Minister of Social Affairs Jakob Forssmed (KD) says that mental health must be “structured in the school schedule”.
This causes Education Minister Simona Mohamsson (L) to react.
– It is the Ministry of Education that presents the government’s decided policy in the field of education, not the Ministry of Social Affairs, she says.
The article in brief
Social Affairs Minister Jakob Forssmed wrote a debate article about mental health being “structured in the school timetable”.
The statement has led to criticism and Education Minister Simona Mohamsson (L) clarifies that it is not about a new school subject
The government has given the Swedish National Agency for Education the task of introducing knowledge about mental health into the curricula for the new 10-year primary school.
The government will introduce teaching about mental health in school, announced Jakob Forssmed in a debate article in SvD last week.
“Now we can add another piece of the puzzle to the promotion and prevention work – namely the announcement that the government will introduce mental health into the schedule”he writes.
The word “introduce” has been changed in later versions of the article to “develop and clarify”. The issue of the schedule has also received criticism. Curator Henrik Pallin, an expert on young people’s use of the internet, tells Sveriges Radio that this means another demand on the school but not more resources.
Mohamsson: “Other measures”
Education Minister Simona Mohamsson also reacts.
– The government will not introduce any kind of new subject called mental health or have mental health on the schedule. There are other measures that are needed for children and young people to feel better, she says.
Instead, she mentions strengthening child and youth psychiatry and that children need to move more, have less screen time and have high expectations to help them reach the knowledge goals.
Forssmed slopes
In a post on X, Jakob Forssmed has clarified his position that it is not a separate topic.
“I have used the term in the same sense as, for example, Sweden’s sports teachers’ association and biology teachers’ association did when they called for ‘mental health on the schedule’ – namely that school curricula on mental health need to be developed and clarified”he writes.
The government has therefore tasked the Swedish National Agency for Education with introducing knowledge about mental health into the curricula for the new 10-year primary school.
– It is great that we clarify in the curricula for biology and sports and health how to raise mental health and talk about it. But we should probably not deceive ourselves that, because we talk about mental illness, that it will solve the problems, says Simona Mohamsson.
Do you not agree on this in the government?
– The government’s decided policy is that we should not have mental health on the schedule. You can ask him, but I believe that what he went on in his first article is not correct, says Simona Mohamsson.
