Social Democrats want to force English schools to hire qualified teachers

English-language schools in Sweden should be forced to hold at least 75 percent of classes in Swedish, according to a new proposal by the centre-left Social Democrats. Note that the party is in opposition, so its proposals are likely to have little concrete impact for the time being (Sweden won’t hold its next election for another two years), but still cover it because it gives you an idea of current political opinion.

Schools with teaching in English are currently required to hold 50 percent of classes in Swedish.

“It should be obvious that the Swedish language enjoys a strong position. Instead we have a school system where a special exemption is granted and English has a special status,” Social Democrat leader Magdalena Andersson was quoted by the TT newswire as saying.

Sweden’s official minority languages wouldn’t be affected by the proposal, nor would it apply to the International Baccalaureate or education aimed at children who are in Sweden temporarily.

The Social Democrats also want to scrap an exemption that means English-language schools don’t have to hire qualified teachers.

The party’s education spokesperson, Åsa Westlund, described it as unreasonable that those schools hire foreign teachers without a Swedish teaching qualification.

Swedish vocabulary: a teacher – en lärare

Swedish court throws out Migration Agency rejections of berry pickers

Stockholm’s Migration Court has thrown out a decision by the Migration Agency to reject 1,278 seasonal permits for berrypickers.

Concerns have increasingly been raised in recent years of the exploitation of foreign berry pickers, who come to northern Sweden to pick berries during the summer season – often from countries far away such as Thailand – but often work hard in exchange for little money.

The Migration Agency therefore argued that based on the working conditions last year’s berry pickers experienced, the employers in question would not this year be able to provide working conditions in line with industry practice or collective bargaining agreements.

However, the court found that reasonable explanations had been presented by employers in the appeal.

“The court finds that the appeal has established the likelihood that employees will be given good working conditions in regards to work hours and salary, among other things,” said Migration Court judge Mats Dahlström in a statement read by The Local.

The court has now passed the case back to the Migration Agency for another review.

Swedish vocabulary: a decision – ett beslut

Prime minister slams Swedes who defy foreign ministry travel advice

In his speech at Sweden’s annual political festival, Almedalen Week, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson criticised Swedes who travel to Iran.

“It is deeply provocative that people who live in Sweden keep going to Iran, despite the foreign ministry’s strict advice,” he said.

The Swedish foreign ministry currently advices against all travel to Iran, including for leisure, business, work and other visits. That’s the second-strongest advisory on a three-point scale, and it also includes for example people who go to Iran to visit family.

For Lebanon, the foreign ministry’s recommendation is the strictest possible: leave the country immediately.

“This is not a game,” Kristersson said. “My message today is that anybody who ignores strong foreign ministry recommendations not to travel should not count on assistance if something happens.”

Swedish vocabulary: this is not a game – det här är ingen lek

Green party call for four day week

“We know that people are stressed at work and are wearing themselves out,” Green Party co-spokesperson Daniel Helldén told SVT during Almedalen. “We have a high number of people taking long-term sick leave and people don’t have any time with their children or for leisure. So we need to make a change.”

There are a number of outspoken critics of the proposal. The healthcare sector is already struggling to find staff, while others warn that Sweden could lose growth and tax income.

Halldén underlined the fact that the reason there’s a lack of staff in some sectors is due to the fact that people wear themselves out and end up switching career.

“In Sweden, strangely enough, we work more than we did when we cut down to a 40 hour week,” he said. “So we work a lot more than in other countries. And it’s entirely possible to have a system that works and an economy that works with people who can also handle working an entire lifetime.”

The Green Party, like the Social Democrats, is also in opposition, so this policy is unlikely to come into effect any time soon. 

Swedish vocabulary: four day week – fyradagsvecka