pic: mullsjö kommun
After the hullabaloo about scrapping Ancient History (those Romans and Greeks you learned about in school) from the Swedish school plan (läroplanen), the final version of the new school plan was presented to the government today. Although there are hopes it will be implemented as early as the beginning of the next school year, a more likely scenario is 2021.
Ancient history is back as required teaching in the middle school years, rest assured (see this post). Even the national anthem shall be mentioned, as well as the bible, and even a few common psalms. As a whole, there is to be a bigger focus on relaying facts in the early school years, leaving analysis and critical analysis to the later school years.
The major focus, however, is making the school plan, and grading, more transparent. The Swedish National Agency for Education, Skolverket, wants both students and their parents to better understand what is required for a certain grade. However, Skolverket emphasizes, the actual knowledge requirements for a grade have not been reduced in any way (SvD.se/läroplan).
How to squeeze in all the knowledge that needs to be taught in the current number of school hours is still the million dollar question. DN reports that the Swedish Association of Independent Schools (Friskolornas riksförbund) would like to see a change in the number of hours that is spent on each subject ( changes in the timplan), while the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise (Svensk Näringsliv) is reported to think that increasing the number of hours spent in school might be a reasonable solution.
Where the money to increase the hours of school would come from could perhaps be called the ten million dollar question. Minister for Education Anna Ekström has ducked just that question by DN, saying it was a question “for another context.”
The next step is that Skolverket‘s plan is approved, or not, by the government and its supporting Center and Liberal parties.
The current number of hours each subject has during elementary school years (1-9):
Swedish/Swedish as a second language: 1490
Mathematics: 1230
Social studies (samhällsorienterande ämnena – SO which includes geography, history, religion, civics): 885 hours
Science (naturorienterade ämnen – NO): 600
Physical Education (idrott): 600
English: 480
Shop (slöjd): 330
Music: 230
Art (bild): 230
Home economics (hem- och konsumentkunskap): 118
Students’ choice: 177
See skolverket.se.