The nine-year compulsory school and upper secondary school are both comprehensive, co-educational schools, designed to accommodate all members of the rising generation. The curricula for compulsory and upper secondary education have nationwide validity.
Adult education in Sweden has a long history, and options for further and recurrent education are available in many different forms throughout the country. Education for adults equivalent to the education conferred by the compulsory and upper secondary school is part of the public school system. Swedish education is thus a structurally uniform system from elementary level to upper secondary schooling and adult education.
All public education is wholly or partially financed by the public budget and tuition is free of charge in all public institutions. Various financial assistance schemes are provided for students in upper secondary, adult and higher education.
Those responsible for the provision of education under the Ministry of Education and Science are the National Agency for Education, the National Agency for Special Education, the county councils, the municipalities and private mandators.
In accordance with decisions in Parliament, in 1991 full mandatorship for teaching staff was transferred from the central authorities to the municipalities, which were also given undivided responsibility for organising and implementing school activities. Parliament also laid down the principles of school management by objectives and results with fewer regulations and clearer goals.
Another guiding principle of education policy has been to create scope for diversity within the education system, and freedom for individual pupils and students to choose between different types of schools as well as between study routes.
The main principle of the division of responsibilities and functions within the Swedish education system today is that Parliament and the Government should control educational activities by defining national goals and guidelines for education. The central and local education authoritis together with the different organisers are responsible for ensuring that the education system is organised in accordance with national goals. Within the framework and guidelines laid down by Parliament and the Government, the organisers enjoy considerable freedom to determine how activities are to be implemented and resources distributed and used.
The change over to goal and result-oriented steering of the education system requires the central and local authorities, as well as individual schools, to systematically follow up and evaluate educational activities in relation to goals and conditions applying to them.
Legislation is passed by Parliament which also decides on the funding of appropriations to the education system. The Government issues ordinances as well as general guidelines applying to various types of education and decides on the distribution of appropriations. The Government also lays down the curricula for the whole school system.
The main central authority for supervision of the school system is the National Agency for Education (Skolverket). Its foremost tasks include responsibility for national follow-up, evaluation and supervision of all school activities, and for central development work within the school sector. The Agency is also responsible for ensuring that research is undertaken, that teachers and headteachers receive basic training and that in-service training is available for teachers.
Responsibility for various support measures for students with functional impairments within the school system is vested in the National Agency for Special Education (Statens institut för handikappfrågor i skolan).
The national agencies submit annual reports and budget proposals to the Government. In addition, at three-year intervals, they provide Parliament and the Government with a comprehensive picture of the situation within their field of responsibility together with input data for the long-term national development of the education sector.
The committee or committees responsible for schools are obliged to ensure that i.a.
Every municipality is required to set out the general objectives for its schools in a school plan, adopted by the municipal council. The municipality is obliged to follow up and evaluate the school plan and to provide the central authorities with reports on facts and circumstances of relevance for assessment of educational activities. In addition, every school has to devise a work plan, based on the curriculum and local priorities. The work plan is also to be followed up and evaluated.
Teachers' and other employees' organisations are entitled, under the Co- determination Act, to information and to opportunities for influencing impending decisions. Pupil determination rights are enshrined in the School Act, but their practical implementation is decided locally.
In addition, there are special State grants for research and development, in-service training for school staff and measures for mentally handicapped pupils, and for a number of independent upper secondary schools.
The municipalities are obliged to compensate independent schools that are approved by the National Agency for Education for providing compulsory education for pupils who choose this type of school. Under certain conditions, this also applies to independent schools at upper secondary level.
The law does not allow tuition fees to be charged in schools run by the municipalities. Independent schools, however, are able to charge a reasonable fee to cover certain costs which are not covered by State grants. Teaching materials in compulsory school similarly are free of charge to the individual.The same principle applies to Swedish tuition for immigrants. School meals and school transport are provided free of charge for compulsory school pupils. In most municipalities, meals and teaching materials are also free of charge to upper secondary students. In municipal adult education students may have to pay for teaching materials they are allowed to keep.
