2026

Clarifying the position of the Swedish language in preschool

Published December 5, 2025

In order for children in preschool to have better development in the Swedish language, the position of Swedish in preschool needs to be clarified in the Education Act. The Government is therefore expanding the mandate for a state inquiry into preschool. 

The Government has appointed an inquiry that will, among other things, propose a mandatory language preschool and measures that will give preschool better conditions to offer children a good quality education, including by ensuring that all groups of children have an appropriate size and an appropriate staff density.
More needs to be done to ensure that all children leaving preschool have good language skills in Swedish. The inquiry will now receive an additional directive and will also propose how it can be clarified in the Education Act that the language of the school system is Swedish. The inquiry period ends 11 June 2026. 

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2025

The Swedish National Agency for Education is tasked with developing support to monitor children's language development in preschool

Good knowledge of the Swedish language is a prerequisite for succeeding in school and for being an active participant in society. In order for preschools to have better opportunities to more systematically follow up on children's language development, the Government has tasked the Swedish National Agency for Education with developing support for this work.

The focus on language development in preschool needs to be strengthened, so that children who attend preschool at an early age have the opportunity to practice and develop basic skills. Therefore, the Government has decided, among other things, on a revised curriculum for preschool, which means that writings about reading will be strengthened at the same time as preschool will be made largely screen-free. The material that the Swedish National Agency for Education will now develop will provide preschools with support for how they can follow children's language development more systematically, so that all children have good opportunities to, among other things, develop a nuanced spoken language and vocabulary.
The support material can also be used to discover whether a child needs more stimulation or support to develop the Swedish language and be prepared for continued education.  

The assignment must be reported no later than June 5, 2026. 

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New professional programme for teachers, preschool teachers and principals will make the professions more attractive

Swedish schools need a national and quality-assured system for competence development. Therefore, the Government has now decided on a new professional programme for teachers, preschool teachers and principals.

The Government has decided on the basis for a new professional programme, which will be able to be developed and expanded over time. Through the professional programme, preschool teachers, teachers and principals will be offered relevant competence development that strengthens the scientific basis of the professions and contributes to developing the quality of teaching. The national structure for competence development will mainly be individual and based on scientific basis and proven experience.

The professional programme consists of two parts: a national structure for competence development for preschool teachers, teachers and principals and a national qualification system for licensed preschool teachers and teachers. For a course to be considered qualifying, it needs to be at the basic or advanced level and include subject studies, subject didactic studies, studies in the field of preschool education, cognitive science, special education or leadership. The education must be relevant to teaching within the school system to be considered qualifying education.

The qualification system will have four levels. In a couple of years, it is planned that career positions for teachers and preschool teachers will be linked to the qualification system.

The Swedish National Agency for Education is responsible for the professional programme and is supported by the Council for Professions in the School System. The professional programme entered into force on 1 September 2025.

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An equal opportunities’ preschool of good quality with mandatory language preschool

A special investigator will consider how a mandatory so-called language preschool can be introduced for certain children who need better language development in Swedish. The aim is that children who do not receive sufficient support in their language development in Swedish in their home environment will receive this in preschool. The investigator will also submit proposals with the aim of ensuring that all preschools in Sweden are given equal opportunities to offer children an education of good quality. 

The investigator shall, among other things, 

• consider and propose how a language preschool can be introduced that is mandatory for children who are registered in Sweden and who are not sufficiently exposed to the Swedish language in their home environment and who, because of this, show significant deficiencies in language development in Swedish,
• investigate and propose how Sweden's preschools should be given the conditions to offer an equivalent education of good quality,  
• propose a regulation that ensures that groups of children in all preschools are of an appropriate size and consider whether a regulation is also needed to ensure an appropriate staff density,
• consider and propose other measures in addition to regulation to ensure that all groups of children are of an appropriate size,
• propose how clearer requirements for knowledge of the Swedish language can be introduced for preschool staff, and
• submit the necessary legislative proposals. 

The assignment must be reported no later than 18 December 2025.

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Reduced administration and regulation of preschool teachers' and teachers' time

The inquiry into reduced administration and regulation of preschool teachers' and teachers' time has been tasked with submitting proposals that can reduce preschool teachers' and teachers' administrative tasks and other tasks so that time can be freed up for work on teaching and tasks related to teaching.  

The inquiry has also been tasked with analysing and proposing how teaching time for teachers in schools and preschool teachers and teachers in preschool classes can be regulated, and considering and, if necessary, proposing corresponding regulations for preschool teachers in preschools and teachers in leisure-time centers. 

The assignment has also included analysing and proposing how time for planning and monitoring teaching can be regulated so that preschool teachers and teachers have better conditions to concentrate on teaching.

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Increased efforts to combat honor-related violence and oppression in preschools, schools and leisure-time centers

A special investigator will submit proposals for measures aimed at strengthening the work against honor-related violence and oppression in preschools, schools and leisure-time centers.

The investigator shall, among other things:

• map, analyse and propose measures to combat honor-related violence and oppression, a culture of silence and the maintenance of honor norms in preschool, school and leisure-time centers,
• analyse and propose measures for how staff can receive stronger support in preventing, detecting and counteracting honor-related violence and oppression in preschool, school and leisure-time centers,
• analyse and propose how the role of student health in preventing, detecting and counteracting honor-related violence and oppression can be clarified,
• consider and, if necessary, propose how an individually adapted support system for children and students exposed to honor-related violence and oppression or other equivalent violations based on gender, sexual orientation or gender identity can be designed, and
• submit necessary legislative proposals.

The assignment must be reported no later than August 12, 2026.

For more information (in Swedish)

2024

Clarified requirements for preschool staff's knowledge of Swedish

Today, every fourth child in preschool has a foreign background. In order for all children to acquire the Swedish language, it is important that they are met by staff who speak good Swedish at preschool, which unfortunately is not always the case today. Therefore, the Swedish National Agency for Education (Skolverket) will now clarify what knowledge of Swedish the staff in the preschool must have.
In order to have the positive effects on children's language development that preschool can provide, the activities need to be equivalent and of good quality. Then the competence of the staff is one of the most important factors. 

The Government is now giving the Swedish National Agency for Education the task of revising the general advice for meeting goals in preschool and clarifying the knowledge of Swedish that the staff in the preschool must have. The aim is to ensure that the staff who meet the children in the preschool have the knowledge needed so that the children are stimulated in their language development in Swedish and given good conditions before the start of school. 

The Swedish National Agency for Education's general advice are recommendations on how municipalities, preschool heads, preschool teachers and other staff in preschools should act to meet the requirements of the regulations that apply to the operation. The general advice can form the basis of supervision. 

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Removing the requirement for digital learning tools in preschool

Increasing the reading ability of children and young people is a priority issue for the Government. Efforts are being made to reduce screen time and increase the number of books in preschools and schools. Now the government is taking a further step and instructing the Swedish National Agency for Education to propose changes to the preschool curriculum, which means that the education should essentially be screen-free for the children.

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More books for preschools and schools

Children and students must have proper access to books, and the Government has therefore established a new state grant for the purchase of fiction and non-fiction literature. Swedish pupils' reading comprehension is falling and over 20 percent in primary school cannot read properly. To reverse this, many efforts are needed, one of them is more books in preschools and schools. 

SEK 176 million (around 15 million EUR) is set aside for the state grant in 2024 for preschool, preschool class and lower levels of compulsory school. It is estimated that this corresponds to approximately 880,000 books in total. 

For more information (in Swedish)