THE SWEDISH SCHOOL SYSTEM A Report About the Swedish School System
Stina Olausson, Harry Fransson, Agáta Krobová, Kallioph Koinaki, María Guirado, Miguel Lameiras, Serena Otero
Introduction In this text, we will be describing the Swedish school system from a few different points of views as well as pointing out the problems with the Swedish school system. In order to do this, we have been interviewing the head of the school as well as a teacher who has been working in both primary school and upper secondary school for an extended period. Basic information The Swedish school system is organized in its own way. According to Ingela Anderzon, who is the head of principals at Jämtlands Gymnasium Wargentin, the Swedish school system consists of ten mandatory years followed by three years in the upper secondary school. In Sweden, the students start school at the age of six with the preschool year and end preschool at the age of 16. The students graduate from upper secondary school at the age of 19. The Upper secondary school is not compulsory in Sweden, however, almost everyone attends it in order to have enough education to get a job. The upper secondary school is divided into different programs, focusing on different subjects. It is easy to find a program that fits each student. Six of the programs are theoretical preparing the students for university, and the others prepare the student for a specific profession, adds Anderzon. Grading and structure In primary school, you get one grade in every subject. In upper secondary school, where the subjects are divided into courses, you get one grade in each course. There are criteria that are different in every course, and the students must fulfil all of them. It is possible to get any grade on the scale from A (the best grade) to F (the student failed). That leads to signs of stress in the majority of the students because they feel the pressure to get good grades. The Swedish students have national exams in math, Swedish and English. They write them on the last compulsory course of each program; therefore, the national exams are on diverse levels. The students on the same programs in the whole Sweden do the same exam on the same day, at the same time. Today, the tests are corrected by teachers, but in 3 years they will be corrected nationally, because they want to avoid favoritism. The tests change every year, in order to avoid cheating. The National tests play a major part when the teachers are giving the students their final grade. Ingela Anderzon explains that Swedish schooling faces many problems, for example the high number of students who fail primary school. She thinks the solution might be reconsidering the structure of primary school and creating smaller classes, so the teachers would be able to focus on each pupil better. When a Swedish citizen turns 18, they can attend a folkhögskola, which is a school for adults, somewhere between upper secondary school and the university. Many people who drop out of upper secondary school study there. At the age of 20, it´s possible to attend adult education to become another profession or study a subject that was missed.
The difference between public education and private education and its obstacles
Karin Rylenius, an experienced teacher, explains the complicated system of both public and private schools - both are funded with tax money. Both types of education are not paid by the students. Another difficulty the schools are facing is the quality differences depending on the area where the school is located. Very popular schools in wealthier neighborhoods often get better results compared to the areas with a lower economic prosperity. Another factor is the number of immigrants in these areas, who don`t know the language yet, therefore it´s impossible for them to pursue their education. Sweden also participates in an international testing of education progress in EU, and compared to other countries, Swedish results have dramatically dropped during the past years. The grading system is often subjective. That can lead to injustice among the teacher´s views. In a class filled with bright students, progress is less visible than in classes with lower results. Considering the number of options in upper secondary education, the students have the option of taking advice from SYV (the school orientator). The most occupied programs demand higher average score. Some of the theoretical programs offer extra lessons, which increases the chance of succeeding. The Swedish students have different opinions about the Swedish school system. A few students have been interviewed about their opinions of the school system Albin Lundholm: Albin Lundholm thinks that the Swedish school system is “pretty good.” He adds that the teachers are underpaid, so that leads to a bad quality of their work. If he could change something about the system, he would increase teachers' salaries. Romeo Blom: Romeo Blom believes that school starts too early in the morning. Tilda Andersson: Tilda Andersson considers the mental health of both students and teachers the priority. She says that many students feel stressed because of the amount of schoolwork. She doesn´t want the grades to “define her.” The students have way more qualities than the school takes into consideration. Summary Swedish school system is creating new difficulties by solving the old ones all the time. Is it impossible to have schooling which educates, but doesn´t stress at the same time? Is a little stress essential to prepare students for the real-world out there? How can we make sure that all the schools have the same level of quality, and all the students have the same opportunities? Those are the questions yet to be answered. But one thing we learned is to look forward, not backwards. Progress means growth, and growth is essential. Schools are raising the new generation of leaders at this exact moment. List of references: Skolverket. 2022. This is the Swedish National Agency for Education. https://www.skolverket.se/andrasprak-other-languages/english-engelska Retrieved: 2022-05-12.
Rylenius, Karin, teacher. Östersund. 2022. Interview 11 May. Anderzon, Ingela. Head of the school. Östersund. 2022. Interview 11 May. Blom, Romeo. Student. Östersund. 2022. Interview 11 May. Andersson, Tilda. Student. Östersund. 2022. Interview 11 May. Lundholm, Albin. Student. Östersund. 2022. Interview 11 May.
Co-funded by the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union
This report was made during our LTT by pupils from Czech Republic, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Sweden in our joint project Erasmus+ Media in May 2022 in Östersund, Sweden. "The European Commission's support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflect the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein."