Social Democrats plan school profits ban
The Social Democrats are planning to ban profit-making independent schools. The promise will be included in their forthcoming election manifesto, Svenska Dagbladet has learned.
Currently, around half of Sweden's independent schools are owned and run by limited companies and it is well known that the government wants to stop profits from being taken out of schools.
Last spring, the government launched an inquiry to review the options for tightening up the conditions placed on independent school companies. Now the way in which such organisations may operate is likely to become an election issue.
"It would be fair to find an approach where you say that all profits must be re-invested in the schools, and not distributed to shareholders," said Mikael Damberg, a member of the government's education committee, to SvD.
But the introduction of tougher rules would not be supported by the opposition alliance parties.
Not would it win the support of the Green Party, one of the government's ruling partners.
"It's really a rhetorical question, because there aren't many schools making profits which are withdrawn by the owners," said the Greens' spokesperson on schools policy, Mikaela Valtersson.
"That's just a threat which the Social Democrats are making up."
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Currently, around half of Sweden's independent schools are owned and run by limited companies and it is well known that the government wants to stop profits from being taken out of schools.
Last spring, the government launched an inquiry to review the options for tightening up the conditions placed on independent school companies. Now the way in which such organisations may operate is likely to become an election issue.
"It would be fair to find an approach where you say that all profits must be re-invested in the schools, and not distributed to shareholders," said Mikael Damberg, a member of the government's education committee, to SvD.
But the introduction of tougher rules would not be supported by the opposition alliance parties.
Not would it win the support of the Green Party, one of the government's ruling partners.
"It's really a rhetorical question, because there aren't many schools making profits which are withdrawn by the owners," said the Greens' spokesperson on schools policy, Mikaela Valtersson.
"That's just a threat which the Social Democrats are making up."
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