Objectives for expenditure area 15

The election manifesto demands that it becomes easier to pursue education regardless of who you are, the thickness of your wallet or where in the country you live, and wants to increase student support so more can pursue further education. An explicit levelling goal for student support is precisely that tool. The party programme gives the state a key role in making it possible to study with economically secure conditions.

• equitable access to educationdecisive»Det måste bli lättare att utbilda sig efter grundskolan oavsett vem du är, tjockleken på din plånbok eller var i landet du bor.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“It must become easier to pursue education after compulsory school regardless of who you are, the thickness of your wallet or where in the country you live.”
• increased student support»Vänsterpartiet vill värna universitetens oberoende och finansiering och höja studiestödet så att fler kan välja att vidareutbilda sig.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“The Left Party wants to safeguard universities' independence and funding and increase student support so more can choose to pursue further education.”
• secure study conditions»nyckelroll i att se till att det går att både bo och studera med ekonomiskt trygga villkor.« (party programme ↗)“key role in ensuring that it is possible to both live and study with economically secure conditions.”

The plan's core commitment is that the education system shall level out class divisions and fulfil its compensatory task, and that higher education shall be free of charge and accessible throughout the country. An explicitly levelling goal for study support is a means for exactly this, since background and place of residence otherwise determine who studies. The plan does not treat the goal's formulation directly, but the direction is unambiguous.

• compensatory education mandatedecisive»Goda förutsättningar för skolan att klara sin kompensatoriska uppgift.« (party programme ↗)“Good preconditions for school to fulfil its compensatory task.”
• eliminated class divisions»Undanröjda klassklyftor.« (party programme ↗)“Eliminated class divisions.”
• equal access to higher education»Tillgång till högre utbildning av hög kvalitet i hela landet.« (party programme ↗)“Access to higher education of high quality throughout the country.”
• free education»Avgiftsfri skola och högskola, långsiktigt även förskola och fritidshem.« (party programme ↗)“Free school and university, in the long term also preschool and after-school care.”

The plan states that social skewing in access to higher education must be broken and that background and place of residence shall not determine opportunities for education. An explicit equalizing goal for study support is a direct expression of that commitment, as is the plan's demand for raised study support. The plan therefore supports the counter-proposal's demand.

• break social skewingdecisive»Vi ska sluta slösa talanger – den sociala snedrekryteringen måste brytas.« (party programme ↗)“We shall stop wasting talent – social skewing must be broken.”
• strengthened study support»höja studiestödet och förbättra studenters a-kassa och sjukförsäkring.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“raise study support and improve students' unemployment insurance and health insurance.”
• education throughout the country»Högre utbildning ska vara tillgänglig i alla län och på många orter – inte bara i storstäderna.« (party programme ↗)“Higher education shall be accessible in all counties and in many places – not just in the major cities.”
• equal life chances»Föräldrars bakgrund och livsval ska inte avgöra en individs möjligheter vare sig som barn eller senare i livet.« (party programme ↗)“Parents' background and life choices shall not determine an individual's opportunities either as a child or later in life.”

The party programme makes it a central goal to redress injustices that inheritance and upbringing have created and that all shall have equivalent opportunities to attend school and educate themselves regardless of where in the country they live. The election manifesto emphasises that education creates opportunities for social mobility and that everyone who wants to shall be able to educate themselves throughout life. An explicit levelling goal for study support aligns with these commitments.

• equivalent opportunities throughout the countrydecisive»Ett centralt mål för Centerpartiet är att det ska finnas likvärdiga möjligheter att växa upp, gå i skolan, arbeta, bo och driva företag i hela vårt land.« (party programme ↗)“A central goal for the Centre Party is that there shall be equivalent opportunities to grow up, attend school, work, live and run a business throughout our country.”
• redress injustices from upbringing»att utjämna de orättvisor som arv och uppväxt skapat« (party programme ↗)“to redress injustices that inheritance and upbringing have created”
• education for social mobility»Genom att ge alla elever, oavsett bakgrund, möjligheter till en bra utbildning skapas möjligheter till klassresor.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“By giving all students, regardless of background, opportunities for good education, opportunities for social mobility are created.”
• lifelong learning for all»Alla som vill ska ha möjlighet att utbilda sig genom hela livet.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Everyone who wants to shall have the opportunity to educate themselves throughout life.”

The plan explicitly says that the student support system shall create conditions for all regardless of economic background to study, and the social liberal assignment is described as to equalise conditions that lie beyond the individual's control. An explicitly equalising goal for student support thus aligns with the plan. The plan's emphasis on equal conditions rather than equal outcomes does, however, set a limit to how the goal may be interpreted.

