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Younger students must have the opportunity to make up school work during the holidays. The government wants to set aside SEK 100 million for law schools in lower grades next year.
Today, primary schools have an obligation to offer preparatory school to students in grades 8 and 9 who have weak grades and thus have not been or are at risk of not being eligible for upper secondary school. In addition, the schools can voluntarily offer another law school, for example for sixth and seventh graders, or high school students. For the voluntary part, the schools can receive state subsidies.
In the budget bill, which will be presented on November 8, the government proposes that SEK 100 million be set aside for 2023 to offer vocational school to lower grades.
– We will have to wait and see exactly what ages it will be, but personally I think that the lower the ages, the better. We know that early interventions have a greater effect than late interventions. It is Swedish schools’ big problem that we put in the efforts too late, says Education Minister Lotta Edholm (L).
A total of 482 million
According to Edholm, it is too early to say how many younger students can be covered by the resource supplement.
– It remains to be seen how they choose to distribute the money, but there is currently SEK 382 million for the current law school and homework help, so the SEK 100 million is quite a large resource addition, says Lotta Edholm.
According to Edholm, it is also too early to say what the funding will look like for the coming year
– This is a priority issue for the government, but I dare not say what the budget will look like in the future.
The teachers’ union presented a report last month which shows that many teachers are critical of formal schools. Like “patching and mending a broken system”, commented the President of the Teachers’ Association, Johanna Jaara Åstrand, and called for proper investments in regular teaching.
– I think the criticism is due to the law school coming too late for the students. But one does not exclude the other. Some children need more time than other children, and this is a way to create that time, says Lotta Edholm.
Permanent tip
In the budget bill, the government also proposes money for advanced education for particularly gifted and high-achieving students in junior and senior high school. It is about SEK 25 million next year and SEK 50 million in 2024.
The cutting-edge training programs that exist today are run on a trial basis, but the government wants to make the operation permanent.
– Today there are no state subsidies for the elite classes, but we believe that the subsidy can make it a little easier to inform about and start elite classes. The hope is also that cutting-edge training can be found in more places in the country, says Lotta Edholm.
Facts
Law school
Last spring, 15 percent of all ninth graders did not pass the eligibility requirements for a vocational program, where the requirements are lower than for a university preparatory program.
Primary schools are obliged to offer preparatory school to eighth and ninth graders who have not been or are at risk of not being eligible for upper secondary school.
Schools can also voluntarily offer other praise schools, for example for students in years 6 and 7 as well as high school students.
Source: Swedish National Agency for Education
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