| Sara Monemi |
| Master Degree of Arts in Human Rights |
| Il s’agit d’examiner la mise en œuvre par la Suède de la CDE, en particulier sur les droits à l’éducation et à la participation des enfants. La Suède vise à respecter et faciliter les droits de tous les enfants, offrant des opportunités de développement et de participation indépendamment de leur âge, sexe, origine ou handicap. En février 2023, le Comité des droits de l’enfant de l’ONU a critiqué la Suède pour ne pas avoir assuré un accès égal à une éducation de qualité pour tous les enfants. L’éducation est cruciale pour le développement des enfants, leur permettant de participer à la société. Il est important de créer un environnement scolaire numérique et de promouvoir la e-participation pour le développement des enfants et leur engagement sociétal. La e-participation utilise les TIC pour favoriser l’engagement civique et la gouvernance participative, améliorant l’accès à l’information et aux services publics. Les municipalités et écoles privées en Suède sont responsables de l’éducation, mais des disparités dans l’allocation des ressources ont conduit à des inégalités en matière de qualité et d’accès. Le Comité de l’ONU exhorte la Suède à améliorer les compétences numériques et la littératie parmi les enfants, enseignants et familles. Le Comité de l’ONU recommande un accès égal à une éducation de qualité pour les groupes défavorisés, l’éducation obligatoire pour tous les enfants, une éducation inclusive pour les enfants handicapés et un meilleur soutien pour l’éducation de la petite enfance. En conclusion, il est nécessaire pour la Suède d’allouer des ressources suffisantes pour remédier aux disparités éducatives et améliorer la littératie numérique, afin de remplir ses obligations en vertu de la CDE et garantir que tous les enfants puissent jouir de leur droit à l’éducation et participer activement à la société. |
This paper examines Sweden’s implementation of the CRC, focusing on children’s education and participation rights. Sweden aims to uphold the rights of all children, ensuring opportunities for development and participation regardless of age, gender, origin, or disability. In February 2023, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child criticized Sweden for not ensuring equal access to quality education. Education is vital for children’s development and societal participation. There is a need for a digital school environment and e-participation, using ICT to enhance civic engagement and access to information. Swedish municipalities and private schools manage education, but disparities in resource allocation cause inequalities in quality and access. The UN Committee’s observations urge Sweden to improve digital literacy among children, teachers, and families. The UN Committee’s recommendations include ensuring equal access to quality education for disadvantaged groups, making primary and secondary education compulsory, advocating for inclusive education for children with disabilities, and better support for early childhood education. The paper concludes by stressing the need for Sweden to allocate resources to address educational disparities and enhance digital literacy, fulfilling its CRC obligations and ensuring all children can actively participate in society. |
| Sweden wrote, in their latest periodic report to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child (the Commitee), that the goal of the child rights policy in Sweden is that children as well as young people must be respected and given opportunities for their development and security, as well as for their participation and influence – regardless of factors such as age, gender, origin, and disability all children should have their rights met. On February 6th, 2023, Sweden received the Committee’s latest concluding observations. These observations include critique towards Sweden, pointing out that measures need to be taken regarding children and their education, i.e. that all children, regardless of their background, do not have the same access or quality to education. Education is an important element for children and their development, it enables children to participate in the world that they live in, making school being a prerequisite for all children, regardless of their situation and background, giving them the opportunity to not only achieve knowledge of e.g. the world that they live in, as well as improving their development, but also reducing discrimination of the child. |
| Furthermore, the creation of a digital school environment would be essential for the child being able to participate and take part of its right to development, as well as taking part and engaging in society. Hence, e-participation, i.e. “fostering civic engagement and open, participatory governance through Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs)”, is also a key element for the child´s development. According to the United Nations Development of Affaires growing evidence points to the rapid expansion of e-participation as a tool for engagement and strengthened collaboration between governments and citizens, with the objective “to improve access to information and public services as well as to promote participation in policymaking, both for the empowerment of individual citizens and the benefit of society as a whole”. |
L’avis du Comité scientifique
L’étude de Sara Monemi, fondée sur la Convention des Nations unies relative aux droits de l’enfant et analysant le cadre juridique du droit à l’éducation en Suède, met en évidence la nécessité pour les enfants de bénéficier d’une éducation au numérique afin de participer pleinement à une société de plus en plus digitalisée. L’étude insiste également sur le besoin d’une éducation par le numérique, en particulier pour les enfants issus de groupes défavorisés, tels que les enfants en situation irrégulière, qui peuvent nécessiter un enseignement à distance. Cet article tombe à point nommé puisque le Gouvernement suédois, préoccupé par les répercussions négatives de l’utilisation des technologies sur les jeunes enfants, envisage de modifier les programmes d’enseignement des petites classes en restreignant l’accès aux technologies.
Patricia JONASON
Professeure à la Sördertörn University
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| Municipalities in Sweden, as well as some private schools, holds the responsibility of the schools and the education that is set out for the children. However, the quality and access to education is something that has, lately, become problematic in Sweden since resources, among other things, have not been equally distributed regarding the schools in municipalities, and on the other hand regarding private schools the profits have not been distributed towards the children and their education. In the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child’s latest concluding observations towards Sweden, they emphasize on the importance of the child’s right in relation to the digital environment, encouraging Sweden, to continue their efforts to enhance the digital literacy and skills of children, teachers, and families.
The first section of this paper will introduce the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Conventions four articles, which are general principles of the Convention, will be introduced – Article 2 (no discrimination), Article 3 (the best interests of the child), Article 6 (life, survival, and development), and Article 12 (respect for children’s views). Besides the Conventions general principles, Article 13 (right to freedom of expression), Article 17 (access to appropriate information), and Article 28 (right to education) are of particularly interest for the subject of this paper and will be described more thoroughly. The second section of this paper will cover the Swedish legal framework, highlighting the child’s right to school and education, showing different perspectives of these rights. Regulations that are set out for the child through governmental agencies will also be presented. Lastly, the paper will end with a final discussion, together with conclusions.
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