• student support regardless of backgrounddecisive»Studiemedelssystemet ska skapa förutsättningar för alla oavsett ekonomisk bakgrund att studera på akademisk nivå.« (party programme ↗)“The student support system shall create conditions for all regardless of economic background to study at academic level.”
• equalised life chances»Det socialliberala uppdraget är att förbättra varje individs livschanser genom att utjämna de förutsättningar som befinner sig bortom den enskildes kontroll.« (party programme ↗)“The social liberal assignment is to improve each individual's life chances by equalising the conditions that lie beyond the individual's control.”
• social mobility»Ingen människa ska vara fången i de villkor han eller hon föddes in i.« (party programme ↗)“No human being shall be trapped in the conditions he or she was born into.”
• equal conditions not outcomes»Liberal rättvisa handlar om lika förutsättningar, inte om lika resultat.« (party programme ↗)“Liberal justice is about equal conditions, not equal outcomes.”

The plan takes no explicit position on what the committee actually decided — often because the committee's reason was procedural. The stance is derived and fully cited, but it does not show the party broke a commitment.

The plan requires that higher education is accessible to all with interest and capability, and that no one shall have to forgo studies for economic reasons. The solidarity principle explicitly embodies an ambition to remedy structural injustice and give all equal opportunities. An explicit equalizing goal for student finance is an application of this and is therefore supported by the plan.

• accessible higher educationdecisive»Den högre utbildningen ska vara tillgänglig för alla som har intresse av och förutsättningar« (party programme ↗)“Higher education shall be accessible to all who have interest in and capability for”
• remedy structural injustice»ambition att utjämna strukturella orättvisor och skapa en rättvis fördelning av samhällets« (party programme ↗)“ambition to remedy structural injustice and create a fair distribution of society's”
• equal opportunities»Principen bör vara att ge alla likvärdiga förutsättningar.« (party programme ↗)“The principle should be to give all equal opportunities.”

The plan takes no explicit position on what the committee actually decided — often because the committee's reason was procedural. The stance is derived and fully cited, but it does not show the party broke a commitment.

The plan sees education as the path to social mobility, but rejects that policy should measure and level outcomes between groups: in an equal society, what matters is not what your name is or where you come from. An explicit levelling goal for study support, formulated as equalisation between individuals and groups, contradicts that view of the individual. The plan instead wants quality and establishment to guide the education system's resources.

• the individual before group membershipdecisive»I ett jämlikt samhälle är det viktiga inte vad du heter eller varifrån du kommer,« (party programme ↗)“In an equal society, what matters is not what your name is or where you come from,”
• social mobility through knowledge»Moderaterna vill att svensk skola ska möjliggöra klassresor.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“The Moderate Party wants Swedish schools to enable social mobility.”
• quality as guiding principle»Kvalitet och internationell konkurrenskraft ska vara styrande för den högre utbildningen.« (party programme ↗)“Quality and international competitiveness shall guide higher education.”
• quality is rewarded in resource allocation»Arbeta för ett resursfördelningssystem till högskolan så att akademisk kvalitet, genomströmning samt etablering på arbetsmarknaden premieras i högre utsträckning« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Work for a resource allocation system for higher education so that academic quality, throughput, and labour market establishment are rewarded to a greater extent”

The plan rejects politics aimed at creating the same outcome at group level and wants instead for the education system to be governed by the needs of the labour market. The counter-proposal's demand for an explicit equalizing goal to level differences between individuals and groups for increased social justice rests on precisely the outcome steering the plan distances itself from. The plan's welfare principle on good basic conditions regardless of background however pulls somewhat in the other direction.

• no to outcome steering at group leveldecisive»Riktig jämställdhet nås inte genom att vidta politiska åtgärder för att på gruppnivå skapa samma utfall mellan män och kvinnor, utan genom att ta krafttag mot samhällsfenomen som begränsar den enskilde.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“True equality is not achieved by taking political measures to create the same outcome at group level between men and women, but by taking action against societal phenomena that limit the individual.”
• education according to labour market needs»Den högre utbildningen ska i högre grad anpassas efter behoven på en framtida arbetsmarknad.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Higher education should to a greater extent be adapted to the needs of a future labour market.”
• needs-based education»Utbilda efter de behov som finns på arbetsmarknaden« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Educate according to the needs that exist in the labour market”
• equal basic conditions»utgångspunkten är att alla barn, oavsett familjebakgrund, bostadsort och föräldrarnas« (party programme ↗)“the starting point is that all children, regardless of family background, place of residence and parents'”