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Sweden's schools minister declares charter school 'system failure'

theguardian.com

41–50 of 71 posts

Re: Sweden's schools minister declares charter school 'system failure'

#41
post #7
post #3

Unfortunate use of Swenglish in the headline. In Swedish, "friskola" means a school separate from the normal primary/secondary school funding system, run by the kommun/council. So it can refer to a school funded by a private company, foundation, religious group etc. Primary and secondary education in Sweden is free for the pupil or their guardians, it is payed through the tax system. The current system, in place sinc…

UK English has "public schools" which are private fee-paying, so Swenglish has the edge here

Historically, public as a contrast to home schooling with private tutors.

Contemporary usage is ridiculous, though.

Re: Sweden's schools minister declares charter school 'system failure'

#42
post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For clarity: Public schools - a handful of top level very expensive private schools, usually have existed for centuries, the children of the highest levels of society tend to go there, a great foundation for a career in public life. Examples include Eton, Harrow, Winchester, Marlborough. Private schools - the rest of the private schools, less expensive, but less advantageous. State schools - free, provided by the sta…

How do you get your child into one of those public shcool? Do you need money, or connections, or does the child need be talented? (The Wikipedia article didn't tell.)

Money. If you can pay, exceptions will be made for everything else.

Re: Sweden's schools minister declares charter school 'system failure'

#43
post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For clarity: Public schools - a handful of top level very expensive private schools, usually have existed for centuries, the children of the highest levels of society tend to go there, a great foundation for a career in public life. Examples include Eton, Harrow, Winchester, Marlborough. Private schools - the rest of the private schools, less expensive, but less advantageous. State schools - free, provided by the sta…

How do you get your child into one of those public shcool? Do you need money, or connections, or does the child need be talented? (The Wikipedia article didn't tell.)

Officially money, an interview and an entrance exam.

That's not to say that all things being equal you wouldn't stand slightly more chance if you were a member of the aristocracy.

Re: Sweden's schools minister declares charter school 'system failure'

#44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Is it the system advocated by Milton Friedman or is it different? I think Milton Friedman's idea, was that parents would actually receive education 'vouchers' and be free to use them in whichever education context they chose for their children. This is slightly different, as the private/public system is wholly handled by the State system: parents simply choose between alternative schools, and the state channels tax…

This is basically the neoliberal story. I can't fathom for the life of me how people committed to historical concrete analysis can continue to advocate for these schemes. They always end up in exploitation. People's commitment to ideologies seem to be stronger than any material evidence.

The commitment is pushed by those that materially benefit, so it shouldn't be a surprise.

Re: Sweden's schools minister declares charter school 'system failure'

#45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For clarity: Public schools - a handful of top level very expensive private schools, usually have existed for centuries, the children of the highest levels of society tend to go there, a great foundation for a career in public life. Examples include Eton, Harrow, Winchester, Marlborough. Private schools - the rest of the private schools, less expensive, but less advantageous. State schools - free, provided by the sta…

A good breakdown. There are also a handful of true grammar schools left. These are free to attend, but are selective based on ability. There is debate about the extent to which raw ability is really being tested, and not preparedness for the test. There are also private schools that call themselves grammar schools. These were once free and selective, but converted to fee-paying at some point. They like the prestige o…

A lot of religious non-selective schools tend to get better results than non-selective secular schools.

You see a few parents suddenly get religion as their child turns 9 or 10 and they realise they are unlikely to get into a grammar school.

Re: Sweden's schools minister declares charter school 'system failure'

#46
post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For clarity: Public schools - a handful of top level very expensive private schools, usually have existed for centuries, the children of the highest levels of society tend to go there, a great foundation for a career in public life. Examples include Eton, Harrow, Winchester, Marlborough. Private schools - the rest of the private schools, less expensive, but less advantageous. State schools - free, provided by the sta…

How do you get your child into one of those public shcool? Do you need money, or connections, or does the child need be talented? (The Wikipedia article didn't tell.)

In general, lots of money. Most do scholarships, so if your kid is really bright you might get one of those (usually reduced rather than no fees), they do this to bump up their examination results. Connections seem less important now than it used to be, but many will give preference to those whose parents or siblings attended.

Re: Sweden's schools minister declares charter school 'system failure'

#47
post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A good breakdown. There are also a handful of true grammar schools left. These are free to attend, but are selective based on ability. There is debate about the extent to which raw ability is really being tested, and not preparedness for the test. There are also private schools that call themselves grammar schools. These were once free and selective, but converted to fee-paying at some point. They like the prestige o…

A lot of religious non-selective schools tend to get better results than non-selective secular schools. You see a few parents suddenly get religion as their child turns 9 or 10 and they realise they are unlikely to get into a grammar school.

... or decide a buy a second (or third) house conveniently located in the good school's catchment area ...

Re: Sweden's schools minister declares charter school 'system failure'

#48

I must admit that I do not know the specifics of the Swedish model of "friskolor", but I do know that a translation to "free schools" are so misleading that intentional deception seems to be the explanation. We have a similar concept in Denmark, but here they are called "private schools", some of them are also called "Friskole", which can be translated the same way as the headline - the meaning is however that their…

I'm English and I thought of financially independent schools when I read the headline. Never attribute to malice what can be explained by your own interpretation.

They are for profit schools that receive government funding. Is that financially independent?

Re: Sweden's schools minister declares charter school 'system failure'

#49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Is it the system advocated by Milton Friedman or is it different? I think Milton Friedman's idea, was that parents would actually receive education 'vouchers' and be free to use them in whichever education context they chose for their children. This is slightly different, as the private/public system is wholly handled by the State system: parents simply choose between alternative schools, and the state channels tax…

This is basically the neoliberal story. I can't fathom for the life of me how people committed to historical concrete analysis can continue to advocate for these schemes. They always end up in exploitation. People's commitment to ideologies seem to be stronger than any material evidence.

[deleted]

Re: Sweden's schools minister declares charter school 'system failure'

#50
At the center of the issues lies with the way the school get founded. Every school, government or independent, get the same amount of money per student. However, government run schools and independent school have different requirement and regulations, which unsurprisingly leads to issues. Independent school are not outsourced education where the government issues the requirements and pays the bills. Government pays the pill and then the idea is that the students (children) are the ones that should issue requirements and thus move if they feel the school is not serving them.

Government run schools must exist and be located to serve everyone in society, including students that on average cost more than other students. Government schools must also over-allocate space so that changes in population can still be managed. Government run schools can not be secular, and in practice unable to reject students.

On top of this there are critique of rampant corruption and fraudulent grades given to students, both which looks quite bad when dealing with government money. In one case there was also connection to terrorism and IS funding.

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