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– The starting point is that school is for students. Running a school in Sweden is a trust and you have to live up to it, says Anna Ekström.
Legislation to ensure this is the case has been insufficient, according to the minister.
The idea is now that the Swedish School Inspectorate can make the decision that a school should remedy a serious fault, but also be able to close the school, even if the previous deficiencies have been remedied.
“We have gotten used to bad news”
Today, a principal, the one who runs the school, can correct misconduct and then repeatedly make serious mistakes in business.
– Unfortunately, we have become used to reading about schools in the crime pages of newspapers, that schools that make mistakes and misconduct can continue. With this proposal, it will be possible to close schools that have repeatedly misbehaved, says Anna Ekström.
The proposal applies to both municipal schools and independent schools and means that a municipal school can be prohibited from operating, which means that the school will be closed. For independent schools, it’s called revocation of approval and it means the same thing.
Anna Ekström cannot answer how many schools there are that have repeated deficiencies all the time.
Under the proposal, three things are required for a school to be closed:
• A serious offense.
• That the principal previously, within a two-year period, engaged in serious misconduct.
• The principal must have shown a lack of will or ability to carry out his task.
The Ministry of Education presents the proposal to the municipalities, authorities and organizations. A bill is planned before the summer of 2021 and the new provisions will take effect on January 1, 2022.
Watch the full broadcast with the press conference on SVT Play.
