Teachers’ union demands action after Sweden’s historic Pisa slump

Swedish 15-year-olds have recorded historically low results in the latest Pisa assessment, prompting the teachers’ union Sveriges Lärare to demand immediate political action, SVT reported.

Results in reading comprehension, mathematics and science among Swedish ninth-graders were at historically low levels. The declines in reading comprehension and mathematics correspond to learning losses of up to an entire school year.

Anna Olskog, chair of Sveriges Lärare, said the results required decisive action from politicians and the organisations responsible for schools.

“This is a discouraging result that clearly requires action. The time for excuses is over. Now politicians and the responsible school operators must take measures,” she said.

Union warns against simple explanations

Sveriges Lärare said politicians and school operators had made the wrong priorities in education, but warned against focusing on individual score changes or looking for simple scapegoats.

Olskog said the decline should not automatically be blamed on screens, mobile phones, artificial intelligence or the pandemic. Instead, she said, attention should focus on what works in countries that have managed to resist the downturn.

Three demands to reverse the trend

The union highlighted three priorities for schools:

Teachers must have more time for planning and follow-up.

Classes and teaching groups that have grown too large must be reduced.

Students who fall behind must quickly receive additional teaching from qualified teachers.

“Politicians from the right to the left say that schools are one of Sweden’s most important issues. Now they must prove it,” Olskog said.