The issue of academic freedom has been raised on the agenda since the Trump administration in the USA demanded that educational institutions in the country cease efforts on diversity, justice, and inclusion. Donald Trump's government has also ordered that state grants of over two billion dollars to Harvard University be frozen.
Over 100 universities and colleges in the USA have in a joint letter condemned the president's interference in the education system.
We can see how researchers in the USA, in one of the world's leading research nations, are today seeking to leave universities. We believe that researchers should be free, curious, and a little bit troublesome. That's how we get world-class research that builds a Sweden we can believe in, says Johan Pehrson during Thursday's press conference.
In a Swedish context, the government received criticism in 2023 from representatives of teacher training programs in the country for "micromanaging" education and not providing sufficient "academic freedom" when proposals for a new teacher training program were presented.
"This is difficult to read as anything other than a very harsh attack on Swedish schools, Swedish teachers, and Swedish teacher training – and that primarily on ideological grounds without any stronger empirical support," it was stated in the criticism that was then published on SvD Debatt.
I am listening very carefully to that discussion, says Pehrson now.
In a comment on the inquiry, the Swedish National Union of Students says that the student perspective is lacking and that "the inquiry cannot be complete without them".
The inquiry "Strengthened Protection of Academic Freedom" is to be presented no later than June 30, 2026. The investigator will be Anna-Sara Lind, professor of public law at Uppsala University.
In the directives, it is stated that the investigator shall:
"analyze and take a stance on whether the current regulatory framework is suitable for protecting researchers' and teachers' individual academic freedom at Swedish universities and colleges,"
"take a stance on whether and, if so, how support for researchers and teachers in matters concerning their academic freedom can be strengthened, and submit necessary legislative proposals."
Source: regeringen.se
