These mappings will be important foundations for future measures.
Linus Sköld (S)
Madam Speaker! Course literature is the backbone of higher education courses, so course literature of good quality is a prerequisite for us to also have high-quality higher education in the future.
Course literature is sold on an open market, and new sales in this market have decreased by 40 percent over the last two years. The figure comes from the report The Perfect Storm, which was produced by Läromedelsförfattarna and Novus. The report also states that there is a lack of an overall policy debate on course literature and its function and position in the Swedish higher education sector. So let us initiate such a debate today, Johan Pehrson!
A conclusion in the report is that it is a perfect storm of factors that has led to the decline in new sales of course literature.
We have the service Legimus, which is administered by the Swedish Agency for Accessible Media. In five years, the number of users has doubled, and during the same period, there has been a 50 percent increase in the number of downloads. It is about giving people with different disabilities access to e-books and audiobooks. Since there is no such increase in the target group, the increased usage can possibly be traced to unauthorized distribution.
The second-hand market for course literature has become more efficient through new technical methods. The two largest actors now turn over as much as the new sales. To this are added the less specialized second-hand markets.
The use of English course literature has increased, which disadvantages the market for Swedish course literature. 38 percent of students state that they have used course literature that has been downloaded for free via the internet, and so on.
In addition to this, there are weak reasons for researchers to produce new course literature. One gets paid poorly because the margins in a declining market are bad. It is not meritorious in the higher education sector, and one has little time. In total, new sales of course literature have decreased by 40 percent over two years, and we are heading towards a kind of collapse of the market for course literature.
Johan Pehrson replied that it is a risk. I think that Johan Pehrson's paradigm from screen to binder is well-known. If it has an effect, it will take decades before the effects reach higher education. Furthermore, he said that he has given two investigation assignments to SCB and UKÄ. But a 40 percent decline in two years shows that one perhaps should march faster than that.
Utbildningsministern Johan Pehrson (L)
Madam Speaker! I welcome Linus Sköld's interest in a functioning market where producers, mostly private companies, shall be able to deliver good products in the form of literature – in this case, educational materials.
It is fundamentally serious if students in a broader sense are worse at reading and become worse at thinking. The ability to read and think are connected. We are now looking at various measures, not least in direct contact with different universities and colleges, to see what can be done to help students. Among other things, we must ensure that those who are in first grade today learn to read better so that they avoid problems in the future, but here and now, more work should be done with study techniques and reading techniques. Much very good work is being carried out at many universities and colleges.
Regarding the specific question about Legimus, we have tasked the Swedish Agency for Accessible Media, MTM, with proposing measures to ensure that only individuals with legitimate needs for adapted course literature are granted access to the digital library service. I understand the question raised by Linus Sköld. The purpose is to manage access so that it becomes more robust, legally secure, and equitable. The assignment is to be reported later this month, and it is something that is specific.
The more resources one invests in research generally, broadly across the entire sector, the more decisive it is for how much interesting science can be produced, which in itself leads to being able to produce more literature.
Swedish is a relatively small language area – a beautiful language – but it is becoming more internationalized. We want to see this direction, that is to say that Sweden shall be open, and it can lead to an increased internationalization and an increased use of other course literature than that which is written in Swedish.
We are following the issue very closely, but as for Legimus, we are waiting with great interest for MTM's report.
Linus Sköld (S)
Madam Speaker! When it comes to MTM and Legimus, I am well acquainted with the assignment. It was included in the regulatory letter to the agency that the assignment was to be reported back by February 28. Then the assignment arrived, more well-formulated, on February 8 with a final reporting date of June 13. Even in that respect, the government has not maintained the tempo that would be justified given how acute the crisis appears to be. Instead, the final reporting has been pushed forward by four months.
Johan Pehrson says that an important factor is that one invests in research. There is a lot of knowledge that can become course literature. The research grants from last year have been calculated up. The 1.5 billion that the research grants increased by corresponds quite exactly to the government's estimate of how much price and wage adjustment the sector needs to maintain the value of an input after productivity deduction. It is therefore a small cut in research that Johan Pehrson has managed to achieve during his time in office.
Then Johan Pehrson says that internationalization is a quality factor. I agree with that. It is important that we view knowledge formation as a common good for humanity and that we are open and transparent and share. We will have reason to debate this in a later interpellation debate.
