An inclusive school – for life

The Left Party wants an equitable school system where all children have the same opportunity for a good education and can feel optimistic about the future—a school system where staff have a reasonable workload and a good work environment. Adults, too, should have access to education and training throughout their lives.

Schools today are more segregated than they have been in a very long time. Even when choosing a preschool, it is clear that parents’ backgrounds, educational levels, and incomes play a role, and this pattern becomes more pronounced as children get older. We also see that these factors have become increasingly significant in determining how well children succeed in school. We can never accept this.

A school that provides children with equal opportunities is, at its core, compensatory—that is, it is able to offer more support to those who come from less privileged backgrounds. For a long time, there was a commitment to this. Political reforms laid the foundation for one of the world’s best school systems. That is no longer the case.

Today, Sweden is, in fact, an extreme case. The privatization experiment with market-based schools has undermined the entire school system. In Västerås, there is a significantly higher proportion of independent schools and preschools than in the country as a whole; for example, one-third of the municipality’s children attend independent preschools, and nearly 40 percent of high school students attend an independent high school. The tax money you and I pay for our children’s education goes toward profits for school corporations and ends up in tax havens.

Furthermore, the market-driven school system leads to grade inflation, increased inequality, and the closure of municipal schools. The market-driven school system is a monumental failure that must be abolished. The Left Party wants municipalities to always have the final say when it comes to establishing new preschools and schools.

But it is not enough to fix the systemic flaws in the privatized school system. Schools must also be provided with more resources; that is the only way we can create a school system capable of meeting children’s needs based on their differences and varying requirements. In recent decades, funding for schools has declined. Investments are needed not only in teaching but also in child and student health, special education teachers, after-school programs, and social support. But when general government grants are lacking, it becomes difficult for a municipality.

Allocating more resources to schools is also about creating a better work environment for children, students, and staff. Class sizes need to be reduced, workloads need to be lightened, and other school functions need to be strengthened so that teachers can devote their time to teaching and have the energy to remain in the profession over the long term.  Principals’ working conditions also need to be improved so that they can focus on their leadership roles.

All schools in Västerås should be free from discrimination and harassment. Schools already have a mandate to work toward this goal. At the same time, however, we are seeing an increase in racism in society and even in schools. For us, the equal value of all people is not just something written in a document but something that must be upheld so that all students feel safe.

Schools are largely governed by national legislation, but there are, of course, things that can be done at the local level. This is achieved primarily through the allocation of resources, which helps create an equitable school system.

Preschool

The Left Party believes that preschool should be a right and an opportunity for all children. Access to flexible preschool hours, even during unconventional work hours, is also an important feminist issue. We also want to see a reduction in educational segregation in Västerås, meaning a more even distribution of trained preschool staff across the municipality’s preschools. Preschool is an important part of children’s language development and early learning, and we want all preschools to integrate reading promotion as part of their daily educational routine.

We also know that the work environment in preschools is under severe strain and resources are scarce; that is why we want to enact national legislation on class sizes to increase staff-to-child ratios. We also want to see more teachers per child at the local level.

We also want to increase access to key professionals beyond preschool teachers and childcare workers—such as social workers, special education teachers, speech-language pathologists, and school counselors. Early intervention is crucial for children to receive the support they need throughout their schooling. That is why we need to strengthen the collaboration between preschools and social services, and enable social services to operate directly in preschools through preschool social teams.

The Left Party in Västerås wants to:

• Gradually introduce a six-hour workday in municipal preschool programs
• Reduce the number of children per full-time employee in preschool
• Implement a program involving child health teams in preschools
• Establish preschool social teams

Elementary school and special education

We want to end school segregation in Västerås and ensure that schools consistently provide a level playing field. We want to see a school where children from different backgrounds come together and are given the same opportunities to succeed. Everyone should be able to trust that the school closest to home is a good school with the resources to give students the education they are entitled to.

To create a more equitable school system, the municipality needs to continue strengthening the social weighting based on the model we have today. Social weighting compensates for differences in students’ socioeconomic backgrounds, among other things. It is another step toward creating equal opportunities. School transportation must also be provided with the child’s best interests in mind, to increase equity for all children in need of school transportation.

Schools also need more resources and expertise in general. An increase in per-student funding could, for example, lead to a two-teacher system, smaller class sizes, and more time for planning. Special education is currently underfunded, and we need to increase resources to meet existing needs. At the same time, we need to continue working on and strengthening the initiatives that have been implemented for students in need of special support.

