Anyone who has followed Swedish politics for a while knows how important the Pisa surveys are.

They are often reproduced in public documents and are reported regularly in the budget bill, which of course means that it is important that the results are correct.

Great political significance

But the Pisa surveys are also of great political importance in that they are also used as a tool in the political debate.

Although several different surveys are conducted on Swedish students' knowledge, the Pisa survey has a special position.

No other survey in the school area affects the school debate as much as the Pisa survey.

Minister of Education Anna Ekström (S) consequently called it a "day of joy" when the Pisa survey 2018 was presented.

The survey indicated an increase in Swedish school results, which the Minister took as income for the government pursuing a wise school policy.

Questioned results

But even then, the results began to be questioned.

Sweden was at the top when it came to exclusions, ie students who were actively removed from the survey for various reasons.

One such reason is that the student is a newcomer and does not speak or write Swedish.

In addition, the drop-out rate in the survey was extensive, ie students who were selected but who for various reasons did not write the tests.

However, the Government and the National Agency for Education believed that despite this, the survey was conducted in a correct manner and the results were therefore reliable.

The Minister of Education's State Secretary Erik Nilsson dismissed the criticism as "conspiracy theories" and the Minister of Education himself stated in the Riksdag: "I have no information that would indicate that students were excluded on incorrect grounds".

Will be required to notify

Today the situation is different.

The National Agency for Education admits that too many students have been exempted from the test.

And according to the National Audit Office, information about these doubts has been in the Government Offices for a long time.

At least two internal memoranda have been drawn up since December 2019 in which officials raised the issue that Pisa results may be flawed.

The question is whether and if so when the political leadership at the ministry was informed about this and what measures have been taken in that case?

Minister of Education Anna Ekström will be required to provide information here.

Right now, it looks like a political storm is blowing around her.

The criticism from the opposition in the Riksdag is harsh and the Sweden Democrats have during the day requested her resignation.

Other opposition parties, however, want to wait before giving information on the issue.

Difficult seat

According to the National Audit Office's review, too many students with, above all, a foreign background have been excluded from the Pisa survey in 2018. The concrete consequence of this is that it in all probability showed an overly positive picture of school results in Sweden.

According to the research, Pisa results for non-participants (excluded and dropouts) are lower than for students who write the tests.

All this puts the government in a difficult position.

It is not just about what was actually known about the doubts in the survey.

It is also about the importance of having a correct factual basis when it comes to Swedish school results.

Without credible Pisa results in the back, it will also be more difficult for the government to claim that the Swedish school is on the right track.