Fines for bad schools

The Swedish school system is increasingly coming under fire for disciplinary problems and a huge drop in quality. Now a new state school inspection authority has been set up under the former police chief Ann-Marie Begler. The new body started work on Wednesday October 1. To ensure better quality control in schools, it is entitled to impose fines on weaker schools, writes the Sydsvenska Dagbladet: "Ann-Marie Begler says there will be more school inspectors, more frequent inspections and a clear definition of tasks. ... In this context it can be expedient to impose fines. ... An enduring warning that hurts the wallet is not a bad idea. Because if the alternative is closing down the school, the risk is that nothing may happen at all. If the state school inspection has no bite it will only leave the pupils in the lurch, primarily the weakest ones. Begler and her school inspection board must be able to bite - and hard, at that."

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