Sweden’s governing Social Democrats pledged to ban religious schools in an effort to combat segregation, as it outlines its education policy ahead of this year’s general election.
The school system’s foundation should be knowledge, learning, equality and democratic values where each pupil "is free to form their own ideas and future," the party, which leads a minority government with the Greens, said in a statement. It should give all pupils, regardless of background, gender or religion, a good education and be free from confessional elements, it said.
"In our schools, teachers and principals should make the decisions, not priests or imams," Minister for Upper Secondary School and Adult Education and Training Anna Ekstrom said at a press conference in Stockholm. [Bloomberg] Read more
