“An engine of cultural life” – this is how Lena Byström, culture coordinator at Östersund Municipality, describes the role of the study associations in Norrland’s hinterland and in the sparsely populated municipalities.
“The student unions are very important there, I can hardly stress it enough – this is so insanely painful,” she says.
Through the study associations’ courses, people can practice culture themselves. But Lena Byström emphasizes the role of student unions as co-organizers of cultural events in smaller towns. Often, the student associations “support” local cultural associations that organize, for example, lectures and concerts. When the regional theater Estrad Norr ventures out to small towns, study associations are also included, she emphasizes.
“No one really has the muscles on their own, but together you can do it and that’s where student associations become super important.”
Nationally, student associations were responsible for 256,210 cultural events – under their own auspices or together with others – in 2022, according to Statistics Norway, and 62 percent of the associations’ combined activities are also about culture. Together with the public libraries, the study associations are the cultural institutions that are found in basically all of the country’s 290 municipalities, points out Magnus Pejlert, who works with developing Sensu’s music operations nationally. When the state grant for the next three years is to be reduced from SEK 1.8 to 1.3 billion, smaller municipalities risk being hit harder, he also believes.
— Of course, we will do everything to be everywhere we can, but our conditions will disappear. We have a requirement that we be present throughout the country, but I find it difficult to see that we will be present in all of Sweden’s municipalities.
“Sharpen the business”
Is there no room at all for student unions to save money? Morgan Öberg, head of the state grant unit at the Swedish Education Council, which distributes the state grants, sees the reductions as a way to “sharpen operations” but describes the situation as “worrying”.
“The savings are taking place at the same time as fairly large cost increases in society, the study associations also receive money from municipalities and regions, where things look very different, locally there can be very large differences in how much money you get,” he says and continues:
— In Stockholm’s inner city you don’t notice that student associations exist, in an area with less choice it becomes more visible.
Education Minister Mats Persson (L) writes in an email to TT that “we are in tough economic times that demand their priorities”. Instead, the government wants to invest in community colleges and vocational training that “creates jobs”.
Magnus Pejlert strikes a blow for “lifelong learning”.
— I am sure that informal learning, which the student unions stand for, can also lead to experiences that can lead to real jobs. We work with people’s well-being, we think that is super important, he says.
The National Audit Office’s criticism
In a debate article in The evening paper the Minister of Education also highlights the National Audit Office’s criticism of the student unions for a lack of control over how the state money is used, something that the student unions themselves have taken up. This autumn, the government also tightened the requirements on how the grants must be reported and commissioned the ongoing public education investigation to review further actions.
At the same time, the Swedish Education Council has decided to distribute next year’s grants according to content and quality, and not based on how much money was given the previous year.
Lena Byström in Östersund is the first to welcome more accurate reporting.
— But to pull down, it’s just to nail the coffin back up! One study association has already closed down, but there will be more – I am convinced of that. This does not hit as hard in the metropolitan regions. But out in the countryside! And we have sparsely populated areas throughout Sweden – not just in Norrland.