School Minister Lotta Edholm (L) thinks that Växjö Municipality made the right decision when they chose to lock the doors on Wednesday morning.
– Of course, it is very serious the development we see and I note that Växjö municipality takes it safe before the uncertain and that is of course the only right thing to do in such a situation, the school minister told SVT News.
But concerns about being exposed to a school shooting has increased since the mass shooting at Risbergska school in Örebro. Now changes in the School Act consider the school minister.
At the end of January, the government presented a new proposal aimed at improving security in schools. Among other things, it is about ensuring that unauthorized persons cannot enter the school area and to give staff the right to search bags.
– We are working on that now and hopefully it can come into force this summer, says Edholm.
New focus on school safety
The mass shooting in Örebro has raised the issue of school safety and it is not only the government that now acts to secure schools around the country.
– Now it is burning in the knots for all school leaders who have not yet stood in the starting blocks, says school safety expert Lena Ljungdahl to SVT News.
Ljungdahl himself works to consult schools and municipalities in how to act on what is called ongoing deadly violence (PDV). Since the mass shooting, interest has increased significantly from several directions.
– The pressure is massive, but you should also remember that there are many schools and municipalities that have worked systematically on this issue, it is just that everyone who has not done it has got some fire in the back, says Ljungdahl.
Knowledge must increase
But in order to increase safety in schools, Ljungdahl believes that the knowledge needs to be increased in the first place to know what kind of education is required and what services actually make a difference.
– You should have an action plan, which must be updated, it must be implemented in the business. You should have trained all school staff in PDV and it includes both how you prevent and in the worst case manage. You should in some way have involved the students in a level adapted way and then you should find a form of systematics in this, says Ljungdahl.