Opinion: Sweden's citizenship test excludes the less educated

Sweden's new citizenship test, set to begin with 1,000 participants on Saturday, is facing criticism for its perceived difficulty and potential to exclude those with limited educational backgrounds. The test aims to assess candidates' knowledge of Swedish society as a requirement for citizenship.

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What is the public sector's primary task? 1. Running a business for profit. 2. Organizing welfare services like healthcare and education. 3. Formulating and enacting new laws. 4. Representing Sweden internationally.

An instructor of Swedish for immigrants (SFI) expressed concern that the sample questions available on the University and Higher Education Authority's website are not adapted for adult second-language speakers. The teacher noted that the test's subject matter assumes experiences that not all candidates may possess. Concepts like "running a business" and "making laws" can be challenging for individuals with less formal schooling.

The test appears to demand not only factual knowledge but also a level of academic language proficiency far exceeding the stated B1 level. The use of technical terms, culturally bound concepts, and abstract expressions makes the questions and answer options difficult to grasp. For example, a question asks about the primary task of the public sector, with options including "running a business for profit" and "organizing welfare services like healthcare and education."

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Is the intention that the test should exclude people who are not academically inclined from becoming citizens? What happened to the functional perspective – achieving a language level so that one can get by in society?

The instructor questioned whether the test is designed to exclude less academically inclined individuals from citizenship. The focus on complex phrasing, such as "organizing welfare services," requires an understanding of specific terminology and societal structures that can take considerable time to explain, even at the SFI level. The material provided for study on the uhr.se website does not include any formal training, leaving many short-educated students struggling to comprehend the content, regardless of their effort.

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Concepts like 'welfare' can take several lessons to explain. The structural relationships need to be explained, as well as 'taxes' and 'the public sector'. This can easily become too complex at the SFI level, which is the same level that must be achieved to become a citizen.