- Such a terrible and disgusting event makes both me and all teachers extremely upset.
But the anxiety must not lead to self-censorship, says the Minister of Education, who adds, however, that she has not yet received any such signals.
- In discussions with teachers, I have not seen any signs that Swedish teachers censor themselves.
That is of course positive, she says.
It was on Friday that the French teacher Samuel Paty was murdered after showing a cartoon of Muhammad during a lesson on freedom of expression.
Swedish teachers are now calling for a clear signal from the government of the importance of freedom of expression in teaching, while at the same time being concerned about similar acts in Sweden.
- Teachers should feel that they have the full support of society and to the extent that a teacher is worried about their work, they should turn to their employer, says Anna Ekström who currently does not plan any new political proposals to strengthen the protection of teachers, but refers to the state inquiry into the work environment in schools, which will be presented in December.
Demands for stronger legal protection
Among the opposition, however, it is believed that the protection of school staff needs to be strengthened.
A tour of the Riksdag's education policy spokespersons shows that there are requirements that the legal protection that has existed for so-called blue light staff since the turn of the year should also apply to teachers.
- It is an extremely socially important professional function, says the Christian Democrats' Gudrun Brunegård who sees a risk of self-censorship among teachers after the act.
The Sweden Democrats also want teachers to be covered by the law on violence against blue-light staff.
- This means that if you commit a crime against a teacher, you will receive a harsher punishment, says the party's education policy spokesman Patrick Reslow.
The Center Party's spokesperson, Fredrik Christensson, is also happy to see stricter legal protection.
Closer cooperation between authorities
The Liberals' Roger Haddad believes that a large part of the problem is that the status of teachers has weakened and that there is an increasingly questionable attitude around everything from grades to homework.
He therefore wants to see closer cooperation without obstacles to secrecy between social services, the police and the school in order to be able to quickly identify threatening students.
The Moderates' Kristina Axén-Ohlin says that a great responsibility also rests with the schools.
- It is not political decisions that are missing.
It is possibly the leadership in the schools that can become clearer and stronger, she says.