Jan_björklund

The following articles have been tagged with "Jan_björklund":

Reinfeldt leads voter support poll

Politics: 20 Mar 10
Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt retains his position at the top of the party leader board in a new survey on voter confidence while support for opposition leader Mona Sahlin continues to decline. READ »

Government opposes plan to scale down domestic defence

National: 7 Mar 10
A squabble evidently is in the making between the government and Swedish Armed Forces, that is calling for reduced spending on home defence. READ »

Sweden Democrats could enter parliament: poll

National: 14 Feb 10
The nationalist Sweden Democrats have moved ahead of the threshold required for entering parliament, according to a national poll. READ »

Unions welcome teacher training overhaul

Education: 11 Feb 10
In a move welcomed by Sweden's teaching unions, the government has proposed a raft of sweeping changes to the country's teacher training system. READ »

Green Party stumbles in new poll

Politics: 5 Feb 10
The two political blocs have drawn to within three percentage points of each other, a new voter poll shows. The Green Party is the biggest loser in the new survey. READ »

Profile: Sweden's new EU minister Birgitta Ohlsson

Analysis & Opinion: 2 Feb 10
Birgitta Ohlsson was named as Sweden's new EU minister on Tuesday. An outspoken advocate of feminism, equality and civil liberties issues, as well as a keen supporter of Nato membership, Ohlsson also harbours dreams of a top UN human rights post. READ »

'Asylum kids have a right to free schooling'

Education: 2 Feb 10
A government inquiry has recommended that asylum seekers should be given the right to attend pre-schools and schools, bringing Sweden closer into line with UN conventions. READ »

Ohlsson defies critics to claim EU minister post

Politics: 2 Feb 10
Birgitta Ohlsson has been named as Liberal Party colleague Cecilia Malmström's successor as Sweden's EU minister despite the initial reservations of party leader Jan Björklund. READ »

Drastic funding cuts for independent schools

National: 2 Jan 10
The Swedish National Agency for Education's new method for calculating funding for independent high schools means that the institutions risk losing millions of kronor every year. READ »

Liberals call for lower taxes at party congress

Politics: 20 Nov 09
Liberal party leader Jan Björklund has rallied members during a speech at the party conference in Växjö calling for lower taxes, developments in nuclear power production and for Sweden to adopt the euro as its currency. READ »

Malmö Moderates open to SD cooperation

Politics: 8 Nov 09
The Malmö branch of the Moderate party has not ruled out cooperating with the far-right Sweden Democrat party after next year's general election. READ »

Green Party makes ground among voters

Politics: 7 Nov 09
Green Party co-leader Maria Wetterstrand has surpassed Mona Sahlin as the main challenger to Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt for the affections of Swedish voters, according to a new poll READ »

Reinfeldt reclaims top spot in Sweden power rankings

National: 6 Nov 09
Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt can once again lay claim to the title of Sweden’s most power person, having nudged his own finance minister Anders Borg from the top spot in a new ranking released on Thursday. READ »

Reinfeldt and Olofsson back Green party talks

National: 23 Oct 09
The Moderates and Centre party have backed coalition partner the Liberal party in calls to work with the Green party instead of the Sweden Democrats if the far-right party held the balance of power in parliament. READ »

Liberals open to Green support to block far-right

Politics: 23 Oct 09
Liberal party leader Jan Björklund has opened up the possibility of cooperating with the Green party if the far-right Sweden Democrats garnered enough votes to hold the balance of power after the 2010 election. READ »

'Renationalize Sweden's schools': Liberals

Education: 20 Oct 09
The state ought to once again take over primary responsibility for Sweden’s schools, according to a proposal under consideration within the Liberal Party. READ »

Chinese should be taught in schools: education minister

Education: 17 Oct 09
A review of language learning in schools is required to meet the demands of the global market climate says Sweden’s education minister Jan Björklund who is advocating Chinese lessons for college students. READ »

Sweden set for stricter teacher credentials

Education: 24 Sep 09
The Swedish government has plans to toughen up on the credentials required for the country's school teachers. READ »

