The Swedish education system is seen as the “education of the future” for outsiders. One of the key elements of the Swedish education is the orientation towards the student, rather than towards results. In this way, students feel less pressure during exams. The Education Law grants everyone access to schools regardless of gender, area of residence, economic or social conditions. All students, after finishing school, should have an educational base that allows them to either continue their education or to find a job and lead an active life.
About all these interesting things, I spoke with the Swedish ambassador in Romania, E.S. Mrs. Therese Hydén, in an interview for the online publication EdPost.
Education in kindergarten, learning through play.
Oana Voicu: Sweden has a high quality educational system. How did Sweden manage to get here?
Therese Hydén: Education in Sweden is free, from kindergarten all the way to university. That’s one important point and I think another major aspect is that education has been inclusive, which means that everybody has to go to school. The future of a state depends on education. Parents are encouraged send their children to kindergarten because it’s not just about taking care of the children, but it’s a preparatory phase, meaning children learn things through play. Learning the alphabet through different games, not just trying to read different letters in a book, but to actually learn and enjoy things, means that children in Sweden, when they start school, they already know how to read and write as they have already played it. So, it’s an inclusive approach and it is a creative approach towards learning. To ensure that everyone, despite background, abilities or disabilities has the same opportunities to learn, those are the foundations of the Swedish learning system.
The quality of education seen through communication, understanding the information, questioning and team work
Therese Hydén: Sweden has a clear curricula for schools, which encourages the teachers not only to teach the children how to read and write, but also how to be functional citizens. In order to do so, the teachers need to challenge the students, not just to just tell them to learn by heart. From a young age all the way up to university, students are encouraged not just to receive the knowledge, but to practice it together with their colleagues in school, in ways of questioning the teachers, questioning different points, discussing or debating, so that they actually understand what they are reading, the consequences and acknowledge their own place in relation to different subjects they are thought. This is the reason behind the good quality of education in Sweden. It is not just a piece of paper that you learn by heart, but it is actually understanding what it is about, how one can apply that knowledge, how one can use it in life and as a member of a society. I think that’s what makes it good quality in the end. People leave school with sufficient knowledge to function in a society, take up a job and to perform well in their lives.
A good education system is the backbone of every society because it’s a foundation. The educated children are the future citizens that will carry the society forward. So we need to give them the best education so that they can improve their own life, but also the society.
The role of education in spotting fake news
Therese Hydén: I think it is important to underline this fact, that education is not just to be told what to learn, but actually to understand it and to know how to apply it, to challenge something that someone says, or something that you read and this is particularly important these days when we see even more fake news.
Fake news and disinformation have always been around, it’s just that we have so much media, so much information flowing that we need to also practice how to be resistant and what is a fact, what is the truth and what is someone’s opinion about something. This is an example of something that you can’t just be told “Don’t believe in fake news!”. I can tell you that, but where does that leave you? You need to have some tools and some examples to practice. And I think that is one way to build solid knowledge and have a solid education system.
Environmental topics, sustainability and recycling are not taught as individual subjects in school, they are instead integrated in all the other classes and they become part of the culture.
Therese Hydén: I also think that there are other examples that are part of the Swedish education system, like environmental topics or topics related to sustainability. In addition to reading, writing and how to do math, this is another example where it is important to understand the consequences of what we do. What’s the difference if I take the car or the bus?
What happens if I throw a plastic bottle in the river or I throw chewing-gum in the forest? What happens with that? Does it go away? No it doesn’t. The plastic bottle will stay for 500 years and the chewing-gum will stay for 100 years. So we have to understand what happens with certain materials, where do they go, where does the river flow. In Romania, probably a lot of staff is going to end up in the Black Sea. We also need to know what are the choices, the alternatives. If I don’t want to throw it in the river, how can I get rid of it? Can I recycle? How does that work?
In Sweden there is no subject called environmental studies or sustainability classes, because it is integrated in natural science classes and in social sciences. Teachers in Sweden are encouraged and required to teach through different types of examples and learning methods and also to make it as realistic as possible, whenever it is possible.
The COVID-19 pandemic during school, internet access, technological infrastructure
Oana Voicu: How did the COVID-19 pandemic interfere with the education is Sweden? In comparison to other countries, has Sweden been prepared for the digital learning?
Therese Hydén: Yes and no, I think. No one was prepared for this, of course. In Sweden there was not a high level of online schooling before. It was physical school.
In Sweden there is a very high level of digitalization and of availability of technology in the classroom as a tool to assist in the learning process. I would say that there is a high number of students that have a computer at home and that would have access to internet at home. Access to online is not a big problem in Sweden. Internet it is available in most areas in Sweden, including remote areas. But there is a discussion about internet access, meaning the further away you go into the forest, it would be more difficult to access internet.
