"We have a responsibility to equip students for the digital future"

Today, TechSverige submits its consultation response to the Swedish National Agency for Education's proposal for a national digitalization strategy. The strategy, which was presented to the government in December 2022, will set the goals for school digitization in the coming years. In the consultation response, TechSverige emphasizes that schools have a responsibility to equip students for the digital future. A task that both the Minister for Education and the Minister for Employment should prioritize to strengthen Sweden's employment and development.

- Digitization is one of the biggest and most important forces of change in society. Digitization and digital technologies have become an increasingly integral part of society and working life. Almost all occupations today require some form of digital skills, from managing simple computer programs to creating and maintaining complex systems," says Ana Andric, Industry Policy Expert at TechSverige.

Innovations such as AI, VR, blockchain and quantum computing will reinforce and accelerate these developments. To manage and use these new technologies safely and effectively, we need to equip the future workforce with the right knowledge and skills. Students who are equipped with digital skills are better equipped to meet both the opportunities and the challenges of digitization, writes TechSverige in the consultation response.

Responsible and organized development
By deciding on the new digitalization strategy, the government is also taking an important step towards ensuring responsible and organized development of digitalization in schools:
- Without a common strategy, there is an increased risk of digitalization being used in the wrong way, which can have negative consequences on students' learning development.

TechSverige also believes that for the strategy to be effective, the school system needs to be given the conditions to achieve the goals. Ana Andric explains what will be needed going forward:

- First, teachers, head teachers and principals need to be equipped with the necessary skills to develop digital teaching and lead digitalization in schools.

Ana Andric also believes that collaboration between schools and the business community must increase:

- It is a prerequisite for both teachers and students to keep up to date with technology and changing skills needs. Examples of this are the development of AI and ChatGPT, which open up new opportunities for increased learning, while challenging certain ways of working.

Research and school evaluation also need to be strengthened to increase knowledge about what works and what does not. Finally, resources are needed to implement the strategy.

Investments in digital skills development
In the consultation response, TechSverige highlights the need to invest in a digital skills development among teachers, principals and principals.

- Teachers and early childhood educators play a key role in students' learning development. To be able to design learning environments that contribute to raising students' digital literacy, it is essential that teachers have the right skills.

She argues that it is important that teacher education leads to future teachers developing adequate digital skills and that they are given the opportunity for continuous professional development.

- This requires both a review of existing teacher training and national investment in continuous professional development. However, simply increasing teachers' skills is not enough. School leaders and policy makers also need to understand the impact of digitalization on society and schools.

TechSverige is hopeful about the new strategy for digitalization in schools.

- We hope that the government will soon decide on a new strategy for digitization in schools and that the government will listen to our messages. The National Agency for Education should be tasked with coordinating the development of the action plan for the implementation of the strategy in collaboration with schools, principals, industry and research. The National Agency for Education should also be tasked with following up the strategy.

 Consultation response: The Swedish National Agency for Education's proposal for a national digitalization strategy for the school system 2023-2027