Simona Mohamsson Outlines Ambitious Education Reforms to Enhance Integration
Simona Mohamsson unveils her education policy vision to enhance integration in Sweden.
Key Points
- • Mohamsson proposes 100 hours of reading in preschool for children without Swedish at home.
- • Fines for hiring unqualified teachers are part of the proposed reforms.
- • One in four students lacks adequate reading and math skills, particularly among foreign backgrounds.
- • The Liberal Party seeks to restore a state-regulated school system with new standards.
Simona Mohamsson, the newly appointed leader of the Liberal Party and Minister for Education and Integration, has launched an ambitious vision for the Swedish education system aimed at improving integration and educational standards. In a recent debate article published on July 16, 2025, Mohamsson highlighted the critical challenges facing students, particularly those from foreign backgrounds, who are underperforming in schools.
Mohamsson's proposals include instituting a mandatory goal of at least 100 hours of reading for preschool children, especially for those who do not speak Swedish at home. She emphasized that currently, one in four students is leaving school without adequate reading and math skills, with worse outcomes for students of foreign descent, based on the OECD's PISA 2022 report. This underperformance, she argued, is partly due to a lack of exposure to the Swedish language, which she termed "language poverty."
To combat these issues, she criticized the existing education system for tolerating the hiring of unqualified teachers, suggesting that schools that employ such staff should face fines. "Teaching must be treated as a respected profession," Mohamsson stated, urging for better conditions and qualifications for educators. The Liberal Party’s reforms aim to restore a state-regulated school system, which includes overhauling the independent school system, introducing a national funding norm, and regulating preschool class sizes.
In her article, Mohamsson also underscored the importance of eliminating extremist influences from schools, proposing the need for a shared value community to facilitate successful integration. By reinforcing fundamental educational principles, she believes that second-generation immigrants can become first-generation Swedes, ultimately enhancing the societal fabric of Sweden as a whole.
The overarching goal of these reforms is to ensure that all children in Sweden, regardless of background, can thrive and contribute to society. Mohamsson concluded that education is a critical pathway for integration into Swedish society, a stance that the Liberal Party aims to champion through these initiatives.