Back to pencil and paper: Sweden schools reduce digital learning

However, redoubling the commitment to analog tools has generated criticism from technology companies, educators and computer scientists, who argue that it could affect job prospects of the students and even damage the nation’s economy nordic.

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At a high school in Nacka, outside Stockholm, final-year students remove their laptops from backpacks and handbags, along with items they used less a few years ago.

“Now I often come home from school with new books and papers.”says Sophie, 18.

He says that a teacher “has started printing all the texts we use during class”while a digital learning platform in mathematics lessons has been replaced by textbook-only teaching.

It is an image that clashes with Sweden’s reputation as one of the most technological societies in Europe thanks to its high levels of digital skills and technological entrepreneurship in full expansion.

Laptops became common in Swedish classrooms in the late 2000s and early 2010s.

In 2015, around 80% of students in state-funded municipal institutes had individual access to a digital device, according to official data.

Mandatory use of tablets in nursery schools was included in the curriculum in 2019, as part of the previous Social Democrat-led government’s mission to prepare even the youngest children for an increasingly digital work and private life.

But the current right-wing coalitionwho came to power in 2022, is orienting teaching in a different direction.

“In fact, we are trying to eliminate screens as much as possible”says Joar Forsell, education spokesman for the Liberal Party, whose leader is Sweden’s education minister.

“At older ages in school you might use them a little more, but at younger ages, I don’t think we should use screens at all.”.

The government has frequently used the slogan “från skärm till pärm”, which sounds catchy in Swedish and translates as: “From screen to folder”.

He argues that screenless classes create mbetter conditions for children to concentrate and develop their writing and reading skills.

From 2025, nursery schools are no longer required to use digital tools and tablets are not provided to children under two years of age.

A ban on mobile phones in schools, including for educational use, will come into force this year.

Schools have already been allocated more than $200 million in grants to invest in textbooks and teacher guides. A new curriculum designed to reinforce textbook-based learning is planned for 2028.

“Reading real books and writing on real paper, and counting with real numbers on real paper, is much better if you want children to gain the knowledge they need.”argued Forsell.

The change in focus followed a consultation in 2023 which involved academic researchers, educational organizations, public organizations and municipalities.

“There is greater awareness about the disruption that technology is causing in classrooms”says Dr. Sissela Nutley, a neuroscientist linked to the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, who is among those who have expressed concerns about the use of digital tools.

Nuttley says that students can lose concentration when seeing what other children are doing on screens.

It also points to a growing body of international research that suggests that reading text on digital devices can make it difficult for children to process information and that he Intensive screen use can even affect brain development of the youngest students.