Response to interpellation 2025/26:278 on the write-off of the investigation on minority languages
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 there is no need for consultation regarding the scrapping of the report because the proposals can be actualized again and administrative authorities shall consult as far as possible 1. 1 2 3 L emphasizes that the government has taken measures to strengthen education in national minority languages, including through Statens skolverks new mandate and state grants for distance learning 1 2 3. 2 3 L argues that the Ministry of Education has participated in consultations when issues concerned their area of responsibility 2 3. 1 2 L highlights that the forms of influence should be adapted to what is best for each situation 1 2. 4 L considers that the proposal that students in upper secondary school and adapted upper secondary school should be able to study a national minority language as a mother tongue without requirements for prior knowledge has been implemented 4. 4 L argues that the administrative authority has judged that it is not relevant to proceed with other proposals in the report 4. 4 L emphasizes that this does not mean that no measures are needed in the future, but that they are not proceeding with anything in the report at this time 4. 4 L argues that consultation has not occurred in any other way than is customary in these matters 4.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Utbildnings- och integrationsministern Simona Mohamsson (L)
Madam Speaker! Mirja Räihä has asked me whether my assessment remains that there is no need for a consultation, and how I would, in that case, justify my assessment regarding the striking of the report from the Investigation Improved opportunities for students to develop their national minority language.
The member has also asked me if I intend to proceed with any of the proposals and, if so, which of the proposals. The member has also asked me whether I and the government will initiate a consultation if the government proceeds with one or more of the proposals submitted by the commission.
The report National minority languages in schools – improved conditions for teaching and revitalization (SOU 2017:91) was submitted to Minister Gustav Fridolin as early as 2017. The proposal in the report that students in upper secondary school and adapted upper secondary school shall be able to study a national minority language as a mother tongue without requirements for any prior knowledge of the language has been implemented (prop. 2022/23:132, bet. 2023/24:UbU3, rskr. 2023/24:29).
Administrative authorities shall provide the national minorities with an opportunity to influence matters concerning them and, as far as possible, consult with the minorities in such matters (Section 5 of the Act [2009:724] on national minorities and minority languages). The forms of influence should be adapted to what is best for each situation. Against this background, and since the proposals can be actualized again, the decision to write off the case has not been judged to justify consultation with the national minorities.
The Ministry of Culture is the responsible ministry for minority policy and holds annual individual consultation meetings with each national minority. The Ministry of Education has participated in consultations when the issues have concerned our area of responsibility, including when minority organizations have raised issues regarding mother tongue instruction. The Ministry of Education has also held consultations on specific issues, and should the Government proceed with further proposals in the report, a consultation can be considered.
I want to emphasize that issues regarding the national minority languages are important for the government. At the moment, it is not relevant to proceed with any of the other proposals in the report, but the government has recently taken various measures to strengthen teaching in the national minority languages.
Since 2023, the Swedish National Agency for Education has been tasked with responsibility for the national coordination of teaching in national minority languages. Long-term measures are important. From 2026 onwards, the mandate is therefore included in the ordinance (2015:1047) with instructions for the Swedish National Agency for Education and includes supporting teaching in national minority languages of good quality and promoting access to teaching materials (18 § 4).
Furthermore, the government decided in the spring of 2025 on the ordinance (2025:359) on state grants for distance learning in national minority languages, which entered into force on 1 July 2025. The purpose of the grant is that more students should be able to have access to distance learning in one of the national minority languages.
Mirja Räihä (S)
Madam Speaker! I would like to begin by reminding that today is the Sami National Day. With this, I send a greeting to all the Sami I know in this country. Unfortunately, I could not be present at the flag ceremony outside Stockholm City Hall, but I have not forgotten what day it is. It is an important day, and in that case, it is appropriate to have a minority debate.
I thank the Minister for the answer, even though the answer does not actually reflect the questions – but that is how it usually is in the Chamber.
I have previously submitted a written question on the same subject, that is, the lack of consultation in important matters with minority groups. It is those groups that can describe the needs and provide a basis for the government so that wise decisions can be made.
I asked what the justification was for ignoring the consultation. The answer was that the government has previously proceeded with parts of the proposals in the report. It is now eight years old! The decision to write off the report does not, however, mean that the government cannot proceed with the proposals or the issues being considered. Thus, the decision has not been judged to justify consultation with the minority groups.
