Politicians, trade unions and representatives of the education system describe Sweden's results as a major failure. Academedia's Lotta Krus mainly reacts to the reading comprehension results.
"Almost every third Swedish 15-year-old does not reach a basic level in reading, and I think we must take that very seriously. Reading is actually the foundation for all continued learning for students in the end and also for democracy in society," she tells TT.
Various explanations
Politicians have been quick to offer various explanations for why Sweden is now performing worse than ever since the test began. While the Sweden Democrats' party leader Jimmie Åkesson writes on X that it is the fault of mass immigration, Education Minister Simona Mohamsson (L) highlights increased screen time. "We are in the middle of a screen pandemic," she claims.
I think it can absolutely play a role, but it is quite dangerous to lock ourselves into it as the only explanatory model, says Lotta Krus.
She points out that some countries, such as Estonia, now seem to have managed digital development while delivering good reading results in the survey.
Early interventions
But what is specifically needed for Sweden?
Swedish schools need to get much better at prioritizing early interventions, focusing on language development and reading at an early age, and implementing interventions for students who are lagging behind and not developing at the expected pace.
At the same time, almost half of 15-year-olds - 48 percent - say they use AI chatbots for schoolwork at least once a week. This can work both ways, Lotta Krus points out, depending on how students use AI solutions.
But it is definitely a problem that this development is happening so fast that we may not really have time to understand, adapt and find the right methods to do it in the best way.
