Return to Traditional Learning Tools in Swedish Schools
Sweden's government is advocating a renewed emphasis on physical books, paper, and pens in classrooms to address declining literacy rates.
However, this intensified focus on analogue tools has faced criticism from technology companies, educators, and computer scientists who warn it may negatively affect students' future employment opportunities and potentially harm the Nordic country's economy.
Changes Observed in Nacka High School
At a high school in Nacka, near Stockholm, final-year students are seen unpacking laptops from their bags alongside items they report using less frequently in recent years.
"I now go home from school with new books and papers often,"says Sophie, 18. She notes that one teacher
"has started printing all the texts that we use during the lesson,"while a digital learning platform previously used in math classes has been replaced by textbook-only instruction.
This scenario contrasts with Sweden's reputation as one of Europe's most technologically advanced societies, known for high digital proficiency and a vibrant tech start-up ecosystem.
History of Digital Integration in Swedish Education
Laptops became common in Swedish classrooms during the late 2000s and early 2010s. By 2015, official data indicated that approximately 80% of students in municipal state-funded high schools had individual access to digital devices.
In 2019, the previous Social Democrat-led government incorporated compulsory tablet use in preschools into the curriculum, aiming to prepare even the youngest children for a digitalized work and private life.
Policy Shift Under Current Government
Since the right-wing coalition assumed power in 2022, educational policy has shifted direction.
"We're trying, actually, to get rid of screens as much as possible,"states Joar Forsell, an education spokesperson for the Liberal party, whose leader serves as Sweden's education minister.
"With higher ages in school you might use them a little bit more, but with lower ages, or in school, I don't think we should use screens at all."
The government frequently uses the slogan "från skärm till pärm," which translates to "from screen to binder," advocating that screen-free lessons better support children's concentration and development of writing and reading skills.
Since 2025, preschools are no longer mandated to use digital tools, and tablets are not provided to children under two years old.
Later this year, a ban on mobile phones in schools, including for educational use, will be implemented.
Schools have received over 2.1 billion krona ($200 million; £157 million) in grants to invest in textbooks and teacher guides. A new curriculum emphasizing textbook-based learning is scheduled for introduction in 2028.
"Reading real books and writing on real paper, and counting with real numbers on real paper, is much better if you want kids to get the knowledge they need,"Forsell argues.
Consultation and Research Influencing Policy
This policy shift followed a 2023 consultation involving academic researchers, teaching organizations, public agencies, and municipalities.
"There's been an increased awareness of the disruption that technology is causing in classrooms,"says Dr. Sissela Nutley, a neuroscientist affiliated with the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, who has expressed concerns about digital tool usage.
Nutley explains that pupils can lose focus by observing what other students are doing on screens. She also references international research indicating that reading on digital devices can hinder information processing and that extensive screen use may affect brain development in younger pupils.
Goals for Educational Outcomes
The government aims for this return to traditional teaching methods to improve Sweden's performance in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), the OECD's benchmark for core educational subjects.
Once a top performer, Sweden's PISA scores declined sharply in 2012, experienced a brief recovery, then saw another significant drop in math and reading in 2022.
Although still slightly above the OECD average, Sweden's literacy performance in 2022 was lower than that of the UK, US, Denmark, and Finland. Nearly 24% of students aged 15 or 16 did not achieve a basic level of reading comprehension.
"We know that the kids that have been going through the whole school system with a lot of screens – that they're lagging behind in international surveys,"Forsell notes.
OECD Report on Digital Tools in Education
An OECD report on Swedish education released in January 2024 concluded that, overall, students benefit from access to digital tools.
However, it highlighted widespread digital distractions in classrooms and found that heavy use of digital devices in math lessons correlated with lower results, although these scores were still higher than those of students who used no digital devices.
Andreas Schleicher, OECD director for education, advises caution in attributing cause and effect but suggests Sweden's previously more extreme adoption of technology compared to other countries likely influenced outcomes.
"It just put a lot of devices and technology into classrooms without clear pedagogical intent, without clear goalposts,"he explains.
Concerns from the Business Community
Sweden's government's back-to-books strategy has sparked intense debate within the business sector.
A recent report by the trade association Swedish Edtech Industry warns that emphasizing analogue education risks leaving pupils unprepared for future employment.
"Everybody needs digital basic skills in order to enter the workforce,"says Jannie Jeppesen, the association's CEO and a former teacher. She references an EU report estimating that 90% of jobs will soon require digital skills.
Jeppesen also expresses concern about the impact on entrepreneurship and innovation. Sweden currently leads Europe in producing tech "unicorns" (companies valued at $1 billion [£740 million] or more) relative to its population size.
These include Spotify, a music streaming service, and Legora, an AI platform for the legal sector. Jeppesen warns that such companies
"will move elsewhere"if Sweden cannot supply adequate IT expertise.
Artificial Intelligence and Curriculum Debates
The growing global use of artificial intelligence (AI) presents additional challenges. The Swedish government plans to introduce lessons on AI's opportunities and risks in secondary schools, but some critics argue AI education should begin earlier.
Professor Linnéa Stenliden of Linköping University's Department of Behavioral Sciences cautions that without early AI education, children from wealthier families, whose parents can assist them in understanding AI tools, will gain an advantage, exacerbating a "digital divide."
At the Swedish parliament, Forsell maintains that children should master fundamental skills before learning about AI and rejects the notion that the government's traditional educational approach will increase inequality.
"You can only give people the opportunities that inequality is taking away from them, by giving them proper education,"he states.
Jeppesen criticizes this as a "populistic" position, arguing that focusing on digital versus analogue classrooms distracts from other factors affecting educational outcomes, such as unequal distribution of resources and teaching quality, as highlighted in a March report by Sweden's Education Agency.
Student Perspectives in Nacka
Among final-year students in Nacka, opinions vary.
"The internet has kind of taken over the younger generations, and I've noticed them kind of lose focus easier,"says Alexis, 18, who prefers less digital tool use in schools for younger children.
Conversely, 19-year-old Jasmine supports digital education even for primary school students, stating,
"Let's focus more on computers. Because if we are being realistic, the whole world is using computers."
