Fridolin welcomes IT companies to get involved in school digitization

Digital inclusion Digitalization Innovation Skills supply Education and training

On Wednesday (16/11), a large delegation from IT&Telekomföretagen met with the Minister of Education, Gustav Fridolin, to discuss the government's upcoming strategy for school digitalization for one hour. IT&Telecom companies particularly emphasized the importance of leadership. The Minister welcomed the involvement of IT companies, and would like to see even more presence in schools: "Schools need more visions of the future!"

Fridolin admitted that the government is aware that Sweden is lagging behind in the digitization of schools, but now there is more momentum, the minister announced. First up - "in the near future" - is a proposal to amend the curriculum to include IT. The reason for starting there is that the application should be able to start from the 2017/18 school year.

A comprehensive national strategy for the digitization of schools will also be published in the coming months, Fridolin promised. A central part of it will be teacher training, where the Swedish National Agency for Education will be given a free hand to implement various "lifting" initiatives.

For our part, we from IT&Telecom companies highlighted leadership in schools as the most important point to address, in line with what we told the Swedish National Agency for Education when they produced the proposed strategy that is now on the government's table. Carl-Johan Hultenheim, CEO of Atea Sweden, suggested, among other things, a mentoring program, where IT company leaders and principals could be matched.

Our delegation also expressed our concern that the 'lift' initiatives, which are based on the commitment of head teachers and teachers themselves, will not reach those who need it most. In response, Fridolin pointed out that training in digitalization will become "mandatory" for teachers and principals through the changed curricula.

In other news, the Minister announced the following regarding both teachers' and students' digital literacy:

  • More digitalization in teacher education: One problem is that the degree regulations for teacher education are as detailed as they are, which could result in digitalization becoming just "another detail". Instead, the Minister wants to turn the perspective around, and have the development of knowledge in focus and digitalization as a support for this.
  • The training of existing teachers, where Per Johansson, CEO of Tieto Sweden, expressed concern about the large differences between teachers' digital skills. Fridolin agreed that there is such a problem, and wanted to highlight the benefits of peer learning as a proven way to share knowledge between teachers.

The meeting ended where it began, with Carl-Johan Hultenheim reiterating the importance of leadership. The Minister, for his part, welcomed the involvement of IT companies, through mentoring programs and other means, in schools. "Always do a bit more than you have planned. Schools need visions of the future!"