STOCKHOLM Blackeberg high school in north-west Stockholm looks like an ordinary school on the outside, but the inner lobby makes an impression. Whether the reason lies in the architecture or something, but the high school students seem satisfied.
Those who end their school careers in a week are especially happy Adam Backer,18, Hillevi Lönberg Siri18 and Jonathan Aktas19. High school is over and career plans are clear.
Adam Becker plans to take a gap year first because he didn’t get into the army. Then to study again.
– I want to be in contact with people. The job of a doctor is not my thing, so I will probably apply to either become a police officer or a teacher.
Hillevi Lönberg Siri, on the other hand, explained the invitations.
– I have applied to Uppsala University and I hope I get a place. I would first study for a year and then go to the army for the next year.
Jonathan Aktas says that he aimed to become an engineer already in his high school studies. Now the papers are being drawn to Stockholm Technical College.
– To become a Master of Science in Engineering, that would be a continuation of what I’ve been working on in high school.
Not all the best get into university
But the young people’s goals may crumble, because with Sweden’s current selection model, the best are not selected for universities and colleges, but those whose teachers have given them the best high school final grades.
The current selection model has been most loudly criticized by the rector of the Stockholm School of Economics Lars Strannegaard. According to him, in the fall of the first year, you can see that there are big differences in the knowledge and skills of those who have entered, even though everyone has passed the entrance threshold with their certificates. Strannegård has presented his criticism as well in Dagens Nyheter that in SVT’s main news broadcast.
– Will the right people get in or is it just that someone who should have been left without a place, Strennegård asked in the news.
The teachers give excellent certificates
The name of the problem is glädjebetyg, which means that high school teachers give excellent certificate numbers so that students from their own school can get into universities and colleges.
Adam Bäcker came across the phenomenon while talking with his friend from another high school about a physics exam.
– I could do so much better than him, but he still got better grades. I was like what? And then I thought: now it’s about an excellent grade or something like that, says Adam.
In Sweden, there are no similar national matriculation exams as in Finland, where all high school students take the same exam, which is corrected by both their own teacher and the matriculation board’s corrector. In the Finnish model, the teacher cannot “pull home”.
is used in Swedish upper secondary schools national exams (nationella prov) in English, mathematics and Swedish as both a first and a second language. However, the result of the national exam does not bind the teacher in giving the final grade. On the contrary: The Board of Education encourages teachers to also take into account other matters relevant to the grade in the assessment.
One of the reasons for the excellent certificates can therefore be found in the grading criteria, where the teacher has a lot of say. Another reason is in the high school system itself.
In Sweden, upper secondary schools are either municipal or private (friskolor). In small towns, there is usually only one upper secondary school, but in cities, upper secondary schools compete for students and the funds that go with them. Each high school student contributes a certain amount to the school, depending on the educational program. This year, the allocation per pupil is at a minimum just under 8,000 euros and at the most a generous 26,000 euros.
Schools advertise themselves with good numbers
Catrine Hedlund is the principal of the municipal Blackeberg high school. The school is big – meaning there are 1,200 students – and popular.
Hedlund cannot say whether giving certificate numbers to the top is a bigger problem in private than in municipal high schools.
– I believe that there are both municipal and private schools that give excellent numbers. It’s definitely worth perking up a bit if a high school markets itself with high grades, Hedlund advises.
Hedlund recognizes excellent certificates already at the junction of elementary school and upper secondary school. Since not all applicants can get into Blackeberg, only those with a good average in their primary school leaving certificate will be selected. However, the teachers notice in the first autumn of the lock that, despite the good grades, the students’ level of knowledge is very varied.
According to Hedlund, school becomes very difficult for the student. However, this is not talked about as much as the problems of the universities, because the upper secondary school has an obligation to support first-year students.
A model of Finland’s graduation essays
Too good certificates and its consequences are considered such a serious problem that the government has now given the former professor of the University of Economics For Magnus Henrekson task is to find a more functional model than the current one.
Henrekson considers excessive certificates to be a serious problem.
– It is a serious problem from the point of view of both justice and legality. Now young people get the idea that society is not fair, that our system is corrupt.
Henrekson has gone through the practices of other countries with experts. The model has also been searched for in Finnish student essays, but as it is, Henrekson does not propose Finnish essays to be transferred to Sweden.
– In Finland, the grade is decided only on the basis of writing. In Sweden, on the other hand, grades have not been calibrated in any way, i.e. defined as a common measure. Neither model is good, so it is better to use a combination of several models.
Henrekson’s investigation will be completed in January. In it, he will present that, alongside the national exams, the teacher’s assessment will remain, but much more tightly controlled than now, so that the grades would be more uniform between schools than at present.
The Stockholm School of Economics has already taken action while waiting for the liquidator’s presentation. Starting in the fall, those applying for a business degree must get a certain score of so-called from the university examination (högskoleprovet).
Henreksson understands well the extortion measures of the trade union. The additional requirement for the score of the university exam eliminates the most egregious cases from the list of those selected.