The average salary for a primary school teacher last year was 41,600 kronor and for a secondary school teacher 44,200 kronor. But if the Liberals' election promise becomes a reality, the salary will - in the long term - be almost doubled.
In the long term, we want skilled teachers and experienced teachers to be able to earn as much as members of parliament again, and for the best students to choose the teaching profession and teacher education, says party leader and Minister of Education Simona Mohamsson at a press conference, referring to the fact that teachers' salaries were once at the same level as those of parliamentarians.
The finest profession
The basic salary for a member of parliament is currently 81,400 kronor. Regarding the current pay gap between members of parliament and teachers, deputy party leader and Minister of Upper Secondary Education, Higher Education and Research Lotta Edholm says:
Unfortunately, that says something about the status of the teaching profession and how society actually views the finest and most important profession we have in Sweden.
The salary increase will cover all qualified and licensed primary and secondary school teachers and will be implemented with the help of a special government grant. The Liberals' model is based on the state and municipalities sharing the cost, and is estimated to cost the state seven billion kronor. This corresponds to a salary increase for approximately 95,000 teachers, according to the Liberals.
Will be without
This is a lot of money, but it should be seen against the background that municipalities recently made a surplus of SEK 32 billion, says Simona Mohamsson.
A municipality that does not contribute will be without government funding.
If the municipalities do not step in, it will not be 5,000 kronor a month for those teachers instead of 10,000, but it is expected that the municipalities will prioritise the school, says Mohamsson.
