by NordicStorm
Sun Mar 23rd, 2008 at 12:11:14 PM EST
The Swedish Liberal People's Party, part of the current Swedish centre-right government, have proposed modifying school legislation with regards to student exemption in Swedish schools (party chairman Jan Björklund is the current Minister of Education). Under the current law, students may be exempt from certain subjects, which would otherwise be compulsory, on cultural or religious grounds. This has apparently become a bit of problem in Swedish immigrant communities, as a large number of pupils exempt themselves from a variety of subjects, but mostly physical education and sexual education, citing religion or culture.
Excerpts from an op-ed in the March 6 edition of Swedish morning paper Dagens Nyheter:
| "Tvinga invandrarflickor att delta i sexundervisning" | | "Force immigrant girls to participate in sexual education" |
Nytt förslag från Björklund och Sabuni: avskaffa rätten till befrielse från idrottstimmar och sex- och samlevnadsundervisning i skolan.
Rätten till befrielse från olika lektioner i skolan av religiösa och kulturella skäl eller på grund av elevens inställning eller hemmiljö ska helt avskaffas enligt ett folkpartiförslag som läggs fram i dag. Det är orimligt att den regel om befrielse från obligatorisk undervisning som var tänkt för undantagsfall innebär att mer än var fjärde utlandsfödd flicka inte deltar i viktiga undervisningsmoment i skolan. Att föräldrar har en annan åsikt än läroplanen om vad barnen ska lära sig innebär inte att de ska kunna förvägra eleverna viss undervisning, skriver utbildningsministern och folkpartiledaren Jan Björklund, integrationsminister Nyamko Sabuni och folkpartiets partisekreterare Erik Ullenhag. | | New proposal from Björklund and Sabuni: repeal the right to exemption from physical education and sex and social education.
The right to exemption from some classes in school on the basis of religious or cultural reasons or the pupil's attitude or home situation should be completely repealed, according to a proposal by the Liberal People's party that will be put forth today. It is unreasonable that the exemption rule, which was supposed to be used only in exceptional circumstances, results in more than every fourth foreign-born girl not participating in important educational subjects in school. That parents have disagreements with the school curriculum should not mean that they can deny the pupils certain education, writes Education Minister and Liberal People's Party chairman Jan Björklund, Intergration Minister Nyamko Sabuni and Liberal People's Party secretary Erik Ullenhag. |
| Men migrationen ställer oss också inför nya utmaningar. Många invandrare har svårt att komma in i Sverige, att bli integrerade. | | But migration also poses new challenges for us. Many immigrants have difficulty entering Swedish society and becoming integrated. |
Felaktiga politiska beslut och attityder, inte minst en socialdemokratisk mentalitet av omhändertagande, har försvårat integrationen.
Några av de svårare och mest kontroversiella utmaningarna handlar i realiteten om kulturkonflikter. Hur agerar vi när toleransen och det mångkulturella samhället kommer i konflikt med till exempel individens frihet och en jämställd och modern kvinnosyn? | | Erroneous political decisions and attitudes, not least a social democrat mentality of "taking care of", has made integration more difficult. Some of the hardest and most controversial challenges concerns, in reality, cultural conflicts. How do we act when tolerance and the multicultural society stands in conflict with for example the freedom of the individual and an equal and modern view of women? |
| Vår tro på det toleranta samhället får aldrig medföra att vi blundar när kvinnor drabbas av övergrepp, eller förvägras rättigheter, under åberopande att det skulle vara del av en kultur eller religion. | | Our faith in the tolerant society may never result in us averting our eyes when women are victims of injustice or are denied rights as a result of it being considered part of a culture or a religion. |
| 27 procent, mer än var fjärde utlandsfödd flicka får inte delta i undervisning i idrott, simning eller sexualkunskap, alternativt inte vara med på klassresor eller studiebesök. | | 27%, more than every fourth foreign-born girl, aren't allowed to participate in physical education, swimming or sexual education, or aren't allowed to participate in class trips or educational visits. |
| Flickor med sitt ursprung i Mellanöstern befrias ungefär fem gånger så ofta som invandrarflickor födda i Syd- eller Östeuropa. Samma undersökning visar också att befrielse är vanligare om föräldrarna har en låg utbildningsnivå. Inte så förvånande är också att graden av befrielse är högre om föräldrarna har en stark religiös övertygelse. | | Girls originating from the Middle-East are exempt approximately five times more often than immigrant girls born in Southern or Eastern Europe. The same research indicates that exemption is more common if the parents have a low level of education. Not particularly surprising is also the fact the degree of exemption is higher if the parents have strong religious convictions. |
(Translation mine. Hopefully the quoted text, while still quite long, is within the confines of fair use).
The irony of a supposedly liberal party proposing to "force" anyone to do anything notwithstanding, I find myself agreeing with the gist of the proposal, if not with the Swedish liberals' near-perverted obsession with Islam. I know exactly what I would be thinking if a parent decided to keep his or her child from attending biology classes, due to a fervent belief in Creationism. Sex-ed, if awkward to some, is obviously crucial in reducing teenage pregnancies, preventing the spread of STDs, and generally promoting a healthy outlook on sexuality.
Missing from the op-ed is perhaps a bit of context. Is it the sexual or physical education itself that the parents are objecting to, or is it something specific in those subjects that could be done differently?
It's also interesting to note that it was due to the school subject "Knowledge in Christianity", a subject that was taught in Swedish schools until 1969 and had a decidedly religious perspective, that the exemption rule was first introduced, so that pupils of a different religious conviction didn't have to attend.
