2022

Preschool for more children

In a government bill, the Swedish government submits proposals aimed at increasing participation in preschool, which has positive effects both for children's development and learning and for society.

It is proposed that each home municipality should be obliged to contact guardians of the children who do not have a place in the preschool through outreach activities and inform about the purpose of the preschool and the child's right to preschool. The first contact must be made before the autumn of the year the child turns three and, if the child does not start preschool, annually before each autumn and spring until the spring of the year the child turns six.

Furthermore, it is proposed that it will be mandatory for the home municipality to offer preschool to children who have lived in Sweden for a short time or who have guardians who have lived in Sweden for a short time. These children must be provided with a reserved preschool place even without the guardians having notified the request. Such an offer must be given from the autumn of the year the child turns three years old. Municipalities must also strive to provide such an offer of a preschool place to other children who need preschool for better language development in Swedish. The offer must be submitted to the child's guardian no later than three months before the date the child can be received. A new offer of a place must be submitted before each autumn the child does not have a place in preschool until the year when the child turns five.

The bill proposes the necessary amendments to the Education Act (2010: 800). The amendments to the law are proposed to enter into force on 1 July 2022 and are applied for the first time in the case of education that begins after 1 July 2023.

For more information (in Swedish)

2021

National professional program shall give principals, teachers and preschool teachers better competence development throughout professional life

High knowledge results in school presuppose high quality in teaching and pedagogical leadership. Principals, teachers and preschool teachers therefore need to be given good conditions to develop in their profession. In a memorandum that the Ministry of Education is now sending out for consultation, a professional program consisting of a national structure for competence development and a national merit system is proposed.

Today, many preschool teachers, teachers, principals and their unions demand better and more relevant training and a cohesive system for skills development throughout their working lives. Then school development can be continuously promoted, the attractiveness of the professions strengthened and conditions created for higher knowledge results. The School Commission proposed that a national professional program be established, the proposal was then taken further by the Inquiry into a better school through more attractive school professions.

For more information (in Swedish)

Also here

Enhanced quality and equivalent leisure centers and pedagogical care

In its report the Government inquiry on leisure centers and pedagogical care proposes the following in order to enhance the quality and equivalence within leisure centers and pedagogical care. 

The Swedish National Agency for Education is to be given a mandate to produce standards on group sizes within leisure centers. 

Clarifying requirements for appropriate premises are introduced. 

• The National Agency for Education shall be commissioned to develop support material on systematic quality work in the leisure center.
• An establishment stop for pedagogical care is introduced.
• An operator in pedagogical care must ensure that the staff is given an opportunity for professional training and pedagogical tutoring.
• Every operator in educational care must systematically and continuously plan, follow up, develop and evaluate the activities. The quality work must be documented. 

For more information in Swedish

A new continuing education initiative prepares for the introduction of a ten-year compulsory school 

The government has decided on a new state subsidy that will be used for further training of preschool teachers active in the preschool class. It is part of the work to prepare for the introduction of a ten-year compulsory school. The purpose is for preschool teachers to be authorized to teach in the first years of compulsory school. 

For more information in Swedish  

2020

Many unqualified teachers in preschool and preschool class will reach a qualifying exam through further education of teachers

The Government has decided to change the rules for its special focus on Further education of teachers (Vidareutbildning av lärare, VAL). There is a great need of qualified teachers in preschool and preschool class to get better pedagogical results. The Further education of teachers, VAL, has had too few participants due to detailed and bureaucratic rules. Now new groups will be allowed to enroll. VAL is for those who are working as teachers without qualification and now preschool and preschool class will be better included in the project.

The changes entered into force 1 September 2020.

For more information in Swedish

Skip preschool class - ten year compulsory school to improve the knowledge results

The government has appointed an investigator to propose how a ten-year compulsory school can be introduced. The aim is to improve the knowledge results by giving the pupils more education according to the syllabus of the compulsory school.      Since the preschool class became compulsory in 2018 the compulsory attendance became 10 years long. However, the preschool class does not follow the compulsory school curriculum, nor syllabus. By prolonging the compulsory school to ten years and skipping the preschool class the pupils could start studying the compulsory school syllabus one year earlier and could have the same teacher from the first compulsory year. This could help improve the knowledge results.

The inquiry is to be reported to the government by 26 April 2021.

More information in Swedish. 

The creative school reviewed with the objective to reach more children and youth

The Swedish Arts Council (Statens Kulturråd) was commisioned by the Government to review how the Creative School could be further developed to reach more and new groups of children and young people. The Council also reviewed the reasons why smaller municipalities and independent schools did not apply for creative school funds to the same extent. 

The Creative School grant was introduced in 2008 and the objective is a long-term integration of cultural and artistic expressions into preschool (förskola) and compulsory school (grundskola), and to increase the professional cultural activities for and with children and pupils. The grant is distributed by the Swedish Arts Council. In the school year 2018/19 approximately SEK 188 million was distributed for creative school activities in the preschool and compulsory school. 

The Swedish Arts Council proposes the following in its report:

• The municipalities should be allowed to make combined applications and they should also be allowed to include in these applications grant aided independent schools.
• The target group for the grant should be more restricted
• The Ordinance should be adjusted to the current curriculum 

For more information the proposal in Swedish: Översyn av Skapande skola - En analys av bidragets utvecklingsbehov