Extended right to study minority languages at upper secondary school

The Riksdag has approved a proposal from the Government that upper secondary school pupils belonging to any of the national minorities will be offered mother tongue instruction without any requirement that the pupil has prior knowledge of the language.

The new rules will apply to both upper secondary schools and upper secondary schools for pupils with intellectual disabilities, and mean that upper secondary pupils will be given the same opportunities for instruction in their mother tongue as compulsory school pupils.

The decision also contains a change to the name of the document a pupil receives after completing education at upper secondary schools for pupils with intellectual disabilities. The document will be called Upper Secondary Certificate for Pupils with Intellectual Disabilities. 

The new rules on mother tongue instruction will start to apply to upper secondary education starting after 30 June 2025. The new name of the Upper Secondary Certificate for Pupils with Intellectual Disabilities will start to apply from 1 January 2024.