Sweden allocates billions to fight unemployment

Business & Money: 26 Aug 09
The Swedish government has promised to find 8.4 billion kronor ($1.19 billion) to fund education and training measures designed to combat growing unemployment. READ »

'Undocumented kids have a right to school'

National: 17 Aug 09
The Swedish government has appointed a commission with the task of establishing the right of children of illegal immigrants to attend school. READ »

Liberals call for low wage apprenticeships

Politics: 29 Jun 09
Liberal Party leader Jan Björklund has proposed a new apprenticeship system for young people as a way to counteract youth unemployment in Sweden. READ »

Krantz named as higher education minister

Politics: 17 Jun 09
Liberal Party Riksdag member Tobias Krantz will take over as Sweden’s Minister for Higher Education and Research, the Swedish government announced on Wednesday. READ »

Education minister clamps down on high school repeats

National: 15 Jun 09
Swedish high school students will no longer be able to take courses at municipal adult education programmes in order to improve their grades, according to a new schools bill to be presented on Monday. READ »

Failing pupils to sit extra school year

Education: 14 Jun 09
Pupils failing to graduate from compulsory level education could be forced to sit an extra year, according to a new government proposal to extend the age of mandatory school attendance. READ »

Government minister Leijonborg resigns

Politics: 11 Jun 09
Minister for Higher Education and Research Lars Leijonborg has resigned from the cabinet. "I feel like doing something different," the minister said in a statement. READ »

Pirate Party claims EU booty: confirmed

Politics: 8 Jun 09
Sweden's Pirate Party, on a platform of integrity issues including the legalization of internet file sharing, sensationally claimed a seat in the EU parliament as election results were confirmed on Sunday. READ »

Ministers argue girls' right to sex ed

National: 31 May 09
Liberal party ministers Jan Björklund and Nyamko Sabuni have proposed a new schools law which removes the right to seek exemption from sexual education and swimming classes. READ »

'Let schools suspend pupils': Björklund

Education: 14 Apr 09
Sweden's government is preparing a new law that will enable schools to suspend pupils for up to a week, Education Minister Jan Björklund has revealed. READ »

Sahlin hit by massive crisis of confidence

Politics: 8 Apr 09
Sweden's Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt enjoys almost twice as much voter support as Social Democratic leader Mona Sahlin, according to a new survey. READ »

Local councils to receive cash injection

Politics: 7 Apr 09
The Swedish government has announced an extra provision of 17 billion kronor ($2.1 billion) in its spring budget to help municipalities weather the financial storm. READ »

Record high voter confidence for Reinfeldt: poll

Politics: 18 Mar 09
Confidence in Fredrik Reinfeldt has climbed by more than 10 percentage points in the last 12 months, with a record high 52 percent of voters supporting the Swedish prime minister. READ »

Swedish school pupils falling behind

Education: 31 Jan 09
Swedish pupils perform above average in international studies, the National Agency for Education has concluded. But the development is negative, a new survey commissioned by the education minister, Jan Björklund shows. READ »

Swedish schools to offer 'elite' courses

Education: 15 Jan 09
Sweden’s National Agency for Education on Thursday named 10 high schools to participate in a new initiative designed to give top performing students a chance to take university-level courses. READ »

Gay rights group riled by tampon makers' sex ed books

Education: 15 Dec 08
The youth arm of Sweden's largest gay rights group has expressed fury at educational material distributed by two major tampon manufacturers. READ »

Sweden decks the halls for Nobel festivities

Society: 10 Dec 08
Over a million Swedes are expected to stay glued to their television sets on Wednesday to watch monarchs, politicians and assorted clever clogs tuck in to the annual Nobel banquet. READ »

Swedish students worse at maths and science: study

Education: 10 Dec 08
Swedish students are getting worse at maths and natural science, according to the results of an international study. READ »

Sweden announces major jobs package

Politics: 5 Dec 08
The Swedish government announced on Friday it plans to spend 23 billion kronor ($2.8 billion) over the next three years on “employment and retraining” measures in an attempt to minimize the effects of the weak economy. READ »

