University class

Make Sweden a nation of knowledge by making room for talented people

We cannot afford to lose our talents in a school system lacking a pedagogical compass. The school must be made more efficient so that we educate our pupils in knowledge that makes Sweden a knowledge nation to be reckoned with again.

The vast majority of people should agree that school should be a place that imparts knowledge, sparks a curiosity to learn more, encourages critical thinking and provides pupils with the best possible foundation to be well-equipped for the adult world that awaits them.

A persistent mantra from most people within the entire educational system is: ”We need more resources!”. Resources equate to money, and it seems that the demand for resources is the salvation for all of school's problems. Schools have not suffered from a lack of resources over the past half-century, but rather there is a deficiency in how all these resources are used. There is, in fact, no clear strategy for what school should produce or how schooling should be carried out.

Today, almost all resources are allocated to students who, for various reasons, struggle with learning, have psychological problems, or exhibit behavioural issues. There are no plans or designated resources for the group of high-achieving students who require challenges that cater to a high level of giftedness. This is not only a disservice to these students, who are not given the opportunity to be tested and challenged to their full potential, but it is also a poor long-term national strategy.

We in the Ambition Sverige party wish to resume the development of the knowledge society, which we believe is of great importance in the context of international competition. We believe that a return to a division between general and specialised courses in a number of core subjects, in both primary and secondary education, is a simple and relatively inexpensive way forward. This would give teachers a better opportunity to reach significantly more pupils at the level of knowledge they are currently at – both higher up and lower down the scale.

This level grouping would also mean that the need for various ”specialists” within the school, such as special educational needs co-ordinators and special subject teachers, would be freed up so that their resources could be used to teach, for example, the groups in the general course. Today, they largely provide ’expert advice and guidance’ to teaching staff when, instead, they should be imparting their ’specialist knowledge’ directly to the pupils.

We also believe in a return to using textbooks to a much greater extent. All pupils will be issued with their own textbook in their main subjects, books that they will be responsible for and get to keep after the end of the academic year. The system currently in place, with a mixture of textbooks, loose-leaf systems and digital aids, we believe makes it considerably harder for pupils to get an overview of what they are meant to learn and where to find the collected information in each subject. Torkel Klingberg, professor of cognitive neuroscience at KI, has long researched child development and learning. He is concerned about how digitalisation is affecting young people's cognitive abilities. He advocates for pupils to have a traditional textbook in all subjects. 

Study space is also a scarce resource in today's schools, affecting both high-achieving pupils and those who struggle with learning. Pupils who deprive others of a calm study environment should be offered observation classes. In the observation class, the pupil remains until the day they can return to a regular class without disrupting lessons. Pupils attending school for the right reasons should not be denied their right to a calm teaching and learning environment.

Pupils who, after their time in the observation class, still do not feel compelled to follow the school's regulations are issued a warning (like a yellow card in football), followed by a red card, which, just like in football, means that only those who follow the rules are allowed to remain on the pitch. This is then followed by a suspension of between 1-10 school days. If this is repeated a second time, the guardians are obliged to keep their child/young person at home until they have learned to accept and follow the school's rulebook.

Sweden is a small country and must therefore take extra care of the gifted and talented individuals we have in order to be competitive as a knowledge nation against other countries. Unfortunately, that is not the case today. Of the 90,000 pupils with problematic school absenteeism, there is guaranteed to be a large percentage of pupils who do not consider school to offer stimulating teaching. Education should both set demands and genuinely challenge all pupils according to their abilities. If education does neither, it is easy for both pupils and teachers to lose their motivation.

That six reputable higher education courses – law, journalism, teaching, medicine, engineering, and economics – are raising the alarm about students' poor prior knowledge is clear evidence that our primary and secondary schools have lost their way. 

The Swedish school system must be tightened up and its efficiency improved from the ground up so that we educate our pupils in knowledge that makes Sweden a knowledge nation to be taken seriously again.

Percy Andersson, Mikael Lindgren and Thomas Åkerberg, Ambition Sverige, Education Policy Area | Photo: Depositphotos.com

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