After a long period of extreme digitization in classrooms, with tablets and laptops—especially post-pandemic—the authorities in Sweden acknowledge that the “experiment” came at a cost. A heavy cost, in fact. Unsurprisingly, books are now making a strong comeback in the Scandinavian country, long regarded as a global model of educational modernization, offering valuable lessons to educators, parents, and governments worldwide. This new shift is not ideological but empirical.
It was the students themselves—particularly those who struggled the most, especially boys—who asked for the books back. In schools such as in Bandhagen, south of Stockholm, teachers told the British newspaper The Times that children felt the screens distracted them. “We want a book,” they said. Since the school textbooks had already been withdrawn, teachers printed pages of educational material and bound them roughly to fill a gap that proved more significant than anticipated.
Sweden had invested millions since the 2000s in technology, with the idea that education should prepare students for the new digital world.
However, results from the international PISA competition recorded a gradual decline in literacy. In a country accustomed to leading in PISA—the OECD’s international program for assessing 15-year-old students—the disappointing results of the latest 2022 report sounded alarms. With scores only slightly above the average, Sweden ranked 22nd in reading comprehension among the 81 participating countries and economies (Greece was 41st, with a score of 438, falling below the benchmark).
For Sweden, the findings practically mean that one in four children graduates from compulsory education functionally illiterate, with those from low-income immigrant households being the most vulnerable. Overall, this leaves them exposed to unemployment and criminal gangs. “There are children who grew up in this environment and now attend university and cannot read or write properly,” says Bitte Lang, a learning support teacher, to The Times. Some of these children, she notes, had been incorrectly diagnosed with various learning difficulties, while in reality they simply were not given the time and support needed to learn to read.
Excessive reliance on screens was not the only factor. Teachers point to gaps in teacher training, the removal of support structures for struggling students, and the system’s inability to adapt to the challenges of increasing immigration and social inequality. Children from less privileged and non-Swedish-speaking backgrounds lag significantly in reading, according to PISA results.
The response of Swedish authorities is now multi-layered. The Ministry of Education has invested tens of millions of euros in purchasing school books, literary titles, and strengthening libraries. A national reading competition for 10-year-olds has been launched, while digital aids are now strictly limited to younger ages. From 2028, a nationwide program will ensure that all teachers are trained in structured reading instruction.
