Conditions for Vocational Education through Contracting Out

The plan's guiding commitment in the school area is to abolish the market school and ban profit-driven activities in welfare, which speaks against expanding private contracts in vocational education. The counter-proposal's demands for limitation, clearer regulation, accountability and better quality follow-up align with that stance. The plan furthermore explicitly objects to relying on supervision afterwards instead of correct ownership and operations form, which addresses the committee's argument that existing oversight is sufficient.

• abolish the market schooldecisive»Vänsterpartiet vill avskaffa marknadsskolan med start nästa mandatperiod.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“The Left Party wants to abolish the market school starting next term.”
• profit ban in welfare»Vänsterpartiet vill införa ett totalförbud mot alla vinstdrivande verksamhetsformer inom välfärden.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“The Left Party wants to introduce a total ban on all profit-driven activities within welfare.”
• control doesn't replace ownership form»Välfärdsbrott bekämpas inte bäst genom ytterligare tandlös kontroll.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Welfare crime is not best combated through further toothless control.”
• collective ownership in schools»Gemensamt ägande är det tryggaste alternativet« (party programme ↗)“Collective ownership is the safest alternative”

The plan wants to take back public control over the establishment and operation of welfare services and strengthen the state's control over schools. Outsourced vocational training on contract shall therefore be limited and regulated more clearly with the possibility to demand accountability. The counter-proposal's demands are in line with the plan's settlement with market-driven schools.

• public control in welfaredecisive»Offentlig rådighet över etableringar och verksamhet i välfärden.« (party programme ↗)“Public control over the establishment and operation of welfare services.”
• state control over schools»Ökat statligt ansvar och stärkt rådighet på skolområdet.« (party programme ↗)“Increased state responsibility and strengthened control over schools.”
• abolished market-driven schools»I linje med detta måste marknadsskolan avskaffas.« (party programme ↗)“In line with this, market-driven schools must be abolished.”
• schools for the children»Skolan ska vara till för barnen, inte ägarna.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Schools shall be for the children, not the owners.”

The plan's core commitment on schools is that the market's and profit interest's role in schools shall be limited and that responsibility for quality shall be clearly public. Contracting means teaching is outsourced to other actors, and the counter-proposal requires precisely clearer regulation, accountability and quality monitoring. It is in line with the plan, which however does not explicitly address the contracting form.

• stop for profit-hunting in schoolsdecisive»sätta stopp för vinstjakten i skolan« (2022 manifesto ↗)“stop profit-hunting in schools”
• schools are not a market»Vi vill reformera skolan i grunden. Skolan ska inte vara en marknad« (party programme ↗)“We want to fundamentally reform schools. Schools should not be a market”
• profit interests before child's best interest»Marknadens logik har trängt in i klassrummen - där vinstintressen tillåts gå före barnets bästa.« (party programme ↗)“Market logic has entered classrooms - where profit interests are allowed to come before the child's best interest.”
• ideas sector welcomed»Vi välkomnar idéburen sektor i den svenska skolan.« (party programme ↗)“We welcome the ideas sector in Swedish schools.”

The party programme states that publicly financed activities can be carried out by municipalities, companies, cooperatives or associations and that public activities can advantageously be subject to competition. To limit contracting within vocational training goes against that line. The plan does require strict quality standards and enhanced supervision, but these are requirements for monitoring, not for limited diversity of providers.

• diversity of providersdecisive»Oavsett om den offentligt finansierade välfärden utförs av kommuner, landsting, företag, kooperativ eller föreningar måste berörda människors behov och valfrihet stå i centrum.« (party programme ↗)“Regardless of whether publicly financed welfare is carried out by municipalities, county councils, companies, cooperatives or associations, the needs and freedom of choice of those affected must be central.”
• competition for public services»Offentlig verksamhet kan med fördel konkurrensutsättas« (party programme ↗)“Public activities can advantageously be subject to competition”
• strict quality requirements»Styrningen av skolan ska kännetecknas av strikta kvalitetskrav och likvärdighet.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“School management shall be characterized by strict quality requirements and equivalence.”
• vocational training close to working life»Lärlings- och yrkesutbildningar kopplade till arbetsmarknadens behov är viktigt.« (party programme ↗)“Apprenticeship and vocational training linked to the labour market's needs is important.”

The plan wants vocational education to have close connection to the labour market and wants apprenticeships where employers take a large responsibility to be a natural alternative, which speaks for expanded entrepreneurship opportunities rather than limitations. The plan also sees private alternatives as a driving force for quality. The quality requirement is met in the plan through schools that fail to meet requirements being closed, not through limiting the form as such.

