[ad_1]
Dibber international Sollentuna and Helsingborg exchanged Swedish for English in the lessons without the approval of the Swedish School Inspectorate.
– It is obvious that those who run schools in Sweden must follow Swedish laws and regulations. In Sweden, the main rule is that teaching must be in Swedish, it is the main language and must have an important position in Swedish classrooms, says Anna Ekström (S) but also points out that she as a minister cannot comment more specifically on the two cases because they are ongoing government business.
– But we have a language law that says that the general, and that includes the school, has a special responsibility to not only use but also develop the Swedish language. For students, it is important to have teachers who teach and highlight Swedish, says Anna Ekström.
According to the Education Act, the highest 50 percent of teaching in a Swedish primary school is in English. The reason is that all children should have the opportunity to continue teaching.
They also need to bring with them all the Swedish concepts they need to be able to achieve the knowledge goals found in the Swedish curriculum, according to Carin Clevesjö, head of the permitting unit at the Swedish School Inspectorate.
– This means that during a transition period, the teacher may have to explain all the concepts in both Swedish and English.
At Dibber International in Sollentuna, the high school students had teachers who didn’t know a word of Swedish. The children have also said that they were forbidden to speak Swedish with each other during the lessons.
The problem in Swedish schools is not that the children learn very little English. The Swede is the problem, says Roger Haddad (left).
Photo: Henrik Montgomery / TT
Liberals School Policy Spokesperson Roger Haddad agrees with Anna Ekström’s criticisms. He believes that the main problem of the Swedish school is not that the students learn very little English.
– On the other hand, we are concerned about children’s skills in the Swedish language, especially in preschool and primary school. We have seen it in various studies and measurements, says Roger Haddad.
– We live in Sweden and therefore it is obvious that the core of the school context should be the Swedish language, and that it is the Swedish curricula and knowledge objectives that apply.
The government and cooperation parties has launched an investigation to give the Swedish School Inspectorate greater opportunities to intervene against schools that have serious and recurring deficiencies.
If there is such a rule change, it will not be possible to use it in this case, according to Carin Clevesjö.
– If we see that there are deficiencies and that you do not follow the regulations, we can order the school to stop teaching in English.
It doesn’t seem like a school has so much to lose if it starts without a permit. What does it take for a school that breaks the law to close?
– It remains to be seen whether this type of crime will be considered serious enough, says Carin Clevesjö.
Today, the school claims that it still has teachers who do not speak Swedish, but that there are other staff in the classroom who can interpret. It’s enough?
– There may be different ways to solve it so that students can assimilate the teaching, I cannot say more before investigating this.
