Sweden's government is championing a renewed focus on physical books, paper, and pens in classrooms, designed to reverse falling literacy levels.
However, this doubling down on analogue tools has drawn criticism from tech companies, educators, and computer scientists who argue it could negatively impact pupils' employment prospects and even damage the Nordic nation's economy.
At a high school in Nacka just outside Stockholm, final-year students find themselves unpacking laptops but are now bringing home an array of physical books as well. I now go home from school with new books and papers often, says Sophie, 18, noting changes in teaching methods to include more printed materials and less reliance on screens.
While laptops gained traction in Swedish classrooms in the late 2000s and early 2010s, enabling a tech-savvy educational environment, the current right-wing coalition's decision is a marked shift. The government has adopted the slogan 'från skärm till pärm' (from screen to binder), aiming for a focus on traditional learning in hopes of improving concentration and literacy skills among children.
Despite the government's enthusiasm for this approach, critics, including the Swedish EdTech industry, raise concerns that diminished access to technology may leave students ill-prepared for a digitally evolving job market. As echoed by Jannie Jeppesen, the association's CEO, Everybody needs digital basic skills to enter the workforce.
As schools begin to transition back to traditional methods and with a significant investment in textbooks and teacher guides, ongoing debates continue over the balance between digital education and conventional teaching, laying stakes for Sweden's future educational landscape.
