”If preschool and school cannot offer education for children in Malmfälten, then Gällivare and Kiruna will be phased out”, write the school principals Peter Olsson and Viktoria Björklund from the respective municipalities in DN Debatt.
According to the school principals, the municipalities live “with the conditions of the sparsely populated areas in a complex combination with the expanding mining industry, societal transformation, housing and skills shortages as well as geographical relocation of the cities” – at the same time as the school loses educated staff to the industry's higher wages. In the long run, this leads to a declining level of knowledge and competence supply, and affects citizens' lives and health.
Furthermore, the school principals believe that ongoing government investigations regarding the school system do not increase the conditions for a more equivalent education in sparsely populated areas.
Instead, they demand, among other things, economic measures regarding housing construction, relocation benefits so that "educated staff to a higher degree move in from places with higher unemployment”. They also propose more support for studies on site and changes in the Education Act regarding staffing companies and distance education in more school subjects.
