Swedish proposal to limit private schools threatens Christian education

The goal of the Social Democrats, the driving force behind the proposal, is to get a total ban on denominational schools, Dagen reports. This bill is only one step in that direction.

According to the Swedish government, the proposal is compatible with international religious freedom and business freedom conventions. It aims to get the law into force in 2024.

“Proposal contains critical errors”

Jan Rosman, chairman of the Christian Independent Schools Council, says to Dagen that he finds it "extremely painful to be associated with violent extremism."

He refers to the government's justification for the ban on the foundation of private schools that pro-violent extremism, democratic problems and gender equality are problems related to private schools. "We do not have such problems in the independent Christian schools", Rosman says.

Yet, he does not think that the Norwegian government will succeed in implementing the ban. As a reason for his expectation, he mentions that the European Convention provides strong protection for parents who want to choose education for their children.

According to Rosman, the proposal of the government contains some critical errors. For example, he says that the concept of religious freedom is incorrectly interpreted in the bill. "Whereas both the European Convention and the Convention on the Rights of the Child have intended religious freedom to protect the family from a clumsy state, the Norwegian government has instead intended to protect the children from believing parents." Thus, Rosman believes that the proposal breaches the international conventions that give parents the freedom to provide their children with an upbringing and schooling in line with their convictions.

Norway works in same direction

The Norwegian government is working on comparable plans, according to Education Minister Tonje Brenna. That was reported by Idag. Brenna: "We want to stop the privatisation and build a stronger public community school." The minister added that only private schools with a "real supplement to the public community school" will be approved.

According to Brenna, Norwegians are to expect more regulations in the coming years. "We want to give locally elected representatives more influence over the approval, financing, and management of private schools."