Upper secondary schooling in Sweden has passed through a period of reform and development in the last 25 years. In 1970 the then existing different types of schools for academic and vocational education at upper secondary level were amalgamated into one school, the upper secondary school (gymnasieskola), designed to accommodate all young people. During the 1970s and 1980s a number of measures were taken to improve upper secondary schooling so as to match the needs of the labour market and those of higher education with the wishes and requirements of young people. At the end of the 1980s, a reform of the structure of the upper secondary school was initiated, which in 1991 led to major alterations to the School Act. A new system of upper secondary education was introduced in the 1992/93 school year and will be fully implemented by the school year 1995/96.
The great majority of upper secondary studies take place in schools which come under municipal mandatorship. Studies in agriculture, forestry, horticulture and certain caring occupations, however, take place in schools run by the county councils. The county councils were previously also responsible for the four-year upper secondary school for young people with mental handicaps. Responsibility shall be transferred to the municipalities by January 1st 1996 at the latest. There are also a number of upper secondary schools run by private mandators, mostly in major urban areas.
The larger upper secondary schools usually include a variety of study programmes and courses. Certain adaptations of programmes, e.g. for sports, have nationwide recruitment.
Usually, each upper secondary school has a headteacher and one or more directors of studies. Student numbers vary between 300 and 1,500, with the average being 700. The number of students per group does not usually exceed 30 in academic study programmes and 16 in vocational ones.
There are 16 national programmes, 14 of which are primarily vocationally oriented while two prepare primarily for university studies. Most national programmes are divided into branches in the second and third year. In addition to the national branches that are drawn up centrally, municipalities may choose to set up local branches adapted to local needs and conditions.
National programmes
Primarily vocationally oriented:
The following core subjects are common to all programmes: Swedish, English, civics, religious studies, mathematics, natural science, physical education and health, and artistic activities. In addition, students take subjects which are specific to their programme. All students also carry out a project during their course of studies.
The time-schedules, which are now attached to the School Act, express in units of 60 minutes the minimum guaranteed teacher or supervisor-led instruction time. This amounts, over the three years, to 2,400 hours for the programmes that are primarily vocationally oriented and 2,180 hours for programmes, preparing primarily for university studies. The local education authority or school decides when different subjects are to be studied and how long the lessons should be.
In all programmes time is provided for local supplements or practical work connected with subjects, as well as for individual options to allow students to choose additional subjects and courses within the national programmes.
In the vocationally oriented programmes at least 15% of the students' total time is to be spent at workplaces. School mandators are responsible for the procurement of training opportunities and for supervision of the students during their workplace training. The students remain in statu pupillari for this part of the programme.
Municipalities must offer a comprehensive selection of national programmes, and admission capacity for the various programmes should be adapted to student preferences. If a municipality is unable to provide all programmes, the local authority can co-operate with other municipalities.
Students who have not applied for or been admitted to a national programme or who have interrupted their studies shall be offered education in a specially designed or individual programme.
Pass grades in Swedish, English and mathematics from the compulsory school will be introduced as eligibility requirements for the national programmes in the school year 1998/99.
As in the upper secondary school, the eduation is organised in terms of national programmes. As of the academic year 1995/96, education in the upper secondary school for young people with mental handicaps will start in the following vocational programmes, which are basically adaptations of corresponding programmes in the upper secondary school: Business and administration programme; Hotel, restaurant and catering programme; Industry programme; Natural resource use programme; and Vehicle engineering programme.
As in the upper secondary school, the same core subjects are a part of all the national programmes, the difference being they have their own syllabi. Total teaching time during the four years amounts to 3,600 hours. In all programmes time is also set aside for local supplements and individual options. 15% of all teaching time is to be spent at a place of work.
Specially designed and individual programmes are also available. These are, as in the upper secondary school, intended for young persons who have either not applied for or not been admitted to a national programme. In the upper secondary school for young people with mental handicaps, there is within the individual programme scope for vocational and activity training, for those with a disability preventing them from participating in any of the national programmes.
Studies within municipal adult education lead to formal qualifications in individual subjects or to the equivalent of a complete leaving certificate from the compulsory school and/or the upper secondary school. Education is organised in the form of separate courses, which should be arranged in such a way that students can combine their studies with employment. The students are free to choose their own study programme and they can also combine studies at basic and upper secondary level. There are no entrance requirements or leaving examinations.
