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Sweden is a Scandinavian nation of nine million people living in a country of 450,000 km in size. Many of the inhabitants live in cities in the warmer south. Much of the state, particularly in the arctic region, remains sparsely settled. Sweden's government has evolved over the centuries. It has changed over the years from an elected ruler to an absolute monarchy to the current government l…
Sweden's Education Act mandates that all local municipalities make available preschool activities for infants and children one year to six years old. In addition, many municipalities also have private preschools operating in their area as well. Such schools are not compulsory, but many families choose to have their children admitted. The state's interest is to assure the safety and d…
Structure & Organization: Sweden's school system oversees the state's compulsory schools and voluntary schooling. Until the 1990s, the government directly controlled the schools. Reforms agreed upon by the state began to take place in the 1990s. Instead of governmentrun schools, a system of decentralization was put in place to give local authorities more voice in the running o…
Childcare, Preschool, & Nursery Schools: Sweden's push for educational reforms has included childcare and nursery schools since 1998. The state delegated responsibility for their supervision to the National Agency for Education (NAE). The NAE oversees childcare, including preschool children and nursery schools. The state also provides after-school childcare sites that look after chil…
Under Gustav Adolphus, the reformer, the state began to support secondary schools known as the gymnasia with schools established in the towns of Västerääs. Sträängnääs, and Linkööping. These offered classes in classical languages, religion, the sciences, mathematics, and geography, along with optional local course offerings. They were …
In the medieval ages, a universitas was quite unlike the sophisticated places of learning of modern times, amounting to a sort of guild of scholars with interest in learning. Back then, a universitas existed with a charter granted by the Catholic pope. Because of the charter, religious studies were always associated with these early educational gathering places that often amounted to study session…
Following Sweden's decentralization of its education system, that system of education was assigned to the Ministry of Education and Science, and the National Agency for Education Skolverket was named to serve as the administrative unit for the schools. The National Agency for Education came into existence in Sweden in 1991. The bureaucratic agency was formed to fill such needs as childcare…
Likely the first attempt to raise professional standards for teachers arose in 1803. The state required teachers to pass a university examination to demonstrate proficiency in academic studies in order to teach. The first teacher-training center was instituted in 1842, coinciding with a perceived need for professionals that would be needed in the classroom with the passage of mandatory school atte…
Labor market training offers vocational or jobrelated education for the unemployed. The state apportions grant moneys to the National Labor Market Board. That board disperses the funds to various municipal labor boards or employment offices. Such training is usually formal and serves the needs of unemployed workers and the business community. Training is also available for workers who are trying t…
Because Sweden has instituted a statewide system of school choice between state-run and private schools, much of the world, particularly the United States, is keeping close tabs on the Swedish educational system to learn from its successes and failures. High taxes led to a shift in the 1990s from a strictly socialistic government that had existed more than 50 years to one that is highly conservati…
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