EDUCATION IN SWEDEN
No children are more fortunate than the Swedish in education. They
have everything done to make their schooldays bright and happy, as
well as useful. Their teachers are highly educated, and are very much
respected, if they do not get large salaries. The school-house in
every town is a very important and conspicuous building.
Unless a child is very well educated at home, he must go to the public
school. He does not pay any fees. All education is free, even at the
University, but not everyone can go there. Only those who can pass a
very stiff examination are allowed to enter. The children go at the
age of seven and remain at school until they are fourteen. They get a
very thorough training in very much the same subjects as in our
schools. There are no holidays on Saturdays for Swedish children.
Thirty-six hours every week they must attend. When parents are found
to be careless so that their children are suffering, the State
sometimes takes the little ones to train and educate.
In the districts where the population is very scattered, a teacher
comes for four months in the year, and then proceeds to another
district. There is no district where education is not provided.
There are some features that may be of interest to a stranger. In many
of the schools there are splendid libraries. No doubt most of the
books are printed in Swedish, but there are also a large number in
English, French, and German. They are not there for appearance, but
are actually read, as the children begin at a very early age to learn
these languages. The Swedes are splendid linguists, and are very proud
of being able to speak English.
They are known all over the world as being very good gymnasts, and
every school has a completely equipped gymnasium. Very often the
instructor is a military officer. Their system is being universally
adopted, and many readers of this book will have learned the same
exercises as the Swedish boys and girls.
One of the most interesting features of school-life is the study of
nature. No doubt this is because one of the greatest botanists that
ever lived was a Swede--Linnæus. He devised the system of botany,
which is in use throughout the whole world. From a very early age
the children go out into the woods and collect plants, flowers, and
leaves of trees. They are taught not only the names of the different
plants, but also the science of botany. The result is that from
childhood they are taught to take an intelligent interest in nature,
and learn to love what is beautiful in gardens, field, and forest.
[Illustration: GUNNAR HALLSTRÖM. MARS 1904 Björnö A SKI-RUNNER
_Gunnar Hallström._]
The Swedes are also taught to be cleanly. Everywhere can be seen a
great many lakes, and in the bright summer days the children bathe and
learn to swim in them. In the winter this is impossible, as the cold
is very great and the lakes are frozen over. In some schools a large
room is set apart as a bathroom. There is no large bath or swimming
pond, but a very simple arrangement of a number of tubs in a circle. A
child goes into each. They wash and scrub one another. It is a method
for securing cleanliness easily carried out, and does not cost much.
The result is health. The children never look shabby. A Swedish mother
may be poor, but she takes a pride in seeing her children neat and
tidy.
Nor does she forget to teach them politeness. Every boy is taught to
be very respectful to his elders. On the street he lifts his cap to
anyone he knows, whether he be rich or poor.
When the boy is fifteen, he may choose to go to a trade, or to a
higher school with a view to entering a learned profession.
At this age, if he intends to become a Government servant, lawyer,
doctor, or minister, he must be confirmed. This is a very important
step in his life. On the day of confirmation he is examined in the
church, and has publicly to answer questions. It is a great day for
him. He is now a man, and is very proud of being looked upon as such.
After he has been at the higher school for some years, and wishes to
enter the University, he must pass a very hard examination, and when
he learns that he has been successful, he is very happy and bright. He
comes out of the school wearing the white cap which all students have,
and decked with wreaths and flowers bestowed on him by doting parents
and admiring friends.
There are large Universities in Sweden both at Upsala and Lund. The
former is the larger and older of the two, but they are both well
known. The student has the same long and hard course as at school.
Very few students finish their course till they are between
twenty-five and thirty years of age, and up to this time, if they wish
to be successful, must be faithful to their study. There are no very
young doctors in Sweden. They generally do not begin to practise till
they are about twenty-eight years of age. Still, they find some time
for social life at the University towns. They enter into the gaiety of
the place, and are great favourites with the townspeople. The students
from each district or nation have a club-room for social gatherings.
They are very proud of their own district, and in processions march
together with a banner in front. They are very fond of singing. The
students of Upsala have a world-wide reputation, as at the Paris
Exhibition of 1897 they took the first prize when choirs from every
part of the world were competing.
The Swedes as a class are intelligent and polite, and are taking a
prominent part in the world’s affairs. We should expect this when we
know how well they are educated.