Basic adult education confers knowledge and skills equivalent to that conferred by the whole of compulsory school. Basic adult education is a right for the individual and is mandatory for the municipalities.
Upper secondary adult education confers knowledge and skills equivalent to that conferred by youth education at upper secondary level. It can offer the same programmes and subjects (with the exception of æsthetic subjects and sports) as the upper secondary school. Although persons above 20 years of age are not entitled to upper secondary education, the municipalities are obliged to make an effort to provide educational opportunities corresponding to demand and individual needs. In principle the time-schedules applied in the national programmes within the school sector also apply to upper secondary adult education.
The purpose of supplementary adult education is to provide vocational courses which are not available in youth education. These courses lead to higher professional qualifications or to a qualification in a new profession.
The national programmes and the national and local branches are built up from courses within different areas. A subject syllabus can consist of a number of short courses both within the programme selected as well as from other programmes. Course goals are set out in syllabi which are common to upper secondary schools and municipal adult education.
The principles of a course-based upper secondary school, inherent in the new structure of upper secondary education, will be further developed. In order to provide criteria apart from number of teaching hours to determine whether an educational programme is completed, a points system has been introduced, whereby a student obtains a certain number of points on completion of a course with the minimum pass result, i.e. when the knowledge and skills that the course aims at providing have been acquired. These points are based on the number of hours allocated in the time- schedule to each course, irrespective of the number of hours taken in each individual case to attain the goals.
No courses may consist of less than 30 hours or equivalent number of points (50 hours in schooling for people with mental handicaps). The syllabi, which are drawn up so as to ensure continuity with those of the compulsory school, state the aims and goals of the course as well as the knowledge and skills that all students shall achieve on completion of the course. The Government has issued syllabi for all core subjects. The syllabi for other subjects are determined by the National Agency for Education.
The principal responsibility for the planning and implementation of teaching rests with the teacher. Students should, however, be able to influence the choice of content and teaching materials as well as teaching and working methods.
Owing to the wide range of interests and academic aptitudes among students entering upper secondary school immediately after compulsory school or later on, the work of each study route has to be adapted to individual students. Remedial teaching is offered in upper secondary school to students who are in need of extra help.
Around 6% of upper secondary students have a mother tongue other than Swedish. In the school year 1992/93, 46% of these took home language courses in 74 different languages. Roughly one-fourth also received instruction in Swedish as a second language.
Within a new grading system for the upper secondary schools, the award of grades is to be looked upon as a continuous process. Grades are awarded on the completion of every course and not for individual subjects or for each term.
Grades are awarded on a four-point scale: Fail, Pass, Pass with distinction and Pass with high distinction. The criteria for awarding grades are specified in connection with the different syllabi. To support this, central tests are used in certain subjects. Other points of departure for the assessment of student achievements are written tests, classroom observations and class conferences involving all teachers taking the class in question.
For upper secondary municipal adult education, the same grading system applies as in the upper secondary school.
In basic adult education a three-point grading scale is applied: Fail, Pass and Pass with distinction.
In the upper secondary school and adult education for people with mental handicaps, as well as in the teaching of Swedish to immigrants, the grading criteria Pass and Pass with distinction are used. A pupil not attaining a pass is issued with a certificate stating that the pupil has participated in the course. In the teaching of Swedish to immigrants, a certificate is also issued stating the pupil's attainments in relation to the goals of the course.
The leaving certificate should contain a record of grades for all courses in upper secondary education. It may also be issued on completion of basic adult education and adult education for people with mental handicaps.
Vocational training in upper secondary schools is provided by subject teachers with advanced economic or technical qualifications or by vocational teachers who have completed vocational training and studies in vocational theory. They have also acquired long experience of their trade and undergone teacher training at institutes of education.
For basic adult education there are special teacher training programmes.
A major task for the in-service training of teachers in upper secondary school and municipal adult education is to supplement subject qualifications in order to bring them more in line with the qualification needed in the new programmes within upper secondary education.
This fact sheet is published by the SI and may be used in preparing articles, speeches, broadcasts, etc. on condition that the source is acknowledged.
Printed in Sweden,
March 1995
Classification: FS 64 o Em
ISRN SI-FS--95/64-O--SE
ISSN 1101-6124
