Links: Labour Market, National Agencies, Swedish School System

Labour Market

The Swedish Trade Union Confederation (LO)
www.lo.se
LO is the central organisation for 16 affiliates which organise workers within both the private and the public sectors. The 16 affiliates together have about 1.918.800 members of whom about 882.445 are women.

Tjänstemännens central organisation (TCO)
www.tco.se
TCO is a politically independent central organisation for 18 unions within the white-collar sector. All together, TCO organizes around one million members.

The Swedish Confederation of Professional Associations (SACO)
www.saco.se
SACO is a confederation of 26 independent associations that together have over half a million members, all of whom are academics or graduate professionals with a university or college degree. The members include economists, lawyers, physiotherapists, graduate engineers, doctors, teachers and many others.

The Swedish Association of Local Authorities/ Federation of County Councils (Svenska Kommunförbundet/Landstingsförbundet)
www.lf.svekom.se
The Swedish Association of Local Authorities (SALA) and the Federation of Swedish County Councils (FCC) represent the governmental, professional and employerrelated interests of Sweden´s 290 local authorities, 18 county councils and two regions.

Swedish Agency for Government Employers (Arbetsgivarverket)
www.arbetsgivarverket.se
Since 1 July 1994, the Government has delegated employer policy responsibility to the Swedish Agency for Government Employers. The Government and Parliament no longer directly influence the content of collective agreements on pay or other conditions of employment for staff in the central government sector. Instead, SAGE acts on behalf of instructions from its members, which are all public administrations in the central government sector.

The Confederation of Swedish Enterprise (Svenskt Näringsliv)
www.svensktnaringsliv.se
The Confederation of Swedish Enterprise is a pro-business interest organization representing close to 60,000 Swedish companies. It consists of 48 trade and employer association members, with a 1.5 million labor force covering 70% of the Swedish private sector.

National Agencies

The National Agency for Higher Education (Högskoleverket)
www.hsv.se
The National Agency for Higher Education is a central agency responsible for matters relating to institutions of higher education.

The Swedish National Agency for Education (Skolverket)
www.skolverket.se
The Swedish National Agency for Education is the central administrative authority for the Swedish public school system for children, young people and adults, as well as for preschool activities and child care for school children.

The Swedish National Agency for School Improvement (Myndigheten för skolutveckling)
www.skolutveckling.se
Myndigheten för skolutveckling skall stödja huvudmäns och lokala enheters arbete med lokal verksamhetsutveckling i förskoleverksamhet, skolbarnomsorg, skola och vuxenutbildning.

The Swedish National Rural Development Agency (Glesbygdsverket)
www.glesbygdsverket.se
The Swedish National Rural Development Agency is a government agency that monitors, analyses and reports on development in rural areas of Sweden. The agency mainly operates in the fields of population development, labour market, education, infrastructure and service.

The Swedish Agency for Flexible Learning (CFL - Nationellt centrum för flexibelt lärandet)
www.cfl.se
The Swedish Agency for Flexible Learning promotes the development and utilisation of flexible learning in municipal adult education, liberal adult education and working life.

Swedish Agency for Innovation Systems (VINNOVA)
www.vinnova.se
VINNOVA, Swedish Agency for Innovation Systems, integrates research and development in technology, transport and working life. VINNOVA´s mission is to promote sustainable growth by financing RTD and developing effective innovation systems.

Swedish Business Development Agency (NUTEK)
www.nutek.se
NUTEK is organised in four divisions enabling it to function in an efficient manner; Entrepreneurship and Business Information, Regional Business Development, Business Financing AND Analysis.

Swedish Institute for Growth Policy Studies (ITPS - Institutet för tillväxtpolitiska studier)
www.itps.se
Swedish Institute for Growth Policy Studies, ITPS, is a Government Agency responsible for policy intelligence, evaluation and various areas of official statistics.

The Swedish Work Environment Authority (Arbetsmiljöverket)
www.av.se
The Authority’s paramount objective is to reduce the risks of ill-health and accidents in the workplace and to improve the work environment in a holistic perspective, i.e. from the physical, mental, social and organisational viewpoints.

The National Institute for Working Life (Arbetslivsinstitutet)
www.arbetslivsinstitutet.se
The National Institute for Working Life is a national centre of knowledge for issues concerning working life. The Institute carries out research and development covering the whole field of working life, on commission from The Ministry of Industry, Employment and Communications.

The central authority of the Swedish Labour Market Administration (Arbetsmarknadsverket - AMV)
www.ams.se
The central authority of the Swedish Labour Market Administration (Arbetsmarknadsverket - AMV) is the National Labour Market Board (Arbetsmarknadsstyrelsen - AMS). In each of Sweden's 21 counties there is a County Labour Board (Länsarbetsnämnden - Lan), to which the Public Employment Services (Arbetsförmedlingar - Af) are responsible.

ISA - Invest in Sweden Agency
www.isa.se
Invest in Sweden Agency (ISA) is the government agency responsible for informing foreign investors about business opportunities in Sweden.

International Programme Office
www.programkontoret.se
The Programme Office shall make it easier for those working with education to participate in international co-operation by means of information and marketing provide simple and effective administration evaluate and disseminate results of its activities.

Swedish Institute
www.si.se
The Swedish Institute (SI) is a public agency entrusted with disseminating knowledge abroad about Sweden and organizing exchanges with other countries in the spheres of culture, education, research and public life in general. In doing so, it seeks to promote Swedish interests and contribute to economic growth.

The Swedish School System

Overview's of the Swedish Education and School System

- About School Improvement
- About the Swedish School System
- About the Swedish Education System

The Ministry of Education and Science (Utbildningsdepartementet)
http://utbildning.regeringen.se/inenglish/index.htm
The Ministry of Education and Science (Utbildningsdepartementet) is responsible for matters regarding pre-school education and child care for school children, pre-school classes, compulsory school and equivalent schools, upper secondary school, independent schools, adult education, popular adult education, post-secondary education, universities and university colleges, research, study support, student social issues and youth policy.

The Swedish National Agency for Education (Skolverket)
www.skolverket.se

The Swedish National Agency for School Improvement (Myndigheten för skolutveckling)
www.skolutveckling.se

National Union of Teachers in Sweden (Lärarnas Riksförbund, LR)
www.lr.se
The National Union of Teachers in Sweden (Lärarnas Riksförbund, LR) organizes teachers employed in primary, secondary and adult education. LR also organizes educational and vocational counsellors, trainee teachers and university students studying to become teachers. LR is a member organizations of SACO (the Swedish Confederation of Professional Associations).

The Swedish Teachers’ Union (Lärarförbundet)
www.laraforbundet.se
Lärarförbundet is the largest teachers’ and headteachers’ union and the fourth largest union in Sweden, with over 200 000 members in all categories of schools, from early childhood to higher education and university. The largest group is made up of teachers in early childhood institutions, comprehensive schools, upper secondary schools and after-school centres. Union members include student teachers and also retired teachers, who are entitled to retain their membership.

The Swedish Schoolnet (Skoldatanätet)
www.skoldatanatet.se
The Swedish Schoolnet is provided by the Swedish National Agency for School Improvement. It is a website for teachers, educators and students. The goal i is to stimulate the use of information technology in schools.

Kollegiet
www.kollegiet.com
The Kollegiet website has been created by the Knowledge Foundation and aims at being a lively meeting place which can also be reached from the National Agency for Education's website, Swedish Schoolnet (Skoldatanätet). Presented here are the experiences from the Knowledge Foundation's programme for ICT in schools.