Response to interpellation 2025/26:350 on the investigation into students' attitudes and views on minority groups
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
The debate concerns students' attitudes and vulnerability. L takes increased negative attitudes and vulnerability in schools seriously 1 and argues that the school has a duty to counter discrimination and ensure a safe environment 2. L prioritizes a safer school environment by providing teachers and principals with better conditions to act against harassment and antisemitism 1 as well as through knowledge-enhancing measures and strategies to strengthen Jewish life 3 4. L advocates for mobile-free schools, clearer responsibilities for principals, and reinforced disciplinary measures 2. SD argues that Muslim immigration has led to an increase in antisemitism 5 and that students with foreign backgrounds exhibit negative attitudes toward sexual minorities 6. SD wants Swedish values to apply in schools 7 and that immigration from Muslim countries be drastically reduced 8. S criticizes L for proposing that the knowledge area sexuality, cohabitation, and relationships should be abolished 9 and questions whether L can stand up against the hate 10.
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! Clara Aranda has asked me if I intend to take specific measures aimed at those student groups who, according to the report from Forum för levande historia Unga tycker om andra, exhibit more negative attitudes towards minority groups, including students who identify as Muslims, in order to counter intolerance and to create a more inclusive school environment. The member has also asked me what measures I intend to take to ensure that our schools have the tools necessary to handle and prevent conspiracy theories, especially those concerning the minority group Jews, as the report clearly shows that the Jewish group is very vulnerable. The member has also asked me what concrete and long-term measures I intend to take to strengthen safety in schools in light of the palpable increase in bullying, threats, and physical violence, and how I intend to ensure that particularly vulnerable student groups receive the support required.
First and foremost, I want to emphasize that I take seriously that the study shows that the negative attitudes towards all studied groups that can be compared over time have increased and that the vulnerability to being seriously teased, threatened or beaten has increased.
According to the Education Act (2010:800) and the Discrimination Act (2008:567), the school has an obligation to actively counteract all forms of discrimination and offensive treatment. If someone is subjected to such treatment, it is the school's duty to act. That students are safe is crucial for them to feel well and succeed in school.
This is a priority issue for the government. Therefore, we have taken several measures to create a safer school environment for all students. Not least, it is about giving teachers and principals better conditions to be able to act in cases of violations, threats, and harassment. This includes, among other things, initiatives to counter the occurrence of antisemitism in the school system, for example based on the government's strategy to strengthen Jewish life and counter antisemitism in Sweden. The government's action plan against racism and hate crimes also includes measures against antisemitism and racism as well as work to ensure that no student, regardless of background, should feel unsafe in school. Skolverket, together with Forum för levande historia, has been tasked with carrying out dissemination activities and following up the tool Demokratistegen for systematic work with democracy-strengthening initiatives in the school system, folk education, and other adult education.
Regarding countering disinformation and conspiracy theories, the Swedish Media Council has for several years developed knowledge and support concerning children's and young people's vulnerability to racism and intolerance online. The Swedish Media Council has recently been tasked with strengthening media and information literacy and increasing knowledge about AI through initiatives during 2026–2028.
A cultural shift is needed in schools. Schools must act forcefully against students who offend, threaten, use violence, or act disruptively – both for the sake of these students and for the benefit of other students. It needs to be clear what consequences follow if someone breaks the rules. The Government therefore proposes amendments to the Education Act in the Council of State referral Better conditions for safety and study in schools. Among other things, the responsibility of the head of school and the principal for safety and study is clarified. The Government also proposes that today's rules of order shall be renamed to school rules, become school-wide, and contain a plan for consequences if a student breaks these rules.
Clara Aranda (SD)
Madam Speaker! I would like to begin by thanking the Minister for Education and Integration for the answer to my interpellation.
I have submitted the interpellation on the grounds that Forum för levande historia, together with the statistics agency SCB, has conducted a comprehensive study of Swedish schoolchildren's attitudes during the school year 2024/25.
The results have been presented in the report Unga tycker om andra. It is a study of school students' attitudes, trust, and vulnerability which collectively shows that negative attitudes towards minority groups have clearly increased among secondary and upper secondary school students.
First and foremost, this survey shows a general increase in negative attitudes among young people. It is not about individual tendencies but about a broad shift in values. The differences linked to the students' backgrounds are particularly clear. It appears from the report, therefore, that students with a foreign background exhibit a more negative attitude towards LGBT persons, Jews, and Sámi than students with a Swedish background. Among other things, it appears that students who identify as Muslims exhibit more negative attitudes toward several minority groups than Christian and non-religious students do.
