Sweden: More books in preschools and schools and less digital learning tools
The Government has established a new state grant for the purchase of fiction and non-fiction literature for preschools and the earlier years in compulsory schools. Swedish pupils' reading comprehension is falling and over 20 percent in compulsory schools cannot read properly. To reverse this, many efforts are needed, one of them is more books.
176 million SEK (around 15 million EUR) has been set aside for the state grant in 2024. It is estimated to correspond to approximately 880,000 books in total, assuming that a book costs around 200 SEK (17 EUR). It is the municipalities who apply for the state grant, which in the first year can be used to buy printed fiction and non-fiction for preschool classes as well as the lower stages of compulsory schools, compulsory schools for pupils with intellectual disabilities, schools for pupils with impaired hearing and Sami schools. From 2025, it will also be possible to apply for state grants for the upper stages of compulsory schools and compulsory schools for pupils with intellectual disabilities.
At the same time, in order to increase the reading ability of children and young people, the Government is making efforts to reduce screen time. The Swedish National Agency for Education is instructed to propose changes to the preschool curriculum, which means that the education should essentially be screen-free for the children.
The preschool curriculum today states, among other things, that preschool teachers must be responsible for ensuring that every child is allowed to use digital tools. The Swedish National Agency for Education is now tasked with conducting a review of the area of digitization in the preschool curriculum. The Agency must propose changes which mean that there should be no requirement that digital learning tools be used in preschool. Any use of digital learning tools in preschool must be selective based on clear scientific support and documented educational added value. They are expected to report to the Government Office no later than 4 June 2024.
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