The School Inspectorate has announced that Gislaved municipality is violating the school law when students can leave regular schooling to learn to sing or play instruments.

- We are both sad and angry about this. Our business will be razed, says singer and guitar teacher Urban Björn at the Music School in Gislaved.

At Kulturverkstan in Tingsryd there are other noises. They understand the turmoil that the School Inspectorate's decision can arouse, but music education can be organized in a different way, says Jesper Wihlborg, operations manager at Kulturverkstan.

- We start later in the day and work longer hours in the afternoons. We are also available if students should have hole hours, says Jesper Wihlborg.

"Harsh countryside hardest"

The school inspector's decision can hit the rural students hardest because they are more dependent on the school bus to come home, says Torgny Sandgren, Secretary of the Cultural Schools Council.

Tingsryd offers students two departures, at two and four hours respectively. The music students who finish at two o'clock can attend music lessons, but problems arise for the students who are going to be teaching after four o'clock.

Those students are totally dependent on someone getting them to come home.

- Yes, it demands parents, but should there be a crisis, there is always a leader who can set up so that the student can be pushed home, says Jesper Wihlborg.

"Bett National Agency see what applies"

In the past, it was up to the principals to decide how music education should be conducted. The self-determination now appears to be very limited or perhaps removed with the decision of the School Inspectorate.

- We have asked the Cultural Council and the National Agency for Education to see what applies. Although the School Inspectorate would have made the right assessment, in Sweden we have a long-standing practice of finding local solutions. It is about offering as many children as possible the opportunity to learn music, says Torgny Sandgren, Secretary of the Cultural Schools Council.