

A new model of school in Sweden - Misha_B
http://www.economist.com/node/11535645

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gahahaha
The experiences that were made from privatizing Swedish schools were:

* generally worse results and increased inequality

* 5 companies dominate the market, and makes huge profits

* Sweden has fallen from 3rd to 19th on the PISA test in reading.

* huge quality differences between schools

* schools have become a "sorting machine" where motivated parents and pupils choose certain schools and avoid other schools.

* The experience from Sweden, and research from OECD shows that more competition in school does not produce better results.

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Egregore
Can you provide any links?

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yesbabyyes
On PISA tests:

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Programme_for_International_Stu...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Programme_for_International_Student_Assessment#Results)
[http://www.localschoolsnetwork.org.uk/2011/01/why-gove-no-
lo...](http://www.localschoolsnetwork.org.uk/2011/01/why-gove-no-longer-cites-
sweden-as-a-model-for-education-reform/)

Article from Swedish Radio:

[http://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=2054&...](http://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=2054&artikel=4891874)

Report on OECD report:

[http://www.antidotenews.org.uk/?p=628&dm_i=LEV,ACD6,33QO...](http://www.antidotenews.org.uk/?p=628&dm_i=LEV,ACD6,33QOY1,TOTD,1)

Mostly it's in Swedish media, though. And what's been most criticized is the
ability to extract profit from state funds, given that the biggest independent
schools are owned by off-shore VC companies. The situation is similar with
Swedish healthcare.

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Misha_B
Looks like it's from 2008. I'll be happy to hear from anyone who has a closer
experience with the Kunskapsskolan.

~~~
dwerthen
I actually went to Kunskapsskolan as the equivalent of a High School student.
Graduated in 2005. It work out very well for me, the freedom to go about the
curriculum at my own pace suited me perfectly. The experience of going there
was very much like what you would find at a university. The school demanded a
very high level of motivation and discipline. And this makes it problematic,
since quite a lot of students at that age were ill prepared to face that.

I might be hesitant to say that this reform has worked out well for Sweden as
a whole, as I think for-profit entities in charge of public education is a
step in the wrong direction.

~~~
ivarkotnik
Definitely the wrong direction, because it can go wrong on so many ways.

Myself I am a victim of for-profit education (well, my spouse is), effectively
locked in by contract at a company for 10+ years more. It sounds so good in
the beginning, but once you finish your studies and you stand in front of that
loong walk...

~~~
bokonist
How is your spouse locked by contract for 10 years due to for-profit
education?

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matbec
It's interesting that no mention was made of the Sweden's extremely poor
policies and record with respect to homeschooling. There has been a lot of
press the past few years over the Johansson family (child seized for being
homeschooled) to the Himmelstrand family (severe fines for homeschooling).
Here is a link to an HSLDA collection of other links that specifically address
homeschooling in Sweden (<http://www.hslda.org/hs/international/Sweden/>).

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Muzza
The school system in Sweden is many things (despicable, horrendous, etc etc),
but free market it is not. These private schools don't operate on a free
market - the government supplies the "customers" (students) under penalty of
prison* for the students' parents, for crying out loud.

* Or possibly even worse: a student who doesn't go to school is liable to end up in the clutches of the meddling welfare board.

~~~
olifante
I very much doubt that the Swedish school system can be seriously described as
despicable or horrendous, even if it has fallen from its former glory. Would
you care to elaborate?

~~~
Muzza
All mandatory school systems are despicable and horrendous. The first major
issue is the coercion involved: they control a child's life for 9 years (or
even 12 years in some countries). It's absurd. This alone should be reason
enough to dissolve the entire public school system (and possibly put various
Ministers of Eduction to trial).

The second major issue is that they are a tool the state uses to indoctrinate
children (naive by nature) with whatever the correct values of the day are.
Prussia (where public schooling originated) needed obedient soldiers, modern-
day Sweden needs a large underclass of socialists willing to support various
hare-brained political schemes. The schools reflect this. What happens, for
instance, if you call homosexuality "not normal"[1] in a Swedish school? It
gets you an F in biology and a label as a "homophobe" in the state-run
media[2]. One wonders what happened to students who questioned communism in
the Soviet Union.

See "Deschooling society" by Ivan Illich, "Underground history of the American
school system" by John Taylor Gatto.

[1] Which is surely true, statistically speaking.

[2] [http://www.svt.se/nyheter/regionalt/abc/homofobi-gav-
underka...](http://www.svt.se/nyheter/regionalt/abc/homofobi-gav-underkant-i-
biologi)

