Education System in Sweden
a. Structure and Organization
Until the end of the 1990s, the government of the Kingdom of Sweden directly controlled the schools. Reforms agreed upon by the state began to take place in the 1990s. Important reforms were enacted between 1995 and 2001. All vocational upper secondary schools must offer a three-year program, a full year more than prior schooling. Programs in secondary school and higher education allowed for greater self-sufficiency on the part of schools and less rigidity on the part of the government. Institutes of higher education instituted improvements in choices available to students and in degree system requirements.
b. FInancial Aid to Students
Swedish citizens not only have a fundamental right to an education, but they have the reasonable expectation that the state's central government will do all its power to pay for much of that education. The philosophy is that a well-educated citizenry is more likely to lead to a prosperous from the fruits of its citizens' labors. Consequently, Sweden spends an outstanding 8.3 percent of the GNP on education, far more than most nations do.
c. Curriculum and evaluation
Each school and municipality has a certain freedom in determining how those objectives are to be carried out, but accountability is ensured by evaluation of all pupils in their fifth and ninth years in compulsory school.
d. Technology in the classroom
To assess the usage of computer in primary and secondary education, the National Agency fo Education has conducted biannual surveys since 1993. According to the 1999 survey, the number of computers purchased for use by administrators, faculty and pupils increased dramatically in the late 1990s, owing to the widespread use of the Internet. By 2001, many schools put up web sites that explored some of ed
ucational programs and student extracurricular interests at these institutions.
e. Pre-primary and primary education
Sweden's push for educational reforms has included child care and nursery schools since 1998. The state delegated responsibility for their supervision to the National Agency for Education. The state also provides afterschool child care sites that look after children younger than seven years old, while their parents are at work or pursuing educational opportunities.
In the XVII century, following Gustav Adolphus attempts to improve and expand university education in Sweden, the nation imposed a sense of civic responsibility on local communities, asking them to provide elementary education for the well being of citizenry. Church law limited the focus of the curriculum to reading and religious instruction, the purpose being more to elevate or save the souls children than to elevate their minds. In 1842, the voluntary aspect of education was removed, and law introduced compulsory education.
Compulsory primary education was established in 1842 for the earliest grades. One hundred years later, reformers worked to expand compulsory education to the age of 16. Since 1972-1973, primary education became compulsory for the first nine years of schooling, encompassing all primary school and the first two years of secondary education. Some children begin primary school at age six, but it is only compulsory at age seven.
Bibliographies
Boucher, Leon. 1993. Tradition and Change in Swedish Education. Oxford: Pergamon Press.
Daun, Ake. 1996. Swedish Mentality. University Park, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania University Press.
Kucha, Ryszard and Ulla Johansson. 1995. Polish and Swedish Schools in the XIX and XX Century. Lublin, Poland: Marie Curie Sklodowska University Press.
Orring, Jonas. School in Sweden: A Survey of Primary, Middle and Secondary Education. Stockholm: Department of National Board of Education. 1967.
Until the end of the 1990s, the government of the Kingdom of Sweden directly controlled the schools. Reforms agreed upon by the state began to take place in the 1990s. Important reforms were enacted between 1995 and 2001. All vocational upper secondary schools must offer a three-year program, a full year more than prior schooling. Programs in secondary school and higher education allowed for greater self-sufficiency on the part of schools and less rigidity on the part of the government. Institutes of higher education instituted improvements in choices available to students and in degree system requirements.
b. FInancial Aid to Students
Swedish citizens not only have a fundamental right to an education, but they have the reasonable expectation that the state's central government will do all its power to pay for much of that education. The philosophy is that a well-educated citizenry is more likely to lead to a prosperous from the fruits of its citizens' labors. Consequently, Sweden spends an outstanding 8.3 percent of the GNP on education, far more than most nations do.
c. Curriculum and evaluation
Each school and municipality has a certain freedom in determining how those objectives are to be carried out, but accountability is ensured by evaluation of all pupils in their fifth and ninth years in compulsory school.
d. Technology in the classroom
To assess the usage of computer in primary and secondary education, the National Agency fo Education has conducted biannual surveys since 1993. According to the 1999 survey, the number of computers purchased for use by administrators, faculty and pupils increased dramatically in the late 1990s, owing to the widespread use of the Internet. By 2001, many schools put up web sites that explored some of ed
e. Pre-primary and primary education
Sweden's push for educational reforms has included child care and nursery schools since 1998. The state delegated responsibility for their supervision to the National Agency for Education. The state also provides afterschool child care sites that look after children younger than seven years old, while their parents are at work or pursuing educational opportunities.
In the XVII century, following Gustav Adolphus attempts to improve and expand university education in Sweden, the nation imposed a sense of civic responsibility on local communities, asking them to provide elementary education for the well being of citizenry. Church law limited the focus of the curriculum to reading and religious instruction, the purpose being more to elevate or save the souls children than to elevate their minds. In 1842, the voluntary aspect of education was removed, and law introduced compulsory education.
Compulsory primary education was established in 1842 for the earliest grades. One hundred years later, reformers worked to expand compulsory education to the age of 16. Since 1972-1973, primary education became compulsory for the first nine years of schooling, encompassing all primary school and the first two years of secondary education. Some children begin primary school at age six, but it is only compulsory at age seven.
Bibliographies
Boucher, Leon. 1993. Tradition and Change in Swedish Education. Oxford: Pergamon Press.
Daun, Ake. 1996. Swedish Mentality. University Park, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania University Press.
Kucha, Ryszard and Ulla Johansson. 1995. Polish and Swedish Schools in the XIX and XX Century. Lublin, Poland: Marie Curie Sklodowska University Press.
Orring, Jonas. School in Sweden: A Survey of Primary, Middle and Secondary Education. Stockholm: Department of National Board of Education. 1967.
Tags & Keywords : sweden, education systems, reform, europe, financial aid, curriculum