It is high time that we begin to value our common values and dare to demand that these be upheld – especially in the world of school, where much of this can be influenced and shaped.
Madam Speaker! In the current study, they have also looked at the students' propensity to believe in conspiracy theories. The results show a clear connection between conspiratorial thinking and negative attitudes toward minority groups. The connection is particularly strong when it comes to attitudes toward Jews. It is also noted that there is a clear correlation between conspiratorial disposition and ideas about what is referred to in the report as Jewish influence in the world. This is nothing other than classic antisemitic thought patterns in a modern guise.
When this type of conspiracy theories take hold, they risk reinforcing stereotypes, creating suspicion, and ultimately growing into strong hatred. It is serious and cannot be accepted.
At the same time, the report shows a significant deterioration of safety in schools. The proportion of students who state that they have been teased has increased from 33 to 51 percent since 2013. The occurrence of threats has increased from 8 to 13 percent, and physical violence has increased from 11 to 16 percent.
This is a tangible deterioration, and particularly vulnerable are Jewish students and students who identify as homosexual or bisexual. For them, the school environment is not a safe place but a place characterized by insecurity and risks.
Madam Speaker! It is obviously important that teachers and principals are given better conditions to counter intolerance and insecurity in schools. I also view it positively that the head of the school's and the principal's responsibility for safety and study environment is clarified. I would, however, like to ask the Minister what this can mean more concretely. Will it, for example, become easier to exclude students who create an insecure environment for other students due to their antisemitism or other unacceptable intolerant behavior?
Nima Gholam Ali Pour (SD)
Madam Speaker! Since the beginning of the 2000s, Sweden has had a massive Muslim immigration from the Middle East – the immigration has actually only started to decrease during this government. The result is that approximately 1 million people in Sweden have a Muslim national or cultural background.
Between the years 2000 and 2021, foreigners from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan were those who were granted the most citizenships in Sweden. Among the asylum applications submitted to the Swedish Migration Agency, asylum applications from foreigners from Muslim countries still dominate, even if they are fewer in number.
What we see in the report that the interpellator refers to is that the Muslim immigration has its price. It is not the case that people can come to Sweden from countries where large parts of the population harbor hatred towards LGBTQ+ persons and minorities without it affecting Sweden.
For a long time, the Sweden Democrats were the only party that dared to say that the increasing antisemitism in Sweden was imported, primarily from the Middle East. We were called all sorts of things for making such a claim. Now we see it in black and white, among other things in the report that the interpellator refers to.
In the report, one can read that students who identify as Muslims, on average, exhibit more negative attitudes toward LGBTQ persons, Jews, Roma, and Sámi compared to students who identify as Christians and students who do not identify with any religion at all.
This is not the only report that shows such results. There are several reports that show the same results, that is to say that, among other things, antisemitism is more widespread among Muslims compared to other groups. It is not that strange. How have Jews been treated in Muslim countries? More than 800,000 Jews were expelled from Muslim countries after Israel was founded. It is not something that politicians on the left side so often talk about, but the treatment of Jews in many Muslim countries has been appalling. Entire Jewish communities have been wiped out in Muslim countries, and it has happened after World War II, after the Holocaust.
There is no doubt that there is an antisemitic discourse in quite a few Muslim countries. Then, of course, it can vary how bad it is, but that Muslim immigration to Sweden leads to more antisemitism in Sweden should not surprise anyone.
Something that has also emerged in various reports is that the interpretation of Islam is relevant to whether a Muslim has anti-Semitic views. Then one can look at the mosques we have in Sweden, what funding these mosques have, and how these mosques interpret Islam. Most mosques in Sweden have some form of relationship with a regime or an Islamist organization that has a hostile narrative about Jews or the state of Israel.
The question therefore becomes how the government works to ensure that the Muslim communities in Sweden do not further strengthen antisemitism among Muslims.
DANIEL VENCU VELASQUEZ CASTRO (S)
Madam Speaker! Thank you for the opportunity to debate these important issues! I have also received the report "Unga tycker" and would like to say a few things.
For those of us who have been active in rights issues for a very long time, I can inform the members from Sverigedemokraterna that this is a trend that has been ongoing for a very long time. This was, therefore, rather a confirmation of something that we probably all already knew.
In the report, it is not only negative attitudes towards hbtqi-persons and Jews that are increasing among students, but negative attitudes towards all minority groups that the report has looked at, including Muslims and Afro-Swedes, which were actively omitted by the Sweden Democrat members.
