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EDUCATION

Mother tongue tutoring ‘insufficient’: teachers

Children who have a first language other than Swedish don't get enough support in Swedish schools, according to a survey of teachers, many of whom are concerned that children of immigrants will fall behind in school.

Mother tongue tutoring 'insufficient': teachers

“The teachers are really frustrated as they see that mother tongue tutoring is really needed,” Eva-Lis Sirén, chair of the Swedish Teachers’ Union (Lärarförbundet) told the Metro newspaper.

A recent survey of 519 primary and secondary school teachers in Sweden revealed that nearly 60 percent of teachers have students they feel need extra help in their mother tongue.

However, only one in ten of these teachers feel their students get enough tutoring in their first language.

Teachers are concerned that competent immigrant children will end up performing poorly in school simply because they aren’t able to grasp what they’re being taught in Swedish.

“It’s easier for children to develop because they feel more secure in their own language and can use all the knowledge they already have,” language tutor Harriet Thernell told Metro.

Students who are unable to fully understand instructions spoken in Sweden may also lose interest in school, having a negative impact on their academic performance.

Sweden’s school act clearly states that “a student should get tutoring in his or her mother tongue, if the student needs it”.

But principals at many schools claim budget constraints restrict them from expanding mother tongue tutoring.

According to Sirén of the teachers’ union, however, the problem lies with politicians who simply say “there isn’t any money”.

“They simply don’t take the issue seriously enough,” she told the paper.

TT/The Local/dl

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EDUCATION

Inquiry calls for free after-school care for 6-9 year-olds in Sweden

Children between ages 6-9 years should be allowed admittance to after-school recreation centers free of charge, according to a report submitted to Sweden’s Minister of Education Lotta Edholm (L).

Inquiry calls for free after-school care for 6-9 year-olds in Sweden

“If this reform is implemented, after-school recreation centers will be accessible to the children who may have the greatest need for the activities,” said Kerstin Andersson, who was appointed to lead a government inquiry into expanding access to after-school recreation by the former Social Democrat government. 

More than half a million primary- and middle-school-aged children spend a large part of their school days and holidays in after-school centres.

But the right to after-school care is not freely available to all children. In most municipalities, it is conditional on the parent’s occupational status of working or studying. Thus, attendance varies and is significantly lower in areas where unemployment is high and family finances weak.

In this context, the previous government formally began to inquire into expanding rights to leisure. The report was recently handed over to Sweden’s education minister, Lotta Edholm, on Monday.

Andersson proposed that after-school activities should be made available free of charge to all children between the ages of six and nine in the same way that preschool has been for children between the ages of three and five. This would mean that children whose parents are unemployed, on parental leave or long-term sick leave will no longer be excluded. 

“The biggest benefit is that after-school recreation centres will be made available to all children,” Andersson said. “Today, participation is highest in areas with very good conditions, while it is lower in sparsely populated areas and in areas with socio-economic challenges.” 

Enforcing this proposal could cause a need for about 10,200 more places in after-school centre, would cost the state just over half a billion kronor a year, and would require more adults to work in after-school centres. 

Andersson recommends recruiting staff more broadly, and not insisting that so many staff are specialised after-school activities teachers, or fritidspedagod

“The Education Act states that qualified teachers are responsible for teaching, but that other staff may participate,” Andersson said. “This is sometimes interpreted as meaning that other staff may be used, but preferably not’. We propose that recognition be given to so-called ‘other staff’, and that they should be given a clear role in the work.”

She suggested that people who have studied in the “children’s teaching and recreational programmes” at gymnasium level,  people who have studied recreational training, and social educators might be used. 

“People trained to work with children can contribute with many different skills. Right now, it might be an uncertain work situation for many who work for a few months while the employer is looking for qualified teachers”, Andersson said. 

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