The design of nationally recruited elite education

The plan wants to abolish market schools and stipulates that no actors should exist in schools to make profit, and that joint ownership is the safest way to ensure that schools are run with care for students. Outsourcing most of a student's teaching to a contractor in another place pulls in the opposite direction. The counter-proposal's objection to impaired quality assurance and increased profit-seeking therefore follows from the plan.

• abolish market schoolsdecisive»Vänsterpartiet vill avskaffa marknadsskolan med start nästa mandatperiod.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“The Left Party wants to abolish market schools starting next term.”
• no profits in welfare»se några aktörer som är där för att göra vinster i välfärden.« (party programme ↗)“see any actors as being there to make profits in welfare.”
• jointly owned school»Gemensamt ägande är det tryggaste alternativet« (party programme ↗)“Joint ownership is the safest alternative”
• tax funds should stay in schools»Sverige är extremt. Som enda land i världen råder det fri dragningsrätt på de skattemedel som ska gå till våra barns utbildning.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Sweden is extreme. As the only country in the world, free choice applies to the tax funds that should go to our children's education.”

The election manifesto's school commitment is that school shall be for the children and not the owners, that profit extraction is prohibited and that market-driven school is stopped. Putting most of a pupil's teaching out on contract to an actor in another place is precisely the marketisation and quality risk that the counter-proposal objects to. The plan also requires full transparency in all schools through the public principle.

• school for children, not ownersdecisive»Skolan ska vara till för barnen, inte ägarna.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“School shall be for the children, not the owners.”
• prohibit profit extraction in school»Vi vill förbjuda vinstuttagen i skolan och ta tillbaka kontrollen över var och när fristående skolor etablerar sig.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“We wish to prohibit profit extraction in school and regain control over where and when free schools establish themselves.”
• stop market-driven school»För det krävs mer resurser och att resurserna stannar i skolan genom ett stopp för marknadsskolan.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“For that it requires more resources and that resources remain in school through a stop to market-driven school.”
• transparency in all school activities»Samhället ska ha full insyn i alla skolor genom offentlighetsprincipen.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Society shall have full transparency in all schools through the public principle.”

The election manifesto commits to stopping profit-seeking in schools and states that profit interests have no place there. The party programme furthermore requires that all schools, regardless of governing body, are subject to functioning oversight through strong public inspection. Outsourcing most teaching to a contractor in another location impairs precisely that quality assurance, and therefore the counter-proposal is supported by the plan.

• stop for profit-seeking in schoolsdecisive»sätta stopp för vinstjakten i skolan« (2022 manifesto ↗)“stop profit-seeking in schools”
• strong public inspection»vara föremål för fungerande kontroll genom en« (party programme ↗)“be subject to functioning oversight through a”
• no profit interests in schools»Vinstintressen hör inte hemma i skolan när varje unge ska med.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Profit interests have no place in schools when every young person is to be included.”
• away with commercial actors»vill därför få bort de kommersiellt inriktade aktörerna och i stället främja idéburna verksamheter« (party programme ↗)“therefore want to remove commercially oriented actors and instead promote idea-driven activities”

The plan embraces competitive tendering and a diversity of providers in welfare and protects free school choice, which speaks against the counter-proposal's demand to ban contracting with an operator in another location. The plan's objection to poor quality instead takes the form of quality requirements, stricter supervision and closure of poor schools. The counter-proposal's marketization argument thus does not hold in the plan.

• competitive tendering of public activitiesdecisive»Offentlig verksamhet kan med fördel konkurrensutsättas« (party programme ↗)“Public activities can advantageously be subject to competitive tendering”
• diversity of providers»Förskolan ska bygga på en bra pedagogik och en mångfald av utförare« (party programme ↗)“Preschool should be based on good pedagogy and a diversity of providers”
• protect school choice»Det fria skolvalet ska värnas« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Free school choice should be protected”
• quality requirements before bans»Vi vill ställa kvalitetskrav för vinstutdelning och stärka rättssäkerheten i betygssystemet. Dåliga skolor ska stängas.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“We want to set quality requirements for profit distribution and strengthen due process in the grading system. Poor schools should be closed.”

