Equity and equivalence in preschools – central government support, monitoring and supervision
(RiR 2025:15)
Summary
The Swedish National Audit Office has examined whether the central government’s efforts to promote equity and equivalence in preschools are effective. The audit has covered the National Agency for Education’s support for developing preschool education, how developments at preschools have been monitored, and the Swedish Schools Inspectorate’s supervision and examination of quality. The Swedish National Audit Office’s audit has also included whether the current division of responsibility between the Swedish Schools Inspectorate and municipalities contributes to legally certain and uniform supervision of preschools.
The overall conclusion of the Swedish National Audit Office is that the work of the National Agency for Education and the Swedish Schools Inspectorate is not sufficiently effective to promote the goal of equity and equivalence in preschools. Despite the important role that preschool plays in children’s development and learning, and the fact that the public sector allocates extensive resources to this school form, preschool has often been overlooked in the initiatives and monitoring of both the Government and agencies. The Swedish National Audit Office also considers that the current preschool supervisory system, in which supervision is shared between municipalities and the Swedish Schools Inspectorate, does not promote uniform and legally certain supervision.
National Agency for Education’s school development support is lacking on several fronts
The Swedish National Audit Office’s audit shows that the National Agency for Education’s school development support does not reach all preschools, especially small school governing bodies and preschools. The National Agency for Education’s support for systematic quality management in preschools is also inadequate. It is difficult to determine whether the National Agency for Education’s efforts effectively help to provide conditions for children’s development and learning, as there are shortcomings in the Agency’s monitoring of preschool needs for support and in its evaluation of existing efforts.
Inadequate monitoring of developments at preschools
The Swedish National Audit Office’s audit shows that the National Agency for Education has not performed any regular monitoring of equity and equivalence in preschools. Not until 2023 did the National Agency for Education initiate a major follow-up of equity and equivalence. Furthermore, statistics on preschool education at local level are limited, which can make it difficult for school governing bodies to monitor their own activities. Besides, the National Agency for Education’s analyses and monitoring of developments in the school system focus too little on the operations of preschools.
Swedish Schools Inspectorate has barely inspected preschools in recent years
The Swedish National Audit Office’s audit shows that the Swedish Schools Inspectorate has barely performed any supervision or quality inspection of preschools in recent years. It is also difficult for the Swedish Schools Inspectorate to conduct effective supervision in certain areas because supporting legal provisions are limited, making it difficult for the agency to make decisions about deficiencies. All in all, this makes it difficult for the Swedish Schools Inspectorate to identify and address problems in preschool operations, which may have an adverse effect on equity and equivalence in preschools.
Shortcomings in the preschool supervisory system
The Swedish National Audit Office’s audit shows that there is a risk that municipalities’ examination of permit applications and supervision of independent preschools is inadequate due to municipalities’ varying means for performing their remits, heightened complexity in the remit and difficulties in acting as independent inspectors. There are also shortcomings in central government guidance for municipalities, and the Swedish Schools Inspectorate’s control over municipalities’ supervision is ineffective, as it mainly focuses on supervision being conducted rather than on how it is performed.
Recommendations
The Swedish National Audit Office makes the following recommendations.
To the Government
- Ensure that conditions are in place for legally certain and uniform permit assessment and supervision of all preschools at the operational level. For example, ensure that the Swedish Schools Inspectorate is assigned responsibility for permit assessment and supervision of all preschools, or that a government agency is assigned responsibility for supervision guidance for municipalities, while the Swedish Schools Inspectorate is assigned responsibility for supervising municipal preschools at the operational level.
To the National Agency for Education
- Ensure that all school governing bodies and preschools, regardless of size and capacity, can access school development support, and evaluate the results of initiatives on teaching.
- Expand support for systematic quality management in preschools.
- Ensure that current guidance for municipalities for permit assessment and supervision of independent preschools covers all stages of the permit and supervision process and otherwise meets municipalities’ needs.
- Develop preschool monitoring to better illuminate developments in terms of equity and equivalence, for example, by developing national quality indicators that measure conditions for equity and equivalence over time.
To the Swedish Schools Inspectorate
- Ensure that preschools are included to a considerably greater extent in the Inspectorate’s supervision and quality inspection.
Ensure regular monitoring of municipalities’ supervision of independent preschools.