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SCHOOL

Croatian family’s unexpected Swedish school encounter goes viral

When Slobodan Mufić's family in 2016 moved to the town of Skövde, in south-central Sweden, they expected a slew of problems related to putting their 11-year-old daughter Leona in school. Instead, Leona was met with a warm welcome and unexpected frills like getting an iPad, free lunch and taxi rides to go to her native language classes.

Published: 6 September 2017 12:35 CEST
Croatian family's unexpected Swedish school encounter goes viral
File photo of a Swedish school. Photo: Jan Collsiöö/SCANPIX SWEDEN

Swedish daily Svenska Dagbladet first reported on 46-year-old Mufić’s Facebook post published on August 11th this year in which he recounted how the enrolment of his young daughter went down a year ago.

The post has since garnered more than 11,000 likes and been shared over 2,000 times.

“Ninety percent of the people can’t believe it’s true and ten percent think that I’m lying,” he told the newspaper.

Mufić said they were happily surprised by the enrolment procecure alone.

“We'd brought with us all her grades from our country, as well as other documents. It turned out that all that was needed was her personal number (Swedish social security number). We were surprised already by that.”

Although Mufić said he is aware that the Swedish school is hardly problem-free, he says the warm welcome his daughter got counts for a lot.

“I know that the Swedish school is not the best in the world, but compared with the Croatian school I can't say it's bad. We are more than happy about how our daughter Leona has been welcomed.”

READ MORE: What the Pisa rankings actually tell us about Swedish schools

This is Mufić's recounted conversation with the school principal:

Us: We’ve just moved to Sweden and have an 11-year-daughter we want to enrol.

Him: OK, fill these forms in, we need some information about your daughter.

Us: You see, she doesn’t speak Swedish.

Him: OK, she’ll learn.

Us: Perhaps, in the beginning, she’ll need to take other types of classes.

Him: That possibility exists, but we think she’ll learn Swedish the best and fastest way possible by being in a class with other children. Also, a Swedish teacher will work with her individually two hours a day.

Us: What does Leona need to bring with her to school?

Him: Nothing. She’ll get everything here: Books, notebooks, pens, erasers, pencil sharpeners, rulers, crayons. She just needs to make sure that the battery in her iPad doesn’t run dry.

Us: Does that mean we have to buy her an iPad?

Him: No, she’ll get an iPad at school to make it easier for her with translation and the classes, but she needs to keep an eye on the battery herself.

Us: Do we need to organize food for our child?

Him: That’s not necessary. Breakfast is served from 7.30am, lunch from noon. We have two different menues each day, one with a meat option and one with a vegetarian.

Us: Shall we speak Swedish with Leona at home sometimes?

Him: Not at all. You should speak Croatian at home. And on top of that it would be good if she studies Croatian once a week as part of her native language classes.

Us: Do you have anyone teaching in Croatian?

Him: Not at our school, but native language classes in Croatian are held on Thursdays from 4pm at the Eriksdal school.

Us: That’s on the other side of town…

Him: That’s no problem, we’ll order her a taxi.

Us: Taxi?

Him: Yes, it will come and pick her up in the parking lot every Thursday at 3.45pm and bring her home after her classes.

SCHOOL

Bavaria plans 100 million rapid Covid tests to allow all pupils to return to school

In the southern state of Bavaria, schools have been promised 100 million self-tests starting next week so that more children can start being taught in person again. But teachers say the test strategy isn't being implemented properly.

Published: 12 March 2021 17:12 CET
Bavaria plans 100 million rapid Covid tests to allow all pupils to return to school
Children in the classroom in Bavaria. Photo:Matthias Balk/DPA

State leaders Markus Söder said on Friday that the first 11 million of the DIY tests had already arrived and would now be distributed through the state.

“It’s no good in the long run if the testing for the school is outside the school,” Söder told broadcaster Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR) during a visit to a school in Nuremberg.

“Contrary to what has been planned in Berlin, we’ve pre-ordered in Bavaria: for this year we have 100 million tests.”

Bavaria, Germany’s largest state in terms of size, plans to bring all children back into schools starting on Monday.

SEE ALSO: ‘The right thing to do’ – How Germany is reopening its schools

However, high coronavirus case rates mean that these plans have had to be shelved in several regions.

In Nuremberg, the state’s second largest city, primary school children have been sent back into distance learning after just a week back in the classroom.

The city announced on Friday that schools would have to close again after the 7-day incidence rose above 100 per 100,000 inhabitants.

The nearby city of Fürth closed its schools after just two days of classroom time on Wednesday, after the 7-day incidence rose to 135.

The Bavarian test strategy plans for school children to receive one test per week, while teachers have the possibility of taking two tests a week. The testing is not compulsory.

But teachers’ unions in the southern state have warned that the test capacity only exists on paper and have expressed concern that their members will become infected in the workplace.

“Our teachers are afraid of infection,” Almut Wahl, headmistress of a secondary school in Munich, told BR24.

“Officially they are allowed to be tested twice a week, we have already received a letter about this. But the tests are not there.”

BR24 reports that, contrary to promises made by the state government, teachers in many schools have still not been vaccinated, ventilation systems have not been installed in classrooms, and the test infrastructure has not been put in place.

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