According to the fresh report from the National Agency for Education, the results for ninth-grade students have deteriorated in recent years – and it is above all Swedish-born students with already weak results who are falling back the most.
"This is a development that I and the government take very seriously. School is the most important instance for giving more children and young people the opportunity to succeed in life," writes Minister for Education and Integration Simona Mohamsson.
"The biggest change"
The National Agency for Education sees, according to the report, no signs that the school has improved, despite various initiatives. The link between family background and school results is still strong, children from highly educated and well-off homes have greater chances of succeeding.
Mohamsson writes in the comment to TT that the government is implementing the biggest change in school in 30 years.
"It's about, among other things, that the children who have it extra tough in school should be met by special teachers in smaller teaching groups and not be left alone in front of a screen. Knowledge, work peace and quality should not be a lottery, but a matter of course for every student, regardless of background or place of residence," she writes.
The union is critical
The union Sveriges Lärares chairman Anna Olskog welcomes the government's investment in school, but means that it should already have been implemented.
If the government is serious, we must see a change. Resources should have been allocated to school and preschool a long time ago, because we have warned about this, she says.
Anna Olskog and the union have solutions to the problem.
It's mainly about the teachers' conditions, or the lack of them. We simply have too little time. The size of the student groups is also important and students must be able to receive special support. A fourth point is that the state must take care of the financing when it comes to the school system, she says.
