Debate: 'Scrap Native Language Instruction – Dedicate More Time to Swedish'

Contrary to concerns about a failing Swedish upper secondary school system, a new analysis of the OECD's Piaac survey indicates that Swedish youth are performing at an international top level. However, the study highlights a substantial and persistent achievement gap between students of Swedish and foreign backgrounds, which the author argues should be the primary focus of school policy.

The analysis, conducted by Gabriel Heller Sahlgren of the Research Institute of Industrial Economics, reveals that since the mid-1990s, results in international assessments for primary school have improved significantly, even when accounting for demographic changes due to immigration. Students with domestic backgrounds now rank among the international elite in primary education, suggesting the Swedish system is performing well when comparing like with like.

However, data on high school students' performance has been scarce. Sahlgren's use of the Piaac survey, which assesses skills in reading, numeracy, and problem-solving among 16- to 65-year-olds, provides new insights. Analyzing the 16-19 age group, the study found that Swedish high school students have markedly improved their reading and math scores between 2012 and 2023. Reading scores improved by the equivalent of one year of education, while math scores improved by two years.

When isolating students with Swedish backgrounds, reading improvements become even more pronounced, while math scores are less affected. This is attributed to students with foreign backgrounds showing only marginal improvements in reading comprehension, despite significant gains in mathematics. Sahlgren suggests that the current system of native language instruction may be less effective than focusing more resources on Swedish language education to bridge this gap.

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Swedish high school students have markedly improved their reading and math scores between 2012 and 2023.