However, one should not downplay that students with religious identification have more negative attitudes towards minorities than others do. The report as a whole also shows that many of these students hold conservative values and identify with conservatism. Consistently, something that we have debated many times, Madam Speaker, is that young men harbor an increasingly growing hatred, especially towards LGBTQI persons. It is this that we should discuss if we are to truly tackle this issue.
It is therefore telling which camp the government has chosen to land in, namely the camp that chooses to pick out which groups one looks at instead of looking at the whole – how we are to deal with the hatred in our society among the younger people.
I want to bring up some of the things that the government is doing anyway. There is an action plan for how we are to increase the human rights and safety of hbtqi persons in our society. The action plan is called S tolt och trygg and was developed by the Social Democratic government. The current government has updated it, and that is welcome. I think it is good that more strategic agencies are being identified to work with the issue.
In the action plan, it is written: ”Increasing competence regarding, among other things, how restrictive norms can lead to vulnerability and discrimination for young hbtqi students in school is important to create a safe environment in school for everyone.” Therefore, these measures must increase.
At the same time, however, Simona Mohamsson herself proposes that the knowledge area of sexuality, consent, and cohabitation should be abolished as a general knowledge area in the Swedish school and instead be placed within subjects. Instead of all teachers having good knowledge of this, only individual teachers should have it. Regarding what the Sweden Democrat MP said about the principal's responsibility, the principal's responsibility is abolished when it comes to exactly sex, cohabitation, and relationships. An important part of that knowledge area is precisely the human rights of hbtqi persons.
In addition, Simona Mohamsson's perhaps but hopefully not future government partners, municipality by municipality, have suggested that knowledge-enhancing measures should be abolished when it comes to specifically hbtqi persons. They call it norm-critical left-wing propaganda, especially in the city of Stockholm.
It becomes a bit difficult for me to understand how one is to work with strengthening the work against the vulnerability of hbtqi persons in the Swedish school if, firstly, one abolishes the knowledge area sexuality, cohabitation and relationships and, secondly, also intends to make oneself dependent on a party that completely wants to abolish knowledge-enhancing interventions in the Swedish school when it comes to hbtqi persons' safety.
What concrete measures does Simona Mohamsson intend to take to strengthen the security for the vulnerable group in the school? I want an answer to that question.
Utbildnings- och integrationsministern Simona Mohamsson (L)
Madam Speaker! I am pleased that so many want to participate in a debate concerning the school and our children's values!
Values matter. Sweden has world-unique values that we need to defend and fight for every day. It is also a completely decisive part for the government. Precisely because values matter, we have joined the school and integration policy, because it is in the school that the most decisive part of the democratic society is built up.
I also agree with the members in their description that when children do not feel safe and do not feel that they can be themselves in school, but instead go there with a lump in their stomachs, it will be difficult, even impossible, for them to focus on what is important in school, namely to learn. To feel safe that one is treated correctly in school and that the adult world will otherwise act is absolutely crucial.
As I mentioned initially, Madam Speaker, the school has, according to the Education Act and the Discrimination Act, an obligation to actively counteract all forms of discrimination and offensive treatment – an obligation, thus nothing that the school can opt out of. If someone is subjected to it, it is the school's obligation to act. The school has the responsibility to ensure a safe school environment for all students. The school shall be free from discrimination and offensive treatment.
Madam Speaker! The members are asking what better conditions regarding study environment and safety in schools entail. I want to highlight a part of the Government Bill, Madam Speaker. The principals' and headmasters' responsibility for safety and study environment in school units shall be clarified. In addition to this, principals and headmasters shall also carry out preventive work to ensure that safety can actually be maintained. The school shall be made mobile-free by collecting the students' mobile phones at the beginning of the school day and returning them at the end of the school day. This is mandatory in all school forms. Today's rules of order shall be renamed to school rules, become school-wide, and contain a plan for the consequences that it entails when the rules are violated.
Madam Speaker! Another point that is completely crucial for ensuring and creating safety and study is the possibility of strengthening the use of disciplinary measures. This can involve temporary relocation within the own school unit, temporary placement outside the own school unit, and suspension. In some cases, it may also become possible to deny students access to the school unit if students threaten the safety of other students and for staff.
One point in the Government Offices' referral concerns that the school's expectations of students and their guardians shall be clarified in an expectations document. It is absolutely crucial that the school is a place where all students feel safe. There is nothing to negotiate regarding that.
