The Swedish model
A Swedish firm has worked out how to make money running free schools
BIG-STATE, social-democratic Sweden seems an odd place to look for a free-market revolution. Yet that is what is under way in the country's schools. Reforms that came into force in 1994 allow pretty much anyone who satisfies basic standards to open a new school and take in children at the state's expense. The local municipality must pay the school what it would have spent educating each child itself—a sum of SKr48,000-70,000 ($8,000-12,000) a year, depending on the child's age and the school's location. Children must be admitted on a first-come, first-served basis—there must be no religious requirements or entrance exams. Nothing extra can be charged for, but making a profit is fine.
Kunskapsporten
This article appeared in the Business section of the print edition under the headline “The Swedish model”
More from Business
Can Benetton be patched up?
Italy’s threadbare casual-fashion icon is stained with red ink
How to write the perfect CV
A job applicant walks into a bar
The soldiers of the silicon supply chain are worried
Geopolitics risks distorting a miracle of modern technology