The Liberal Party's national meeting hammered out an updated school policy on Saturday. The hottest question was whether L should work to phase out profit interests from the school system.
The best interests of the children must always come first, said Pär Gustafsson, Gothenburg, who represented the party board's proposal in the debate leading up to the decision.
But not everyone agreed that a stop to limited liability companies is best for the children.
Many students today attend very good schools, which are run as limited companies, said Monica Brohede Tellström, Nacka.
The decision meant that profit motives would be phased out of the school system. Independent schools, which are run as for-profit limited companies, would be converted into a new special form of association without profit incentives.
Critics of the party board's proposal received wording in the decision that the right to choose a school should be protected and developed.
A reconsideration
The decision represents another step in the Liberal Party's reconsideration of the party's view on independent schools.
We have seen the problems that exist in the sector, that it has not been able to self-repair and that there are simply too many quality deficiencies, says school policy spokesperson Fredrik Malm.
We hope that more parties can join this.
He points out that an investigation will be needed into how to remove the limited liability companies from the school system. This would mean that a stop to them could be introduced during the next term at the earliest.
The journey and the reassessment we have made, I believe that over time more parties will make, says Malm.
He believes that L's decision will open the door for more people on the right to also see the problems with profit interests in schools.
Malm hopes that the issue of stopping for-profit limited companies in schools will be included in a possible new Tidö agreement.
Maximum class limits
The Liberals also want to see a maximum limit on the number of students in a school class.
There should not be 30 students in a class, said party leader Simona Mohamsson in her speech at the national conference.
Sweden's parents, students and teachers deserve classrooms that are the right size. Not size XXL.
Mohamsson, who is also Minister of Education, states that the government will now appoint an investigation, which does not mean that the other Tidö parties are ready to introduce a maximum limit on class size.
Mohamsson personally believes that 20 students in a class would be a reasonable goal.
Facts: L's school proposal, a selection
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Repeated swearing and sexist words should be able to lead to reassignment to another class.
Abolish student influence over teaching.
More disciplinary measures – such as making amends by cleaning a graffitied wall.
Regulate new smaller classes.
Compulsory language preschool.
Right to have children 30 hours in preschool for the unemployed and those on parental leave with another child
At least 100 hours of reading aloud per year in preschool.
Screening of children's vocabulary in preschool.
Introduce a penalty for schools that hire unauthorized teachers.
Phase out profit motives from the school system – no limited companies.
Abolish foreign ownership in independent schools.
Parents should not be able to stop diagnostic investigations.
Possibility for schools to introduce school uniforms.
Every school should have a safety team.
Source: Liberals
