Much protest against potential ban denominational schools in Sweden

That is reported by the Swedish newspaper Dagen. Recently, the period in which independent bodies could give their opinion on the plan expired.

Earlier, the Christian Free School Council and the Discrimination Ombudsman had shown themselves critical of the concept. Now it turns out that most of the government advisors oppose the proposal. Almost forty organisations, such as the National Association of Independent Schools, the Institute for Human Rights and the Swedish Teachers' Association, are critical.

According to the Teachers' Association, the arguments against denominational schools should be handled "within the framework of other regulations", Dagen writes. The union points out that the School Inspectorate is responsible for supervising schools and adds that it is essential to increase state control over the establishment of independent schools in general, not only the denominational ones.

Concise consultation period

Furthermore, some organisations point out that the consultation period was concise. The proposal was published on April 11. Then, consultation bodies had the time up to May 13 to form their opinion on the issue. Several of the bodies described the short time as a problem. For example, the Children's Ombudsman said that it had "not been possible for the authority to make more than general views on the proposals, which raises complex balances of interests."

Prohibition on denominational preschools

Among the more than ten organisations in favour of the Government's ban on denominational schools are the National Agency and the National Union of Teachers. In addition, several municipalities speak out their support for the proposal. One of them, the Gävle municipality, points out that they have had problems with independent denominational schools. The city of Malmö even finds that the ban does not go far enough. It pleads for a prohibition of denominational preschools as well.

The Swedish Schools Inspectorate refuses to take a stance on the issue. Even though it has been involved in trouble with independent denominational schools, the authority only writes in a statement that it is difficult to "assess with certainty how far existing regulations can reach in terms of counteracting risks in the system, for example, influencing students for anti-democratic purposes."

The Ministry of Education wrote to Dagen that the Government is preparing the proposal and that the issue will return to the table.