Lack of premises and equipment, schedule conflicts and internships that do not measure up. In SVT’s review, it appears that the Thoren Group has failed to give students the education they are entitled to according to Swedish law.
– The students have the right to a good education and I cannot emphasize enough how actively we work with the inspectorate so that it does not look like this, says Helén Ängmo, Director General of the School Inspectorate.
Couldn’t act enough
In the supervisory reports from the School Inspectorate that SVT has seen, it appears that the problems in some of Thorengruppen’s high schools have been recurring, even after the schools were instructed to remedy the deficiencies.
The authority previously did not have a mandate to act strongly enough on recurring problems, says Helén Ängmo.
– If we have seen a deficiency and a school has corrected it, we must close the case. If a deficiency occurs again, a new case must be started, says Helén Ängmo.
Change occurred
The School Inspectorate called for stronger legislation to overcome the problem, which has also happened. Now the authority has the option to close schools if deficiencies reappear within two years.
– Now we have a stronger mandate and we have to try that first, says Helén Ängmo and emphasizes that it is about what they can do in general.
She points out that the School Inspectorate had good opportunities to deal with individual situations and there have been both regular checks and unannounced visits to the group’s schools. There have also been corrections from the Thoren Group in connection with these.