Västerås has chosen to outsource Swedish to immigrants (SFI) and Swedish as other languages on contract. Private schools can apply to establish themselves in the city.
- All players who live up to the requirement we have in our agreement are allowed to play in the market. The advantages are that competition between the players is shifted from being about writing a good offer at a low price, to being about conducting a quality education, says Jenny Twana.
The system has in some cases been criticized for leading to grade inflation and pressured schools, which thumps the knowledge requirements to get as many students as possible. But Jenny Twana thinks it is not the system that fails.
- We have a lot of contacts around the country and these problems are described in many places. It's not a local problem, says Jenny Twana.