Work experience is an important part of elementary school, giving young people the opportunity to gain work experience. Västerås currently offers SAO jobs (Study-Motivating Work Experience) at two of our elementary schools.  This means that instead of internship weeks, students get to work two hours a week for an entire year with pay. The Left Party wants to see this in more elementary schools, as part of building confidence in the future.

Currently, we have school social work teams at six schools in the municipality, and based on the need, we see that they are required at significantly more schools. We also want to strengthen student well-being as a whole as part of our efforts to improve school attendance. Children in foster care are a particularly vulnerable group, so the municipality needs to expand collaboration regarding these children. Since we know that a positive and safe school experience is one of the most important protective factors for children’s future well-being.

After-school programs are also an important part of the education system, providing children with enriching and meaningful leisure activities and supporting their development. After-school programs should be an integral part of the overall school day. We want to highlight their educational role and importance, given that the curriculum also applies to after-school programs. Many students with special needs currently have difficulty participating in after-school activities due to a lack of accommodations; we believe that after-school programs must be made accessible to all students to a much greater extent, based on their needs.

We need more teachers who are able to stay in the profession. This involves offering attractive working conditions while ensuring that experienced teachers remain in the profession. That is why we want to introduce the 80-90-100 model. This means that teachers work 80 percent of a full-time schedule, receive 90 percent of their salary, while their occupational pension contributions remain at 100 percent.

The Left Party in Västerås wants to:

• Increase the per-student grant
• Increase investment in special education and adapted after-school programs
• Establish more school social work teams
• Give all students the right to a free breakfast
• Introduce tuition-free after-school programs for all students, regardless of their parents' employment status
• Introduce SAO positions at more schools
• Ensure that all elementary schools have school libraries and that these are an integral part of the curriculum
• Introduce reduced working hours based on the 80-90-100 model for educators who have turned 63

High school, special education high school, and adult education

Upper secondary school is a voluntary form of education, yet at the same time, an upper secondary diploma is by far the most important key to the labor market and to an adult life marked by financial independence and good health. Therefore, the mission and approach of upper secondary schools must be clearly based on the goal that everyone should complete an upper secondary education or its equivalent in other types of schools.

Resources need to be allocated to a greater extent based on students’ needs, and schools should be given the opportunity to provide expanded support for students with insufficient prior knowledge. We believe we need to strengthen both the social focus and the additional funding for our high schools, as well as improve the transition from elementary school to high school. This is particularly important for students who need extra support. Significantly greater efforts are needed to ensure that all young people begin and complete an upper secondary education, and expanded resources are required for student health services, among other things.

High schools need to offer a wide range of programs and specializations. These offerings must also be tailored to the needs of the local and national job markets. Västerås is a growing municipality, and we need to meet the needs of both the industrial and public service sectors.

For students who drop out of high school or never started, Arenan is there to reach out and support them in finding a path forward. This might involve moving on to further education or another meaningful activity. We want to strengthen Arenan’s capacity so that no young person falls through the cracks.

For many people, adult education has provided a second chance when traditional schooling has failed. For others, it has been a vital opportunity to change careers. After completing elementary and high school, everyone should have the necessary knowledge to function in society and the workforce. The Left Party views this knowledge as a right. All adults who lack this knowledge should have the right to acquire it through adult education. Adult education cannot be left in the hands of private providers.

The same applies, of course, to SFI, Swedish for Immigrants. Everyone who settles in Sweden should be given the opportunity to learn Swedish. Being able to communicate in Swedish is essential for participating in all aspects of society and exercising one’s democratic rights. Learning a new language is not easy, and everyone has different circumstances regarding how quickly they learn and how much support is required. That is why it is important to be able to adapt SFI to the individual’s needs. Parts of SFI instruction have been brought back under municipal management in Västerås, which we view positively.

For us in the Left Party, adult education has a natural place within the education system. Lifelong learning is important so that people can have access to education throughout their lives. Both study associations and folk high schools play a vital role in this. We therefore welcome collaboration wherever possible.

We need more teachers who are able to stay in the profession. It’s about offering attractive working conditions while ensuring that experienced teachers remain in the profession. That is why we want to introduce the 80-90-100 model. This means that teachers work 80 percent of a full-time schedule, receive 90 percent of their salary, while their occupational pension contributions remain at 100 percent.

The Left Party in Västerås wants to:

• Strengthen student health and special education efforts
• Reduce the number of students per mentor in high school
• Offer homework help in high school if homework is assigned
• Provide all adult education under municipal administration
• Prioritize validation efforts
• Expand the IM facilities for the Arena's operations
• Introduce reduced working hours based on the 80-90-100 model for educators who have reached the age of 63