During the COVID-19 pandemic schools almost never closed in Sweden
Therese Hydén: What Sweden did different than many other countries through the COVID-19 pandemic is that the schools never really closed. They stayed open and that was in line with the fact that the majority of the society did stay open during the COVID-19 pandemic. That had to do with, on one hand, the recommendation to have physical distancing, but to continue with your life and take precautions, have the distance, wash your hands, spread out in the classroom, try to be outside, take measures as much as possible so that the children could carry on going to school. Interrupting the school would mean pausing the learning process, it would be more difficult for children to be learning online. For most part, the schools in Sweden did not close as I know they did here. I have two sons who were in school during the pandemic and both of them had one year and a half of online schooling here.
The online school did happen in Sweden also, of course. I think the experience from that was that some felt safer not having to go to school. But some also complained that online school made it more challenging to actually discipline yourself, it was more difficult to get the assistance that you needed. Missing the social part of school and the interaction with friends and teachers, because like I said the school in Sweden is built on interactivity in the classroom, working in teams, talking in a group, those were among the complaints. For some students school was more difficult online or within a Zoom meeting. I believe that it might be too early to see the consequences and the impact on our children that the online schooling had. But it clearly had an impact. I think it was a good idea to leave the schools in Sweden open, but it should still be allowed for schools to take some individual decisions and precaution measures when they felt they needed them.
Private vs. public schools
Oana Voicu: What would be the ratio between public and private schools?
Therese Hydén: The majority of schools in Sweden are public. And all the schools in Sweden follow the same national curricula, even if they are private. A small number of schools are owned and run by private institutions which means that they are run like a company and they make profit. Some of these schools would reinvest that profit back to school (teachers, infrastructure,…). but other schools would be using that profit to pay the owners basically. In Sweden an important point is that all schools should provide the same quality of education to everyone. I say this because it is a goal, but in reality schools will differ. It is an ongoing discussion and there are measures to be taken to ensure that there is this balance. Both the school and the municipality are responsible for implementing all the measurers and reach the goals. The school has to make sure they are implementing the measures, provide teachers and students well-functioning teaching and learning environment.
On the other hand you also have parents who want the best schools for their children and the closest school might not the best. The neighborhood plays a role in choosing the school, meaning schools in rich areas might be preferred over closer ones. One of the targets in education is avoiding segregation. There are areas in Sweden where most of the students do not have Swedish as their first language, and so the mix of students is not balanced enough. This makes it harder for them to pick up learning Swedish. Language is one of the basic things you need in school. There are means to support schools that are in more disadvantaged areas, but it’s also for the schools to try why to use measures like salaries to attract good teachers.
In Sweden, even though the curricula is centralized, but the schools are run at the municipality level, not by the state. They all have to comply with the national curricula. At different age levels there are central exams. The students are tested, but also the schools and teachers are evaluated whether they have succeeded in reaching the goals. The tests will assess basic subjects, like Swedish language or math. This way they know if the school has fulfilled its targets. Otherwise it is for the municipality to decide the numbers of schools. Then it’s for each school, that is run by a rector, to actually decide on how many teachers it can afford or what should be the salary,… Within the frame of the public domain, based on budgets, the number of students and the area, they might receive support in order to compensate for certain things.
Vocational education
Oana Voicu: What is the balance between vocational and general education in Sweden?
Therese Hydén: Vocational is only possible after high school, so at the level of the gymnasium there is a possibility to choose a more technical training, such as the technical mechanical field or in the restaurant field. Sometimes the student trains only for two years and then he or she would have a basic degree which would allow the graduate to take on a number of different jobs. In fact in Sweden, as in Romania, there is a shortage of people that have actually trained as electricians, plumbers, chefs or work in children’s daycare. They need a diploma or a certificate proving they have trained in that specific area. Taking care of children for example, requires pedagogical training, one should know about children and about actions to be taken in certain situations, what kind of reactions would that provoke in a child. You need some training and some knowledge, but the training would be focused on the practical side of things and not so much on the theory. In Sweden, for sure, this type of job continues to be needed. In hospitals we also need staff, not just doctors, but we also need to have healthcare staff. Basic level jobs and services that we need in society, in Sweden there is a lack of those and a continuous need.
Future of the education
Oana Voicu: What would be your opinion on the future of education?