Clara Aranda (SD)
Madam Speaker! Thank you to the Minister for the answers!
I intended to continue speaking about the fact that students with a foreign background exhibit negative attitudes towards sexual minorities to a greater extent than students with a Swedish background do, because it is a fact that must be highlighted. I compare this with results from previous surveys to provide a clearer picture of the development.
Regarding the statement in the survey which reads "It is as natural to be homosexual as it is to be heterosexual", the proportion that agrees has plummeted from 74 to 43 percent. The proportion that distances itself from the statement has doubled, from 19 to 40 percent.
Regarding the claim "Homosexuals, bisexuals and trans people cannot be trusted," an increase can be seen from 6 to 15 percent. It is worth noting that it was precisely the group of hbt people that the most were positive towards when the results of the same survey were presented in 2013. Now it is the opposite. Hbt people are the group that the most are negative towards.
This is truly a sad development, but not particularly surprising. Let us be completely honest: What we see is, among other things, the result of a totally irresponsible mass immigration policy and, in turn, a failed integration that we must now deal with.
Madam Speaker! For a longer period, especially since the horrific terror attack against Israel on October 7, 2023, we have been able to see reports showing the vulnerability of Jews in Sweden. That situation has worsened. The increasing prevalence of antisemitism in our country is very serious. It is also clearly shown in the survey that attitudes towards the national minority Jews have worsened since the previous survey.
The Minister argues that this is a priority issue for the government. At the same time, my assessment is that the measures are not powerful enough. It is good that, for example, the Media Authority has been tasked with strengthening media and information literacy and increasing knowledge about AI, but I find it difficult to see how these measures can fully counteract antisemitic conspiracy theories in our schools.
Given the conclusions in the report, we can state that proper measures are required to reverse the development. It is also time to take a stand and forcefully demonstrate that this must not be accepted in Swedish schools. The investigation also shows that students' vulnerability to bullying, threats, and violence has increased significantly. Even there, Jewish students and students who identify as homosexual or bisexual are particularly affected.
I have noted the measures that the government has taken but would like to know if there are plans for further interventions – perhaps as a result of this report – that the Minister can account for.
Nima Gholam Ali Pour (SD)
Madam Speaker! It is possible to change destination overnight, but one does not change values that quickly. The tolerance that exists in Sweden is not universal. Sweden is a country built on freedom – freedom to believe or not to believe, to love whom one wants, and to live openly as a homosexual without fear. But these self-evident concepts are not so self-evident in the rest of the world.
In large parts of the Middle East, homosexuality is criminalized. In some countries, it can lead to imprisonment and in some to the death penalty. That is the reality. It is very sad, but that is how the world is.
Since the beginning of the 2000s, Sweden has received extensive immigration from Muslim countries, where the view on LGBTQ individuals differs sharply from the Swedish one. This does not mean that every individual from these countries shares these intolerant values, but many of them do. If our values are to be defended, we must be prepared to take on this conflict but also drastically reduce immigration from these countries.
Sweden shall not adapt its values. It is those who come here who must adapt theirs. That is how we protect the safety of LGBTQ people and minorities. I wonder if the Minister for Education and Integration sees the conflict between Muslim immigration and the tolerance that exists in Sweden.
DANIEL VENCU VELASQUEZ CASTRO (S)
Madam Speaker! I want to be clear that there are many forces in society that want to harm LGBTQ+ people. It is Islamists, fundamentalists, conservatives and the far-right. It is important to stand against this and show that it is not acceptable. I believe it is important what one signals. I believe it is important for the country's students but also for the entire Swedish people and especially for the country's LGBTQ+ people.
According to Outright International's report on the 2024 super election year, LGBTQI+ hate occurred in the election campaigns in 85 percent of the countries that held elections that year. I want to ask Simona Mohamsson which party she thinks will spread hate against LGBTQI+ people in the Swedish election campaign.
Madam Speaker! I question whether the Liberals and Simona Mohamsson can be trusted ahead of the 2026 election. Will Simona Mohamsson take a stand against the Sweden Democrats' hatred towards trans people? Will Simona Mohamsson take a stand against the Sweden Democrats' proposal to abolish knowledge-raising initiatives regarding hbtqi people in Swedish schools? Will Simona Mohamsson take a stand against SD's constant attacks and hatred towards vulnerable groups in our society? Most recently, when Simona Mohamsson promised to be the guarantor against this hatred, it ended with a hug with Jimmie Åkesson.
