Honeth targets college exams this fall

The government appoints Peter Honeth as the national coordinator of the university entrance exam. The first task will be to organize a limited college entrance exam at the end of October, if possible.

– My assessment is that there are opportunities to complete the test this fall, otherwise I would not have taken the assignment, says Peter Honeth.

Honeth has extensive experience in the college and university world. During the years 2006 to 2014, she was Secretary of State with responsibility for research and higher education and since then she has held a number of assignments in the higher education sector.

Reduce the number?

Universities and colleges hosting the tests have said they consider it too risky, for infection control reasons, to test this fall. How is your image different from theirs?

– I will discuss this with them and we will see if we can make adjustments to, for example, the number of people who will write the test. So far the discussion has been based on the fact that many will write and it can be difficult.

At the beginning of the discussions, it was said that the college entrance exam should be written by people who have not done it before, but even then it is probably in the tens of thousands of people. Peter Honeth now sees it conceivable to discuss further limitations:

– Of course I cannot say anything definitive, because that is what is going to be discussed. But of course I see an opportunity, he says.

Resigned in protest

The tours of the possible college entrance examination this fall have been many and complicated. Earlier this week, the government announced that, with the support of the Liberals and the Center Party, it was appointing a national testing coordinator. This person, namely Peter Honeth, will assist the University and University Council (UHR) in the work of taking university exams in the fall of 2020 and the spring of 2021.

The announcement prompted UHR CEO Karin Röding to resign in protest. She believes that the government has been late in planning and that the coordinator is reducing her term as head of authority.

Just ten days ago, the general impression was that the college entrance exam would have to wait until the spring semester. In fact, the presidents of the 21 universities and colleges conducting the tests have made it very clear that it would be too difficult from an infection safety point of view to test this fall, and have received support from the UHR. But Higher Education Minister Matilda Ernkrans (S) has invested a lot of energy and prestige to ditch the test, albeit on a limited scale. At the same time, liberals and moderates in particular have put heavy pressure on the government on the issue.

Fault of the minister

Kristina Axén Olin is the spokesperson for the Moderates on educational issues. Although she wants to be tested this fall, she fears the time is too short.

– I can’t decide if it’s possible before October 25, he says.

She reiterates that she believes that the blame for the many trips lies largely with Matilda Ernkrans (S), Minister of Higher Education and Research.

– The problem is that Matilda Ernkrans has not made a decision on time, says Axén Olin and speaks of a lack of leadership.

Lars Larsson / TT

Anna Lena Wallström / TT