On December 3, the Minister of Education and the Minister of Schools had a press conference, where they presented the inquiry into teacher and preschool teacher training. The inquiry was tasked, among other things, with proposing how the admission requirements for teacher and preschool teacher training could be raised. Something that the Swedish National Union of Students, SFS, is critical of.
Comment from Rasmus Lindstedt, SFS chairman:
– We see disadvantages with increased admission requirements, which we have also presented to the inquiry. According to the investigator himself, the proposal will lead to us having fewer teachers. Education programs risk being closed, at the same time as Sweden needs more teachers. They also increase political control unnecessarily and damage academic freedom. We hope that the government does not go ahead with such a proposal.
– The university has been severely underfunded since the 90s, it is not surprising that this has had negative consequences. However, it is good that the inquiry proposes that the total compensation to the universities should not be reduced, but we would need a real investment to get results.
About SFS:
SFS is the national student voice, an association of student unions at Swedish universities and colleges. SFS has around sixty member unions which together represent approximately 390,000 students and doctoral students.