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The “total digitalization” strategy in Swedish schools is being replaced by a return to paper and handwriting to strengthen basic literacy.
The Swedish government has announced an investment of millions of Swedish kronor to reduce the use of iPads and computers in schools and to bring back physical textbooks.
The decision marks a drastic shift in the country’s educational policy, which was previously one of the biggest proponents of digitalization in basic education. The new plan prioritizes reading on paper and the practice of handwriting as essential tools for students’ cognitive development.
The retreat from school digitalization
Sweden’s Minister for Schools, Lotta Edholm, has been one of the most critical voices regarding the excessive reliance on digital devices in young children. According to the government, the strategy to bring back books comes after the latest PIRLS (Progress in International Reading Literacy Study) report showed a decline in the reading skills of young Swedes.
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Although the country still shows results above the European average, the decline has raised alarms about the long-term impacts of replacing printed material.
State funding will be allocated to the purchase of textbooks to ensure that every student has access to a physical copy per subject. Education experts argue that an excessive focus on screens may have impaired concentration capacity and deep comprehension of complex texts.
The initiative to bring back books aims to re-establish the balance between modern technological tools and traditional teaching methods that are proven to aid information retention.
Cognitive and pedagogical impacts
Studies cited by Swedish health and education authorities suggest that reading on paper promotes better textual comprehension than reading on digital screens. Furthermore, replacing keyboards with pens in the initial stages of literacy is seen as fundamental for the development of motor coordination and memory.
By bringing back books, schools aim to reduce students’ exposure time to blue light and the distractions inherent in apps and the internet.
The transition to the digital environment has been accelerated in recent years, often without the necessary scientific evidence of its pedagogical benefits. Now, teachers are being encouraged to use printed material as the main basis for their classes, leaving digital devices for specific and limited activities. The movement to bring back the books seeks to restore the role of the teacher as the primary mediator of knowledge, aided by tangible physical resources.
Costs and implementation of the new policy
To facilitate the change, the Swedish government allocated about 685 million kronor in 2023, with plans to increase this amount in the following years. This budget is exclusively for the distribution of printed teaching materials and for training educators on how to integrate paper into modern school routines.
The strategy to bring back the books is accompanied by a curriculum review that reduces the requirement for the use of digital technologies in early childhood education.
The measure has received support from parent associations and pediatricians, who warn about the risks of sedentary behavior and early eye fatigue. Although technology remains present in society, Sweden has decided that the classroom should be a space for preserving traditional reading.
With the implementation of bring back the books, the Nordic country sets a global precedent on the limits of technology in the education of new generations.
With information from Zme Science
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