Freeway - Disapproval of the Swedish grade system

Disapproval of the Swedish grade system

According to a small inquiry in a Swedish grammar school the pupils would like a new grade system. Most of them have had difficulties in some school subjects. Half of the students think that school work is stressing and one fifth think that it takes too much of their spare time.

The pupils in a Social Science class at Parkskolan in Örnsköldsvik have answered an inquiry about their thoughts about grammar school. The majority of the students give school as a whole their approval. It can though be questioned how good function the grammar school has, when only one student would like to give it a higher grade than approval grade, and five students think it should have lower than approval grade.

What is bad in school?

The grade system is obviously something that most of the pupils would like to change. The inquiry shows that the main part of the 20 students in the class are not satisfied with the grade system of today.
In Sweden the grades are divided in four levels: Not approved (IG), approved (G), well approved (VG) and finally the highest grade - very well approved (MVG). If you don’t pass the lowest level of knowledge in a subject course you will get IG which means there will be no approval, you just don’t get any grade at all. If you pass the middle level of knowledge you will get the grade G, and if you can make an even better result you will get VG or MVG. One reason for the dissatisfaction might be that each grade has a zone which is too big according to grades of knowledge. E g a student who has a great absence from school and barely manages to pass the lowest level of knowledge in a subject gets the grade G, exactly the same grade as another student who is more ambitious and has a result just under the level for VG. Maybe there should be more levels on the grade scale, as a suggestion G minus and G plus, VG minus and VG plus etc.
According to the inquiry most of the students spend about 4 – 6 hours a week on school work at home, the number can vary during different periods depending on which subjects are studied. The majority of the class sometimes worri about not managing to get the grades they aim at in different subjects.

Which subjects do the students think are the most bothersome?

Well, it varies very much from pupil to pupil. A subject which is easy for one pupil may be very difficult for another. It may be mentioned that Mathematics and German language are two subjects which many students think are difficult. It appears that 90% of the class have or have had difficulties in some subjects or think that has been bothersome. Half of the students are under stress because of their school work. Between 15 and 20% think that they can’t relax from school work when they are free and that it almost always takes too much of their spare time.

The importance of studying in sparetime

The critisism of the grade system may be something to think of for the school autkorities. The fact that the students think they must take too much of their spare time for school work may be taken a bit more easily, because after all school is serious and must be carried out! The students must be aware of the importance in offering a certain amont of the spare time for their studies, if they would like to get success in school. It would not be so good if they have got too much spare time, then school may seem less important. Of course this varies from pupil to pupil, some of them like homework better and some don’t like it at all. The best thing would be some sort of balance between the amount of homework and spare time.

The results of the inquiry in the Social Science class give following picture of the average student: He or she spends 4 – 6 hours a week on school work at home, thinks that school work sometimes takes too much of the spare time, is often under stress because of school work, is sometimes woried over some grade, doesn’t like the grade system but gives the swedish grammar school his or her approval anyway!