Therese Hydén: Like I said, as the foundation of a society, education continues to be one of the most important functions of the state. So, the quality of the education would still be really significant for the society to be able to move forward and to sustain innovation. It would allow people to change their way through education, so that they find the best match for themselves were they can actually do something that is useful for them and for the society. From a practical perspective, the education will follow the same development that we see in the society in general, which means that we have more technical and digital tools. I think we should keep looking at them as tools, they are not educational by themselves, of course you can need the training in coding or to repair a computer. You can be very skilled in using technical devices, but for the education it should be regarded as a tool. It is not ideal for the children to have only online classes, but having the possibility of online schooling can be a great thing. If I live in a remote area and I want to take a subject or I want to learn a language for which there is no teacher or there are not enough students to form a class, those are the opportunities for online learning as an additional chance. Digital tools can be helpful for anyone with special needs in training. Any disability could be overcome with the help of digital tools. Even if you couldn’t come physically to the classroom, could still have school in an online form. If you cannot hear or cannot see, you can have tools to do this. Tools are already available, but they are constantly improved for the society as well as for the education. I think education in schools should embrace these tools but it doesn’t mean you don’t need the teacher anymore. What the teachers will be needing is to be comfortable and to have enough knowledge about the digital tools. The usage of digital tools has been most successful when teachers knew how to use them.
Creativity in classroom is encouraged
Oana Voicu: What would you like to add about the national educational system in Sweden?
Therese Hydén: The Swedish educational system, as a model is much more based on cooperation between students and between students and the teachers. Students are encouraged to use their creativity in the classroom, meaning using your own ideas, express them, talk about them and explore them together in the classroom. Even if at the end of the day maybe you have tried something but it didn’t work, that’s ok! You will learn from this. Cooperation and ability to work together is the important thing. It is ok to have a discussion among the students and with the teachers also, to question different things. Learning from mistakes, is encouraged. Finding out why did you do it wrong, how can you improve it is very useful. The educational process focuses on learning from mistakes and not on being punished for what you did wrong, that seems to be a more positive way for learning things.
Teamwork, respect and security in Swedish school
Quality and inclusion in the classroom are other strong points of the education in Sweden. That doesn’t mean that there is no bullying in Swedish schools. These things will happen which is of course bad. No matter where you come from or what disability you have, everyone should be respected. Opinions should be respected, it’s ok to have a discussion, but in the end you are respected as an individual. That creates also a basis of security. If you feel secure it is easier work with others and share ideas with others. So teamwork also is a basis of the Swedish education school system.
Afterschool activities
Oana Voicu: Extracurricular activities, are they popular in Sweden?
Therese Hydén: Up to 12 years old, parents can enroll your children in a type of daycare activity after the school for a small fee. They would have access to everything from toys to some outdoor activities. In addition to that, the families can enroll their kids in all kinds of sports activities. These used to be for free or for small fees, because they were organized by local sports clubs. Basically the idea is that the parents participate also and either them or older students are the trainers. It is a self-supporting system, because parents and older children train and supervise the younger ones. These days it has become more professionalized in the sense that you would have an organization managing different types of sports activities for a larger fee. There are also institutions called cultural schools, where the parent pays a small amount of money and the kids can learn how to play an instrument or participate in acting classes. The idea is that sports and cultural activities should not be expensive and should be available for everyone.
Private lessons are not that popular in Sweden as in Romania
Therese Hydén: There will always be families who would pay extra for tutoring. In comparison to the situation here in Romania, in Sweden these private lessons are not being done at the same level, because the school is able to provide a basic level of education. Parents should not have to pay extra in order for the children to be able to pass the normal exams. Of course, there can be exceptional situations and parents decide their children should perform better taking extra classes, but the point is that schools should provide sufficient quality knowledge so that everyone can pass the general exams. Pupils leave school with a grade and then they enroll at university. Of course the level of their grade can vary and of course the grade you have in high-school will impact the gymnasium that you can choose.
International students
Oana Voicu: Does Sweden offer scholarships for foreigner students?
Therese Hydén: The Swedish universities are open and free to students from the E.U. Universities offer more and more classes in English, most of which are within master programs. Otherwise it would be taught in Swedish, which is of course a barrier for someone from another country. If you come from a country which is outside the European Union you have to pay a fee and it can be quite expensive, around €1,000 per semester, but still cheaper than the US or UK. There will be some programs with scholarships in Sweden for foreign students, targeting certain countries for example Eastern European countries outside E.U., Turkey or different African countries. There are different groups who can receive scholarships usually through the Swedish Institute, but also the universities are able to set up their own strategy for foreign students.
Studying in Sweden as international student
Therese Hydén: At the website called Studying in Sweden you can find information regarding higher education in Sweden. Some of the information is practical things for students coming from outside Sweden, such as how to apply for a visa. It is also about student experiences in Sweden, in addition to the formal studies. Foreigners can get a glimpse of what kind of experience you get in Sweden. I’ve noticed that international students returning from studying in Sweden say that they got a lot of practical knowledge and valuable experiences. They talk about equality and a different lifestyle when they come back.