Facts: Sweden’s Teachers and manifestations
Sweden’s Teachers was formed on January 1 this year, after the Teachers’ Union and Sweden’s Teachers decided to form a new joint union.
Sweden’s Teachers has approximately 300,000 members.
Sweden’s Lärare Stockholm is holding a demonstration against school cuts in Stockholm on Saturday 6 May.
Demonstrations will also be held in Umeå and Gothenburg on May 25.
Source: Sweden’s Teachers
As a result of inflation and recession, a large number of municipalities have flagged for savings in the school sector.
— This has direct and serious consequences. The staff density decreases, resource persons disappear and the classes become larger. The teachers pay with their health and the students have to pay with less knowledge and the risk of not passing school, says Johanna Jaara Åstrand.
The teachers’ union, with approximately 300,000 members, will show its dissatisfaction with the underfunding of both the state and the municipalities in several parts of the country. The first demonstration will be held in Stockholm on Saturday. Gothenburg and Umeå demonstrate on May 25, but Johanna Jaara Åstrand expects many more places to join.
— We think it will go like wildfire, simply because the cuts are going like wildfire. The reports we receive say that the majority of municipalities are cutting back on school activities. We are even in redundancy negotiations, even though there is a teacher shortage, she says.
Intensive discussions
At the same time, intensive discussions are taking place with responsible politicians, at national and municipal level, about sparing the school sector from cuts, she continues.
– We are also strongly critical of the fact that the government did not allocate any money in the spring budget.
According to Sweden’s Teachers, the school sector needs a supplement of twelve billion kroner to compensate for previous underfunding and the effects of inflation.
— So we already have a lingering underfunding of Swedish schools. We also have the pandemic, which has led to an increased need for support for students. This has affected teachers’ work environment and workload. What is happening now directly affects quality. It’s not possible to troll anymore, says Jaara Åstrand.