Madam Speaker! It is obvious that the Liberals do not have a red line against hate. It is a disturbing message for the country's LGBTQI people.
Utbildnings- och integrationsministern Simona Mohamsson (L)
Madam Speaker! I believe it is absolutely crucial that society collectively both signals and acts. Therefore, it is an important priority for the government to ensure that the school is a free zone where students feel safe and can focus on what is most important in school, namely learning.
Since I became Minister for Education, I have met many students and pupils from the Jewish minority. It hurts the heart and is harrowing to hear how they do not dare to come to school, do not feel that they can wear the Star of David, and feel that the school no longer belongs to them.
Madam Speaker! In order to counter the disinformation and the conspiracy theories that have been raised by several members, we have for several years asked the Media Authority to produce knowledge and support regarding the vulnerability of children and young people to intolerance online.
The Swedish Defence Research Agency is also tasked with continuously producing and reporting new knowledge on the occurrence of antisemitism in digital environments, particularly regarding how the occurrence looks in the Swedish context. The latest initiative is part of the government's strategy to strengthen Jewish life and counter antisemitism for 2025–2034. One objective in the strategy is that Jews in Sweden shall be able to live openly, safely, and securely.
There is no part that is as crucial in a school as the staff. It is important that staff within schools and other activities that encounter young people have knowledge and, above all, tools to be able to prevent and counteract various forms of racism, antisemitism, and intolerance. Several measures have been carried out within the framework of the government's action plan against racism and hate crimes.
Forum för levande historia has a mandate to carry out knowledge-raising measures against antisemitism aimed at teachers and other staff to ensure that they produce and disseminate pedagogical tools and methods to strengthen children's and young people's ability to identify and counter antisemitism in digital environments.
Society needs to take a decisive stand for our values. Society must not only make a statement but also act. School is absolutely crucial for all children in society to feel safe. This is something we do not negotiate. This is something that is at the top of the government's priority list.
Clara Aranda (SD)
Madam Speaker! From the answers I have received in today's debate, I perceive that the Minister takes what emerges from the report seriously, and that is obviously very good.
The development we see is a clear example that people who come to our country do not automatically change their values or opinions when they come to Sweden. Many opinions are deeply rooted not only among the first generation of immigrants, but it is a heritage that is quite obviously passed on.
For the Sweden Democrats, there is no doubt. In Swedish schools, Swedish values shall apply and be observed. We cannot accept anything else.
Madam Speaker! I thought I would conclude the debate by talking about what the report does not address, namely anti-Swedish sentiment. Although the report was produced within the framework of the government's action plan against racism and hate crimes, it does not include attitudes towards students with a Swedish background, which I question. It is an extremely relevant part of the overall problem, and the Sverigedemokraterna have unfortunately long been alone in highlighting the occurrence of anti-Swedish sentiment. I can personally testify to this from my own schooling. The problem is perhaps particularly relevant when Swedish students are in the minority in their own school.
Since the question, in my opinion, is relevant to this discussion, which in turn is rooted in the government's work against racism and hate crimes, I would appreciate it if the Minister could state his views regarding anti-Swedish sentiment and targeted hate crimes against Swedes. It would be very interesting to hear if the Minister acknowledges the problem and wants to do something about this. What measures does the Minister, in that case, want to take?
Utbildnings- och integrationsministern Simona Mohamsson (L)
Madam Speaker! I would like to thank the member for raising this completely crucial issue.
I will always say the same thing: All students must feel safe in school. There is nothing that is more crucial. It is important for them to feel well, but it is also important for them to succeed in school. It is difficult to focus on solving the math problem on the board if one has a stomach ache. It is difficult to want to succeed in school if one does not even dare to go to school because one is subjected to hate, bullying, and threats.
This is not how it can be in the Swedish school, and that is why we are making a major cultural change. We are clarifying that the Swedish school is not the Wild West, but a place where it is clear that there is order and discipline. It must also be clear what expectations there are for both students and the adult world to act.
We have taken several measures that primarily provide the adult world – teachers and principals – with better conditions to act in cases of violations, threats, and harassment, and this applies regardless of which student it occurs against. Efforts are being made to counter the occurrence, especially of antisemitism in the school system. This is being done based on our strategy to strengthen Jewish life.
The government's action plan against racism and hate crimes also includes measures against antisemitism and racism. It also includes work to ensure that no student, regardless of background, feels unsafe. This is something that we prioritize, and that is also why it is an important part of the major change we are making to the Swedish school system.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.