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'It's a political failure': how Sweden's celebrated schools system fell into crisis
Sweden, once regarded as a byword for high-quality education – free preschool, formal school at seven, no fee-paying private schools, no selection – has seen its scores in Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) assessments plummet in recent years.
Fridolin acknowledges the sense of shame and embarrassment felt in Sweden. “The problem is that this embarrassment is carried by the teachers. But this embarrassment should be carried by us politicians. We were the ones who created the system. It’s a political failure,” he says.
Observers in the UK may well be vexed upon reading about Sweden’s problems, since its friskolor policy – privately run schools funded by public money – was one of the key inspirations behind the introduction of free schools in England under the coalition government.
Critics on the left in Sweden blame the voucher system for declining results, saying it has opened the door for schools more interested in making a profit than providing education. Conservatives who support free choice say students have been given too much influence in the classroom, undermining the authority of teachers.
Fridolin’s line is that it was not one single change that caused the problems, but a combination that helped create a “fragmentary school system” which lacked steering and sowed the seeds for growing inequality.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/10/sweden-schools-crisis-political-failure-education