The answer is not quite sufficient for me, and the answer was also not sufficient for the delegation of the Swedish-Finns. The delegation also submitted a petition, and the answer to the delegation was an exact copy of the answer I received.
The Minister said in his answer that minority issues are important for the government. I naturally question this. How is it shown in practice? It is true that the Ministry of Culture has consultations with minority groups, but there are examples that show that the consultations mean little for our government. One example is the change of agency for the follow-up work. In that case, it was the minority groups who demanded consultation. Despite strong opposition, the government carried out the agency change a couple of weeks after the consultation.
The Minister speaks in his answer regarding what the government has done within the school area. It is obviously good, but actually, the interpellation is not so much about school issues. It is about whether the government is prepared to consult on important issues in the future, with reference to the statement that one might not be so unfamiliar with implementing some of the proposals in Jarmo Laino's investigation. Is the government prepared to consult?
One must understand that all major issues concerning minority groups become extremely important to them. The resentment when consultation does not occur becomes very great. Already the Swedish-Finnish group, those who have roots in Finland, consists today of over 700,000 people in Sweden.
I therefore need to ask further questions to the Minister. The Government is formally not an administrative authority; I am aware of that. But should the Government not lead by example when it comes to the consultation process, especially in such an important issue as school education for children with a background in any of the minority groups and where one of the parents is a speaker of these languages?
Does the government's actions not risk undermining the provision on consultation with the national minorities?
Utbildnings- och integrationsministern Simona Mohamsson (L)
Madam Speaker! Thank you, member, for this important issue on this important day!
Let me begin by answering the question regarding consultation. According to the Act on National Minorities and Minority Languages, the administrative authority shall give the national minorities the opportunity to influence matters that concern them. As far as possible, consultation shall be held with the minorities in such matters. I believe the member and I agree on this.
The forms of influence should be adapted according to what is best in each situation. The Ministry of Culture is the responsible ministry for minority languages and holds annual individual consultation meetings with each national minority.
The Ministry of Education has participated in consultations when issues have concerned our area of responsibility. This has, among other things, involved minority organizations raising issues regarding mother tongue instruction. The Ministry of Education has also held consultations on specific issues within the education area.
Furthermore, the member asks what the government has done during the recent period to strengthen teaching in national minority languages. To promote the revitalization of the national minority languages, several measures have been taken, Madam Speaker. Constitutional amendments have been implemented within the education area. Among other things, the right to mother tongue teaching in national minority languages has been strengthened for students who belong to the national minorities in relation to other mother tongue teaching.
Skolverket has had the mandate to be responsible for the coordination of education in national minority languages. In order to obtain a long-term basis for measures, the government has recently decided to change this mandate, and Skolverket's instructions will be changed from and after 2026 to clarify the sector responsibility for the issue of national minorities.
I also want to highlight that the Swedish National Agency for Education has, since 2019, had a mandate to increase the number of qualified teachers in Sami through commissioned training. From 2025, the mandate will be changed to also include strengthening knowledge of Sami for preschool teachers. In the Sami school, there are curricula in the subject of Sami as both a first and second language, and on July 1, 2024, the curriculum in Sami was expanded with a new track on Sami as a second language for beginners.
Madam Speaker! I would say that we can justify the answers to both the question regarding consultation and the question regarding what the government is doing in these matters with a large number of different measures.
Mirja Räihä (S)
Madam Speaker! I feel that we are talking about two different things right now. I am talking about consultation, and the Minister for Education is talking about what has been implemented so far. That is not the core of the interpellation.
Yesterday I was in Eskilstuna at Folk och Kultur to participate in a conversation about minority policy in general and the Tornedalians' truth commission in particular. What was interesting was that the conversation was initiated by Lennart Rohdin, who is the foremost expert on minority issues in Sweden. He was also a Member of Parliament for Folkpartiet during the 90s, and he has truly been at the forefront of pushing minority issues hard. He was also appointed in 2016 as an investigator for national minority policy.
Madam Speaker! Lennart Rohdin was yesterday extremely critical of how minority policy has developed during the 25 years that Sweden has had the Act on National Minorities. Admittedly, certain steps have been taken, but he argued that precisely the consultation procedure from the government has been and is deficient.