If one were to take the grip on the Swedish language's position, that is to say, the Swedish language loses its position in the Swedish academy. More than nine out of ten doctoral theses are written in English at Swedish educational institutions. The textbook authors draw the conclusion in the report that the use of course literature in English displaces course literature in Swedish. If the Swedish language is not allowed to be the language of knowledge formation, there will be domain losses. Entire sectors of knowledge and social sectors will have their conceptual formation in English instead of in Swedish. This, in turn, weakens the Swedish language's position as a language in the world and as a functional language between citizens. Johan Pehrson should actually think that it is an undesirable development.
Johan Pehrson and I agree that well-functioning markets are good. This does not seem to be a well-functioning market, but rather it is heading towards its own collapse. My guess is that this is connected to the recent increased cost of living for students.
Students are, from the beginning, a bargain-seeking group. Students have always been creative in finding ways to obtain literature through second-hand markets, through illegal copying, or library loans, but the recent cost development has increased the incentives to find other ways than new sales to get hold of course literature.
I think that students' purchasing power should be strengthened, and I know that Johan Pehrson and his government think that high-income earners' purchasing power is terribly important to protect. But does Johan Pehrson think that students' purchasing power should be protected so that they can afford to buy course literature even in the future?
Utbildningsministern Johan Pehrson (L)
Madam Speaker! It is clear that we are in difficult times. The extreme, high inflation that has prevailed in Sweden for a long time, not least when the government took office, we have now seen pressed back. But prices remain. However, this government has been clear that we are sticking to the increases of student grants that occur in a way that ensures Sweden still has one of the world's most competitive student financing systems. In Sweden, one receives a large state tax-funded support to study to become a doctor, engineer, teacher, or nurse. It is fantastic, and we shall maintain it.
That we have more efficient second-hand markets for a circular economy is, at least in my view as a Liberal, something that is positive. We need less of a "buy and throw away" culture in society, and I hope that Linus Sköld agrees.
We know that access to books and knowledge is the foundation for education and research. We see how the changing media landscape affects students' ways of acquiring and accessing knowledge. It can affect, among other things, the development of literacy.
In any case, I want to be clear on behalf of the government that we assess that a better knowledge base is needed regarding how students use the course literature to address that question, which is based on this report which I find quite interesting. I want a broader basis before we proceed with any further measures to ensure that they are accurate.
We see in mapping conducted previously that students' use of course literature has varied. Therefore, these two assignments are so important. They have been added, among other things, to meet what is reflected in this report.
Linus Sköld (S)
Madam Speaker! I am like Johan Pehrson for both that we should have greater circularity in the economy and that we should index student grants with the consumer price index annually. Of course we should. But I and my party have for many parliamentary periods been for strengthening the student grant for our students, that is to say strengthening their relative purchasing power and not just securing its value.
Furthermore, the textbook authors' proposal for an emergency solution is to introduce a targeted study grant that can only be used to purchase course literature. Even if one does not want to go that route, there are things that could be done significantly faster than by the government, which is dragging its feet.
Markets like these, which do not sustain themselves but provide what we consider necessary, require intervention. If the market is about to collapse if left to its own fate, Johan Pehrson must intervene if he wants to keep the course literature in our university courses.
An intervention could be one of the legislative changes that the textbook authors propose, a reinforcement of the study material or, for that matter, a support for the supply side of this market. Regardless, one could march faster than by giving agency mandates.
Appoint an SOU! That will surely be required if rule changes are to be made – if one now wants to go that way. But do something, or let access to course literature collapse! That is the message to Johan Pehrson here. Does Johan Pehrson think we can do without course literature, or does he intend to intervene?
Utbildningsministern Johan Pehrson (L)
Madam Speaker! Nothing is as good for reducing shortages, queues, and deficiencies as a well-functioning market. But I insist on the government's mandate to get a broader picture than this very readable report and perhaps the conclusion that we should increase subsidies or print more state bonds. Intervention is Linus Sköld's favorite word in the debate.
I rule nothing out, because it is clear that the only goal is for students in Sweden to be world champions at reading, and they shall read literature. But they will probably have to adapt and be prepared to read literature in both Swedish and English and in other languages in the future.
Thank you for an important debate!
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.