• Sweden edition

School offers reward for student recruits

Published: 14 Aug 09 07:43 CET | Double click on a word to get a translation
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/21460/20090814/

The perilous financial position for many independent schools in Jönköping in southern Sweden has led to one offering unusual incentives to persuade friends to sign up.

Friskolan Vettergymnasiet in Jönköping is offering pupils hard cash if they can encourage their friends to sign up at the high school, Radio Jönköping reports.

"Yes, we have offered them the possibility to receive some form of remuneration. But we don't think that it has any effect at all," the rector at the school, Rolf Palmgren said.

Palmgren explained that he did not see any ethical dilemma in offering the financial reward.

"It is only a matter of a couple of hundred kronor," he told Radio Jönköping.

Independent schools have previously been predominantly a feature of the major cities in Sweden. But in recent years a wave of independently-run (but council-financed) schools have been established even in smaller cities.

Around 20 percent of Jönköping municipality's high school pupils, and around 15 percent of primary and secondary school pupils, attended an independent school in 2008.

TT/The Local (news@thelocal.se/08 656 6518)

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09:41 August 14, 2009 by Puffin
I would guess that you would have to be pretty stupid parents/pupils to give up a place in another school to switch to a school facing bankrupcy - in order that your friend gets a couple of hundred kronors

I lot of the smaller independent schools are having financial problems.

A school in Uppsala went bankrupt this week and had its licence withdrawn by Skolinspektion leaving 115 pupils to find new schools within a week.

Some have also pulled out of Stockholm - including one in Täby citing lack of profitability
12:55 August 14, 2009 by Leprehcaun
Really? ^^

They go bankrupt? That's great news! Now we just have make all religious schools illegal. Well that and improve all normal schools.. and make it a standard to look at criminal records when hiring teachers.. sigh so embarrassing.
13:35 August 14, 2009 by Puffin
That's been the law for almost 10 years now

Lag (2000:873) om registerkontroll av personal inom förskoleverksamhet, skola och skolbarnsomsorg
14:57 August 14, 2009 by Leprehcaun
Wait what? But that.. explains quite a bit but it doesn't at the same time.

You seem to know a lot about this subject so what is a "fri skola". The people I've been talking to have said that those kinds of schools are "religious schools".
15:29 August 14, 2009 by Linuschibros
This is just the beginning, i wonder how it would be after the introduction of tuition fee.. it will become a big business for some people like other countries..
15:30 August 14, 2009 by Puffin
A friskola - is an independent voucher school not run by the local authority

- its a voucher system whereby the local authority/kommun pays the independent school the amount that is spent on pupils attending local authority schools

- you need a permit from Skolinspektionen to be able to start a voucher school

There are many different types of voucher schools - some are profit making business and others run by not for profits groups - the huge variety includes:

- relgious schools

- parental cooperatives started by groups of parents

- schools run by particular businesses to train future workers - ABB gymnasiet for example

- schools run for a particular type of educational philosophy - such as Montessori/Waldorf

- international type schools taught in foreign languages - such as British/English schools /the German school and there is at least a French dagis

The schools run as friskola are not allowed to charge any fees to parents apart from perhaps a small amount to become a member ( a couple of hundred kronor)

- only fully private schools that take no public money are allowed to charge fees
15:31 August 14, 2009 by Puffin
Tuition fees are only planned for University - NOT schools

Neither state schools or friskola are allowed to charge fees
18:41 August 14, 2009 by Leprehcaun
Typically enough I, ofc, haven't been able to see any "remain words" for weeks, it's always "the link is broken" message that appears instead. Can TL please just show all words on the first page instead? Or fix the link increase character limit? This is just annoying.

@ Puffin

Thanks for the info.. even though I've missed a paragraph or two. However I just want to add that tuition fees for universities are planned only for non-EU/EAA (or whatever the last one really is.. whatever Norway and Iceland are in) citizens and not for Swedes. That will *never* (never say never.. I love contradictions) change.
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