SFS has no opinion on specific programs, as we believe that student demand should determine which programs are offered and where higher education institutions have great freedom in terms of designing the content. However, as teacher education has been the subject of many political reforms in recent years and is part of the 56th point of the January Agreement, SFS has often been asked to act as a reference body and expert body. The SFS board has therefore also decided to consider teacher education as a national matter. In addition, a working group within the Swedish University and Higher Education Association (SUHF) has been appointed for teacher education, of which SFS is a part.
The working group will, among other things, discuss the dimensioning of teacher education, where the aim is to try to solve the existing teacher shortage. As stated, SFS believes that it should be the student demand that should guide the dimensioning of the number of training places. There is no point in creating more places if not enough students are interested in applying for the places. When student demand is allowed to guide the training offer, it is also usually adapted to the needs of the labor market, according to Lars Haikola in Higher education for twenty years (SOU 2015:70)Politicians need to have realistic expectations about which parts can be solved by higher education institutions and which parts are best solved by other actors.
However, higher education institutions can work to increase the attractiveness of the education and thereby reduce dropouts and increase throughput. Workplace-based training – VFU – is included as a mandatory component of teacher education, but at many higher education institutions, VFU often entails long commuting distances or costs for double accommodation. Another shortcoming within the framework of VFU is that it is not always possible to find trained supervisors for workplace-based training. One way to increase the attractiveness of teacher education would therefore be to improve the conditions for VFU.
SUHF's working group will also discuss admission requirements and suitability testing, where SFS has opinions on both eligibility, selection and suitability testing. SFS believes that suitability testing should not occur because they are not legally secure and risk preventing people with the right qualifications from studying. Instead, selection should be made based on the applicant's knowledge and skills. It is important that admissions are always considered legitimate and meet the requirements of transparency, predictability and fairness.
Recently, new qualification objectives have also been added to teacher education, including that teachers should learn more about ADHD and other neuropsychiatric difficulties, as well as better sex education for young people. However, SFS believes that it is important that politicians do not introduce additional elements in the education that place increased demands on teacher education, but meet this with corresponding resources.