• employer-driven apprenticeshipsdecisive»Lärlingsutbildningar där arbetsgivarna tar ett stort ansvar ska vara ett naturligt alternativ för unga som vill lära sig ett yrke.« (party programme ↗)“Apprenticeships where employers take a large responsibility shall be a natural alternative for young people who want to learn a trade.”
• vocational education close to working life»Yrkesutbildningarna ska ha nära anknytning till arbetsmarknaden och stärka elevens kontakter med arbetslivet.« (party programme ↗)“Vocational education shall have close connection to the labour market and strengthen the student's contacts with working life.”
• private alternatives drive quality»Enskilda alternativ i välfärdssektorn spelar en viktig roll för att driva på kvalitetsarbetet och öka mångfalden och därmed den enskildes valfrihet.« (party programme ↗)“Private alternatives in the welfare sector play an important role in driving quality work and increasing diversity and thus the individual's freedom of choice.”
• quality requirement with consequence»Skolor, såväl kommunala som fristående, som inte klarar kvalitetskraven ska stängas.« (party programme ↗)“Schools, both municipal and independent, that fail to meet quality requirements shall be closed.”

The plan wants independent and private providers to be encouraged and supported and that vocational education is conducted alternately at school and workplace, while bureaucracy and complicated rules should be counteracted. The counter-proposal's requirement to limit and more strictly regulate contracts goes in the opposite direction. That quality control is an important political task qualifies, but speaks for follow-up rather than for limitation.

• support for independent providersdecisive»Enskilda eller sammanslutningar av medborgare som bestämmer sig för att driva fristående skolor ska uppmuntras och stödjas av det offentliga.« (party programme ↗)“Individuals or associations of citizens who decide to operate independent schools shall be encouraged and supported by the public.”
• vocational education close to working life»Lärlingsprogram där undervisningen växelvis bedrivs på skola och arbetsplats ska finnas.« (party programme ↗)“Apprenticeship programs where teaching is conducted alternately at school and workplace shall exist.”
• against unnecessary regulation»Byråkrati och krångliga regler ska motverkas.« (party programme ↗)“Bureaucracy and complicated rules shall be counteracted.”
• quality control»Utvärdering, kostnadsuppföljning och kvalitetskontroll är därför viktiga politiska uppgifter.« (party programme ↗)“Evaluation, cost tracking and quality control are therefore important political tasks.”

The plan is based on diversity and freedom of choice in the education system and on vocational education quickly becoming more relevant to the labour market's skills supply. Limiting and more strictly regulating contracting goes in the opposite direction. The plan instead meets the quality objection with state monitoring of clear requirements and withdrawn permits for those who fail, not with fewer providers.

• mångfald i utbildningssystemetdecisive»Det svenska utbildningssystemet ska präglas av mångfald« (party programme ↗)“The Swedish education system shall be characterized by diversity”
• relevant yrkesutbildning»De gymnasiala yrkesutbildningarna och vuxenutbildningarna i Sverige måste få ett innehåll som är relevant och eftertraktat.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Gymnasial vocational training and adult education in Sweden must have content that is relevant and sought-after.”
• stärkt kompetensförsörjning»Få på plats en nationell samordning över samhällets behov av antalet utbildningsplatser för att förbättra kompetensförsörjningen« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Get in place a national coordination of society's need for the number of training places to improve skills supply”
• statlig uppföljning av kvalitet»Staten har en avgörande uppgift att först och främst fastställa och följa upp tydliga kunskapskrav.« (party programme ↗)“The state has a crucial task to first and foremost establish and follow up clear knowledge requirements.”

The plan requires that everyone receive the foundation for a profession in demand on the labour market and that education be adapted to labour market needs, at the same time as alternative and private operational forms explicitly shall be permitted within welfare services. The counter-proposal wishes to limit and more strictly regulate contracting within vocational education, which reduces that space. The plan's demand for strengthened oversight constitutes a counterweight but does not bear the demand for limitation.

• vocational education per needdecisive»Ge alla grunden till ett yrke som efterfrågas på arbetsmarknaden« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Give everyone the foundation for a profession in demand on the labour market.”
• labour market-adapted education»Utbilda efter de behov som finns på arbetsmarknaden« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Educate according to the needs that exist on the labour market.”
• private operational forms permitted»utförandet av dessa välfärdstjänster skall alternativa och privata driftsformer vara« (party programme ↗)“the performance of these welfare services, alternative and private operational forms shall be”
• strengthened oversight»Öka kraven för fristående förskolor samt utöka Skolinspektionens befogenheter och kontroller« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Increase requirements for independent preschools and expand the Schools Inspectorate's authority and controls.”