Other education staff or staff working with schools
At school level each municipality is responsible for employing the staff which is needed. The profession and number of personnel is however not regulated at central level. Examples of education staff and other staff working within schools are:
Mother tounge tutor assistance Mother tounge tutor assistance is a resource to support and cooperate with teachers in the education of newly arrived migrant pupils. Schools are obligated to organise the teaching in a way that gives pupils with another mother tongue the conditions to develop their mother tongue as well as Swedish. According to the Education Ordinance (Skolförordning, 2011:185) and Upper Secondary School Ordinance (Gymnasieförordning, 2010:2039), a pupil that doesn't manage to follow the regular education in Swedish, has the right to support in the form of mother tounge tutor assistance if there is a risk that the pupil doesn't reach the knowledge requirements in at least one or more subjects. Mother tounge tutor assistance can also be given in the student's strongest school language. Education programmes in Mother tounge tutor assistance can for example be found within higher vocational education (yrkeshögskola)
Teaching assistants Teaching assistants is a new profession within the Swedish school system. Teaching assistants are meant to both meet the shortage of teachers and act as support for techers in school. During 2018 the role started to take form but the specific work duties are decided based on the needs of each school. However the teaching assistant can never take over the teaching duties of a authorized teacher. Teaching assistans can for example support the teacher with administration such as copying and handling forms. The support can also be within the social aspects of the school environment. With the support of teaching assistants teachers can focus on the teaching. Due to the extensive shortage of teachers the government has in 2019 invested 475 million SEK to enable schools to employ techer assistants. Education programmes in for teacher assistants can for example be found within higher vocational education and folk high schools (folkhögskola).
Pupil assistants Pupil assistants work in the school and help pupils in need of support or have special needs. The duties of pupil assistants vary but they can for example help pupils keep up with the lessons due to difficulties relating to reading and writing or concentration, psychosocial problems or different kinds of disabilities. Pupil assistants also support the pupils during break time. Pupils with disabilities are often entitled to have a pupil assistant present during the school day in lessons and spare time activities. It is possible to work as a pupil assistants with different educational backgrounds. Entry requirements often include a completed upper secondary school education such as the child care and recreation programme.
School librarians According to the Education Act, pupils in the compulsory school (grundskola), compulsory school for pupils with learning disabilities (grundsärskola), the Sami school (sameskolan) and the upper secondary school (gymnasieskola) and upper secondary school for pupils with learning disabilities (gymnasiesärskola) must have access to school libraries. The duties of school librarians varies between schools and there are no official knowledge requirements for the profession. The teachers are responsible for the teaching, but the school librarian can act as support. The school librarian can for example participate in reading projects, book conversations and exercises in information search and source criticism.
School health service According to the Education act all pupils must have access to student health services with medical, psychological, psychosocial and special needs competencies. Examples of professions within the school health services include school doctors, school nurses, psychologists, counselors and staff with special needs competence. School health services should contribute to creating environments that promote pupils' learning, development and health. The school organizer decides how much staff the school needs have and what competence is needed based on local needs and conditions. But the staff that is available for the student health efforts should have the training needed to cope with the students' needs.
School nurse School nurses are nurses that work within schools. It is common for school nurses to work at several schools within a municipality. The duties of school nurses vary but mainly they conduct the pupils’ regular health exams and handle minor injuries. The requirements to work as a school nurse is an authorization as a nurse as well as a specialist training in health and medical care for children and youth.
School welfare officers In addition to the rest of the school health services, the school welfare officers work in a preventive and health-promoting way. School welfare officers work with social and psychosocial factors with pupils and within the working environment of schools. School welfare officers also have knowledge of behavioral and social sciences and generally have a social studies degree. In addition, working in a school setting also requires knowledge in social aspects of children and young people.
Other examples of staff in school are caretakers, computer technicians, school meal personnel and cleaning staff.