Borg tops in Sweden power rankings

National: 14 Nov 08
Finance minister Anders Borg has surpassed prime minister Fredrik Reinfeldt as Sweden’s most influential powerbroker, according to a new ranking. READ »

'Time to toss out' Swedish for Immigrants

Politics: 28 Oct 08
A group of Moderate Party politicians wants to scrap Sweden’s current programme for teaching introductory Swedish to newly arrived immigrants in favour of courses more closely tied to the job market. READ »

Alliance gears up for next election

Politics: 5 Oct 08
The leaders of the parties in Sweden’s governing Alliance are heading to Varberg in western Sweden in an attempt to repeat the approach – adopted by them in 2004 – that led to victory in parliamentary elections two years later. READ »

Government wants schools to emphasize entrepreneurship

National: 17 Sep 08
The government announced plans on Wednesday to make entrepreneurship a unifying theme in the Swedish education system. READ »

Government proposes major tax cut plan

Politics: 16 Sep 08
The government is set to propose 15 billion kronor ($2.2 billion) in tax cuts designed to benefit working Swedes. READ »

Opposition parties widen poll lead

Politics: 12 Sep 08
The opposition’s lead over the governing centre-right parties in public opinion polls is increasing, according to the latest study by polling firm Demoskop. READ »

Sweden's school report cards to include truancy

Education: 10 Sep 08
Middle and high school students in Sweden who skip class will soon have such absences recorded on their report cards along with their grades. READ »

Sweden to cut corporate tax rate

Business & Money: 8 Sep 08
The Swedish government announced plans on Monday to introduce 16 billion kronor ($2.4 billion) worth of relief for Swedish business through business tax cuts and a reduction in social fees. READ »

Björklund: 'Leijonborg ouster rumours false'

Politics: 6 Sep 08
Liberal party (Folkpartiet) leader Jan Björklund has rejected reports that he is set to remove his predecessor Lars Leijonborg from the government in October. READ »

Renewed focus on vocational education

Politics: 1 Sep 08
The government has announced plans to devote 1.8 billion kronor ($278 million) over the next three years toward improving vocational training in Sweden. READ »

Teachers upset over Prime Minister's Pink Floyd tribute

Politics: 28 Aug 08
One of Sweden's largest teachers unions has expressed its dismay at Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt's decision to burst into song at the Polar Music Prize ceremony in Stockholm on Wednesday. Members of Pink Floyd sat in the crowd as Reinfeldt sang 'We don't need no education'. READ »

Tax breaks for poor pensioners

Politics: 17 Jun 08
Pensioners with low incomes are due a much welcome tax break in the new year. READ »

Sweden's politicians take to the pitch

Politics: 11 Jun 08
The Red-Green team is favoured in this year’s annual football match between the opposition and the government. READ »

Brainy students given a class of their own

Education: 24 May 08
Elite high school classes in social and natural science subjects are to be introduced in Sweden, the government has decided. READ »

High school students ignorant of their geography

Society: 26 Apr 08
High school students in Umeå were unable to name Finland's capital city in a recent survey which showed an alarming ignorance of basic geography. READ »

Government promises further tax cuts

Politics: 10 Apr 08
The government has promised another round of tax reductions and has agreed to implement a third stage in lowering the income tax burden. READ »

Making history: the Gulag, the Holocaust, and Sweden

Analysis & Opinion: 4 Apr 08
Who suffered more, victims of Stalin, Mao, and Pol Pot, or victims of Hitler, Eichmann, and Himmler? And what role does the Swedish state have in answering the question? David Landes looks at what Sweden’s papers have to say about the issue. READ »

Academics slam state history agency

Society: 2 Apr 08
A group of irate Swedish academics have penned a stinging critique of Sweden's Living History Forum. READ »

Poll: Sahlin gaining ground

Politics: 14 Mar 08
The Swedish electorate continues to have most confidence in Fredrik Reinfeldt, but his lead on Mona Sahlin is shrinking. READ »

Schools employing sex offenders

Education: 10 Mar 08
At least 75 convicted sex criminals have worked as substitutes in Swedish schools and daycare centers since 2003. READ »

