Forced Migration in the OIC Member Countries:
Policy Framework Adopted by Host Countries
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schools, and school authorities may have to start from scratch in determining a student’s
educational background and needs.222
Quality of instruction and support for newly arrived students
Swedish law grants students several rights that are particularly pertinent to the situation of all
newly arrived children.223 First, schools are required to provide all students with any
instructional support needed to allow them to complete school. For refugee children, this
includes the right to a tutor in their mother tongue to ensure they have sufficiently grasped
their core coursework and material. In addition, since January 2016 schools are also required
to formally assess a child’s educational background when enrolling him/her in school.224 The
Swedish Schools Agency (Skolverket) prepares standard guidelines and materials for school
authorities to use to assess a child's general as well as subject specific knowledge.225 Prior to
the new regulations, each school conducted its own assessment, leading to substantial
variation in the quality of the assessments (i.e. some simply asked children or families how
many years of school the child had attended).226
In order to deal with the large number of newly arrived students requiring “mother tongue
instruction,” some larger districts (including Stockholm and Malmö) have created “sprint” or
“startup” schools that are designed to serve non-Swedish speaking students during the first
year or two after they arrive.227 The schools generally offer intensive Swedish-language
instruction alongside tutoring on core subjects in the student’s mother tongue. In Stockholm,
courses are taught in six week increments and students are assessed at each stage to adjust
their course loads and assess whether they are ready to move to the mainstream schools. The
new startup schools have, however, come into conflict with a second right of students in
Sweden, the right for all students to receive instruction in the same core set of subjects,
regardless of where they are enrolled. Altering the core curriculum is thus illegal, and startup
schools were technically not allowed prior to January of this year, when the regulations were
amended to allow for separate classes for newly arrived youth.228 Schools are now allowed to
offer intensive Swedish in lieu of some core instruction for a limited period; students are
expected to transition to the mainstream classroom after at most two years.
Some groups of refugee children have generally done fairly well in Swedish schools. According
to the Swedish Schools Agency, educational outcomes for children who arrived before the age
of 12 are typically good.229 The average age of students at arrival has, however, increased in
recent years, and older arrivals have tended to struggle.230 Students who arrive after the end
of lower secondary school are usually placed in a language introduction program until they
222 Interview with Anna Sandell, Researcher, Swedish Schools Inspectorate, April 15, 2016
223 Interview with Anna Österlund, Head of Unit for Newly Arrived Pupils, Skolverket, May 12, 2016
224 Interview with Anna Österlund, Head of Unit for Newly Arrived Pupils, Skolverket, May 12, 2016
225 Interview with Anna Österlund, Head of Unit for Newly Arrived Pupils, Skolverket, May 12, 2016
226 Interview with Anna Sandell, Researcher, Swedish Schools Inspectorate, April 15, 2016
227 Interview with Tony Mufic, Director of Education, Education Directorate, Stockholm Municipal Government, April 11,
2016; and interview with Ulrika Wickman, Head of Social Welfare Department, Tarek Borg, Head of Unit for Unaccompanied
Minors, and Lene Cordes, head of Unit for Children and Families, Social Welfare Department, Malmö Municipal Government,
April 14, 2016
228 Interview with Anna Österlund, Head of Unit for Newly Arrived Pupils, Skolverket, May 12, 2016
229 Interview with Anna Österlund, Head of Unit for Newly Arrived Pupils, Swedish Schools Agency, May 12, 2016;
Skolverket, Skolverkets lägesbedömning 2015 , (Stockholm: Skolverket, 2015),
230 Skolverket, Invandringens betydelse för skolresultaten, (Stockholm: Skolverket, 2016),