The plan wants more gifted programmes throughout Sweden and establishes that freedom of choice is here to stay, while quality shall be protected and students shall have equivalent opportunities regardless of where they live. To prohibit teaching from being contracted out to an actor in another location would in practice limit gifted education's reach. The plan's criticism is directed at profit extraction at the expense of knowledge, not at cooperation between education providers.

• more gifted programmes throughout the countrydecisive»Det kräver fler spetsklasser runt om i Sverige, men också att alla elever oavsett skola ska kunna få stöd i att sikta högre än godkänt.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“It requires more gifted programmes throughout Sweden, but also that all students regardless of school shall be able to get support aiming higher than satisfactory.”
• quality and freedom of choice»Kvaliteten och valfriheten ska värnas.« (party programme ↗)“Quality and freedom of choice shall be protected.”
• equivalence regardless of place of residence»Varje elev har rätt till likvärdiga förutsättningar, oavsett var eleven bor.« (party programme ↗)“Every student has the right to equivalent opportunities, regardless of where the student lives.”
• freedom of choice without profit-seeking»Friheten för föräldrar och elever att själv välja skola är här för att stanna – men inte friskolornas vinstuttag på bekostnad av elevernas kunskaper.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“The freedom for parents and students to choose school themselves is here to stay – but not private schools' profit extraction at the expense of students' knowledge.”

The party programme wants independent providers to be encouraged and supported and students with special talents to be given conditions to develop; the counter-proposal instead wants to restrict the possibility of contracting out teaching with reference to marketization. The plan's requirement for quality control provides some support for the objection but does not constitute a prohibition.

• independent schools are encourageddecisive»som bestämmer sig för att driva fristående skolor ska« (party programme ↗)“who decide to run independent schools should”
• encourage gifted students»elever med speciella talanger och egenskaper uppmuntras« (party programme ↗)“students with special talents and abilities are encouraged”
• quality control as a political task»Utvärdering, kostnadsuppföljning och kvalitetskontroll är därför viktiga politiska« (party programme ↗)“Evaluation, cost monitoring and quality control are therefore important political”

The party programme makes diversity and freedom of choice into supporting principles in the education system, and the election manifesto wants to preserve free school choice. Prohibiting outsourcing to a provider at another location limits that diversity. The plan's method for ensuring quality is high quality requirements and revoked licenses for schools that fall short – not closing the door to external providers.

• diversity in educationdecisive»Det svenska utbildningssystemet ska präglas av mångfald« (party programme ↗)“The Swedish education system should be characterized by diversity”
• quality requirements over prohibition»Se till att skolor som drivs i företagsform lever upp till högt ställda kvalitetskriterier för att få göra vinstutdelning samt dra in tillståndet för skolor som allvarligt brister« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Ensure that schools run in corporate form meet high quality criteria in order to be allowed to distribute profits and revoke the license for schools that seriously fall short”
• same requirements regardless of provider»fungerar – oavsett huvudman – ska stängas.« (party programme ↗)“works – regardless of provider – should be closed.”
• free school choice is preserved»Det fria skolvalet gör att alla barn oavsett bakgrund och ekonomi kan välja den skola som passar dem bäst. Den friheten vill vi bevara.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Free school choice means that all children regardless of background and economy can choose the school that suits them best. We want to preserve that freedom.”

The plan values free school choice and sees independent operations as a way to increase supply and choice, and the party programme requires that pupils receive support and stimulation. Limiting the possibility of contracting out instruction would reduce access to top education for pupils outside the principal's locality. The plan's answer to quality risks is stricter supervision, not fewer alternatives.

• free school choicedecisive»Det fria skolvalet ska värnas för att ge valfrihet åt föräldrar och elever.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Free school choice shall be valued in order to give choice to parents and pupils.”
• increased supply and choice»för att öka utbudet och valfriheten« (party programme ↗)“to increase supply and choice”
• support and stimulation for pupils»lågpresterande elever skall kunna få stöd och stimulans.« (party programme ↗)“low-performing pupils shall be able to receive support and stimulation.”
• stricter supervision»Öka kraven för fristående förskolor samt utöka Skolinspektionens befogenheter och kontroller« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Increase requirements for independent preschools as well as expand the School Inspectorate's powers and inspections”