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EDUCATION

‘Don’t bin non-European college applications’

Sweden's higher education agency has slammed a recommendation by the Association of Swedish Higher Education that schools reject applications from non-European students without review.

Published: 24 June 2008 10:58 CEST

Colleges and universities in Sweden which toss applications in the bin without judging their merits are breaking the law, the National Agency for Higher Education claims.

“We view this matter very seriously and have reacted as quickly as we could,” said the National Agency’s lead attorney Eva Westberg to the Upsala Nya Tidning newspaper.

The Association of Swedish Higher Education recently recommended that institutions of higher learning reject applicants from outside the EU and EEA without review.

The EEA, or European Economic Area, includes all 27 EU member states, as well as Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein.

The association, which promotes cooperation among Swedish colleges and universities, made the recommendation to its 42 member institutions in response to concerns over building pressure on the university admissions system following a steep increase in the number of foreign applications.

The association, which has been roundly criticized by the Swedish association of student unions (Sveriges Förenade studentkårer) for its actions, believes that the entire admissions system may break down without the measure.

The National Agency for Higher Education has launched a supervisory commission and universities must immediately report which laws they are using to support their decision to reject foreign applicants before the autumn term.

The discrimination and justice ombudsmen have been informed of the situation because the National Agency for Higher Education believes the recommendation may violate Sweden’s laws protecting the equal treatment of students.

Tossing out applications without review may amount to committing professional misconduct, writes the newspaper.

EDUCATION

Sweden’s Social Democrats call for ban on new free schools

Sweden's opposition Social Democrats have called for a total ban on the establishment of new profit-making free schools, in a sign the party may be toughening its policies on profit-making in the welfare sector.

Published: 18 April 2024 16:09 CEST
Sweden's Social Democrats call for ban on new free schools

“We want the state to slam on the emergency brakes and bring in a ban on establishing [new schools],” the party’s leader, Magdalena Andersson, said at a press conference.

“We think the Swedish people should be making the decisions on the Swedish school system, and not big school corporations whose main driver is making a profit.” 

Almost a fifth of pupils in Sweden attend one of the country’s 3,900 primary and secondary “free schools”, first introduced in the country in the early 1990s. 

Even though three quarters of the schools are run by private companies on a for-profit basis, they are 100 percent state funded, with schools given money for each pupil. 

This system has come in for criticism in recent years, with profit-making schools blamed for increasing segregation, contributing to declining educational standards and for grade inflation. 

In the run-up to the 2022 election, Andersson called for a ban on the companies being able to distribute profits to their owners in the form of dividends, calling for all profits to be reinvested in the school system.  

READ ALSO: Sweden’s pioneering for-profit ‘free schools’ under fire 

Andersson said that the new ban on establishing free schools could be achieved by extending a law banning the establishment of religious free schools, brought in while they were in power, to cover all free schools. 

“It’s possible to use that legislation as a base and so develop this new law quite rapidly,” Andersson said, adding that this law would be the first step along the way to a total ban on profit-making schools in Sweden. 

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