Liberals call for mandatory sex ed

Education: 6 Mar 08
The Liberal Party wants to remove the option for parents to request exemptions from sex education classes for their children. READ »

Chad force and Swedish for immigrants stoke debate

Analysis & Opinion: 22 Feb 08
David Landes gauges press reactions to two of the week's main talking points: proposed changes to state-run language classes for immigrants and Sweden's troop deployment to Chad. READ »

Reinfeldt, Obama...and Bush

Analysis & Opinion: 19 Feb 08
Social democratic newspaper editor Eric Sundström examines Fredrik Reinfeldt's recent expression of support for Barack Obama. READ »

Swedish for Immigrants to undergo overhaul

Education: 18 Feb 08
Sweden's ministers for education and integration have announced far-reaching plans to improve the quality of language courses offered to immigrants. READ »

Moderates make a comeback in the polls

Politics: 10 Feb 08
The Moderates have started to make a comeback in the polls. According to a February poll the Moderates have clawed back 4.4 percentage points. READ »

Government acts on immigration and education

Analysis & Opinion: 8 Feb 08
Sweden Says is a new series in which we look at what the Swedish papers are saying about the major issues making the news in Sweden. This week, David Landes surveys reactions to proposed new reforms in the areas of immigration and education. READ »

New grading scale for Swedish students

Education: 6 Feb 08
The new system would allow a Swedish student to get an 'A' for exceptionally good work. READ »

'Build four new nuclear reactors'

Politics: 11 Jan 08
Liberal Party leader Jan Björklund has called for the construction in Sweden of four new nuclear reactors. READ »

Reinfeldt loses out in annual ratings

Politics: 1 Jan 08
It's a grim start to 2008 for Sweden's current crop of ministers, who have achieved record low approval ratings in an annual poll. READ »

Björklund defends grading plan

Politics: 29 Dec 07
Education Minister Jan Björklund has defended plans to grade 7-year-old pupils, following an attack by opposition leader Mona Sahlin. READ »

Voters lose confidence in Reinfeldt

Politics: 26 Dec 07
Fredrik Reinfeldt has been overtaken by Mona Sahlin as the most popular party leader in Sweden. Voter confidence in the prime minister has dropped to 45 percent. READ »

Moderates halt slide in voter support

Politics: 16 Dec 07
A new poll indicates an increase in support for Fredrik Reinfeldt's Moderate party. The opposition still holds a commanding lead however. READ »

Asylum seekers 'should move where the jobs are'

National: 4 Dec 07
People claiming asylum in Sweden will soon face measures to stop them moving to areas which already have a lot of refugees. READ »

Opposition still leading in polls

Politics: 18 Nov 07
Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt is still viewed as competent, but people are less keen to vote for his party, a new poll shows. READ »

Schools 'should be allowed dress codes'

Society: 30 Oct 07
Sweden's education minister has said he is not opposed to schools having dress codes. But officials at the Swedish National Agency for Education say rules could be a violation of pupils' personal integrity. READ »

History to become compulsory school subject

National: 30 Oct 07
History is set to become a compulsory subject in Swedish high schools. Minister for Education Jan Björklund said that for too long history had been treated "like something the cat dragged in". READ »

Creationism to be banished from Swedish schools

Society: 15 Oct 07
The Swedish government is to ban biology teachers in independent religious schools from teaching creationism or 'intelligent design' alongside evolution. READ »

Opposition enjoys massive poll lead

Politics: 26 Sep 07
Mona Sahlin has plenty of reasons to be cheerful - the opposition has established a lead of 19 percentage points over the governing Alliance, according to a new poll. READ »

Government pledges more income tax cuts

Politics: 18 Sep 07
The government has pledged to introduce income tax cuts worth 10.8 billion kronor at the beginning of next year. READ »

Carbon taxes raised to tackle climate change

Politics: 17 Sep 07
Sweden's government will increase taxes on CO2 emissions as part of its budget, in what it says is a bid to help tackle climate change. Petrol prices will go up 17 öre per litre, energy minister Maud Olofsson announced on Monday. READ »