The government should take the issue seriously collectively, but today it does not feel like that is being done. Issue after issue, light is shed on the consultations or on the fact that consultations are not being conducted in the manner that the legislator intended.
The Minister answers me that the forms of influence should be adapted according to what is best for each situation. In that case, both I and everyone else who has their background in national minorities will likely raise their eyebrows significantly.
The investigation was indeed about teaching in minority languages in school. It was about revitalizing and developing minority languages among children. Children's right to their language is also established in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which is today Swedish law. But it is the consultations that I am looking for here.
Madam Speaker! Such an important issue should obviously have undergone a consultation, and the government should have raised the question of scrapping the investigation in this consultation. I am quite convinced that the answer would not have been to throw the investigation in the wastebasket.
The five minority groups should not have to chase the government and request consultation every time the government does something that affects them. After 25 years with the law on minority groups, it should be natural for the government to arrange this. This was the case regarding the change of authorities, and with the benefit of hindsight, the affected organizations should perhaps have done this this time as well and loudly demanded a consultation. The government has also reduced the funding of the national organizations, which naturally impairs their opportunities to monitor everything that happens in the minority area.
Now the minister says that consultations can be considered if some proposals in the investigation are to be realized. Would it not be easier to say that the government shall have consultations in that case?
Utbildnings- och integrationsministern Simona Mohamsson (L)
Madam Speaker and Member! I want to emphasize that the issue of the national minorities is important for the government. At the moment, it is not feasible to proceed with any of the proposals in the report that the Member highlights, but the government has recently taken various measures to strengthen, among other things, teaching in the national minority languages.
I mentioned some examples earlier. Since 2023, the Swedish National Agency for Education has been tasked with responsibility for the national coordination of teaching in the national minority languages. Long-term measures are important. From 2026 onwards, the mandate is therefore included in a regulation with instructions to the Swedish National Agency for Education, which includes that the Swedish National Agency for Education shall also support high-quality teaching in national minority languages and promote access to teaching materials.
I understand that the member may not entirely share my view of how the consultations should take place. Today, the Ministry of Culture is the responsible ministry for minority policy, and annual individual consultation meetings are held with each national minority. The Ministry of Education has participated in consultations when issues concern our area of responsibility, including when minority organizations have raised issues regarding mother tongue education. I would say that it is a clear proof that the Ministry of Education is present at these consultations that one is also listening when discussions are requested regarding, for example, mother tongue education. Furthermore, the Ministry of Education has also held consultations on specific issues.
Mirja Räihä (S)
Madam Speaker! On Wednesday, minority issues were debated for a long time here in the chamber; every member even exceeded their allotted speaking time. Two Liberals participated in the debate, but for them, there was only a single minority group. The other four were absent during the Liberals' members' long speeches. It was somewhat distressing considering that the Liberals as a party have championed minority issues and the minority law in this chamber. Several members from the then Folkpartiet pushed these issues. Lennart Rohdin was one, Nina Lundström another, and Sweden has the legislation we have today thanks to proposals from this party. Since then, the issues have been persistently pushed forward here in the chamber, and today it is Malin Danielsson who is submitting a motion on minority issues.
When I talk about consultation, the minister talks about what has been done in the school area. Is it the case that one has completely abdicated when it comes to minority issues? That question needs to be asked.
The Swedish-Finnish delegation is as upset as I am that the investigation ended up in the wastebasket. There was no consultation even on whether it could be scrapped. It would have been a simple matter to send it to the Ministry of Culture and have a consultation about it. It would probably have been appreciated by the minority groups.
Utbildnings- och integrationsministern Simona Mohamsson (L)
Madam Speaker! The report on national minority languages in schools, improved conditions for teaching and revitalization was handed over to Gustav Fridolin already in 2017.
The proposal in the report that students in upper secondary school and adapted upper secondary school shall be able to study a national minority language as a mother tongue without requirements for prior knowledge of the language has been implemented.
The administrative authority, after consultation regarding other proposals in the report, has made the assessment that it is not relevant to proceed with these. This does not mean that there are not things that may need to be done in the future, but right now we are not proceeding with anything in the report. That is how we have assessed and justified why consultations have not been conducted in any other way than customary in these matters.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.