Free school group demands national comparison of schools
The National Organisation of Free Schools (Friskolornas riksförbund) wants to have national statistics on all Swedish schools' ability to reach certain quality criteria collected.
These figures should be made available for all students and teachers, writes the organisation's chairperson Gunvor Engström in an opinion piece in newspaper Svenska Dagbladet (SvD).
The quality of free schools has been the object of a heated debate recently, but Engström refutes claims that the opportunity to choose different education alternatives is the root of schooling problems in Sweden.
Instead, she she puts the blame on a lack of information about differences in quality between schools.
According to Engström, the right to choose one's school is an important tool in the improvement of educational quality in Sweden.
She opines that better information is essential for students to be able to make an informed decision in their choice of school, and suggests that educational quality needs to be more clearly defined, with the same criteria applying to municipal and free schools.
"Without the access to relevant information, freedom of choice risks losing its most important function, namely improvement of quality", she writes.
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These figures should be made available for all students and teachers, writes the organisation's chairperson Gunvor Engström in an opinion piece in newspaper Svenska Dagbladet (SvD).
The quality of free schools has been the object of a heated debate recently, but Engström refutes claims that the opportunity to choose different education alternatives is the root of schooling problems in Sweden.
Instead, she she puts the blame on a lack of information about differences in quality between schools.
According to Engström, the right to choose one's school is an important tool in the improvement of educational quality in Sweden.
She opines that better information is essential for students to be able to make an informed decision in their choice of school, and suggests that educational quality needs to be more clearly defined, with the same criteria applying to municipal and free schools.
"Without the access to relevant information, freedom of choice risks losing its most important function, namely improvement of quality", she writes.
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