Erik Helmerson: We have to admit that the free skolvalet doesn't work

Right to choose school is a question that is heavily ideologically loaded. You are predominantly liberal and/or right you tend to safeguard parents 'and pupils' right to choose – you prefer freedom. Are you left-do you see advantages to politicians, ”society”, the crop of this freedom for the benefit of the public, especially the weakest students, interest – you lean to the ”security”.

this is not a large bone of contention. The swedes like their school choice. Before the early 1990s, almost all in the nearest school and had little chance to get away from the poor teaching quality or bullying – or just to broaden their horizons and create a new context for its fledgling life.

This means, of course, not all is peace and joy. We liberals and valfrihetsvänner must be able to be self-critical; current Swedish system works badly. The choices are complicated, everyone chooses not to. Those that do often have a knife-in-throat-feeling: the wrong school risk my child's education. Segregation persists, even if one can argue about how much is skolvalets wrong and how much depends on where people live.

It is not important how skolvalet exactly looks like, but that the teaching works.

the Solution is not to return to the 1990 system without reforming the current. In a new report from the confederation of Swedish Enterprise, ”A well-functioning skolmarknad”, gives Dany Kessel and Elisabet Olme a few suggestions. the , Among other things, the actual search system is simplified, so that you can apply to all the schools in a single place.

a model where parents can safely seek the schools in the order in which they want their children to go there – not like today, where you have to be tactical in order to not missed the first choice makes you end up in the school selected in the fourth or fifth hand.

But the important thing is ethos. the That one is for a free school choice does not mean that you have to lock yourself in today's apparent lack of system. The important thing is not how skolvalet exactly looks like, but that the teaching works.

Was the fifth niondeklassare leave school without being competent to the high school, about the same high percentage go out of high school without a diploma. The results for those who actually goes out is still too weak. This is where the big krafttagen required. Skolvalets downsides can be solved with less part.

But it must be maintained. Someone will always choose school for their children. The question is whether it should be politicians or parents.