We urge the Minister of Education to think before he reads or speaks – as we do

Yesterday, Minister of Education Johan Pehrson made a statement about literacy and commented “those who have difficulty reading also have difficulty thinking.” This is not only an insult to all our fellow students with reading and writing difficulties and those who do not study in their native language, but also a lack of understanding of the pedagogical diversity of universities and the role of course literature in teaching.

The Minister of Education's statement is part of an outdated approach to university and college studies where knowledge gained from a book is repeated in an examination. This is not the pedagogy that students appreciate or benefit from most according to research on higher education teaching. Nor is it the pedagogy that benefits society the most.

To develop as a student, an academic mindset and the opportunity to be a co-creator in one's education and knowledge acquisition are first required, before accessing sources as a complement to and deepening of this in the form of text, sound and image, both analog and digital. Like audiobooks and digital encyclopedias, other digital tools should be seen as opportunities for learning and reflection from a scientific perspective. Just as students read course literature with a critical eye, we should be given opportunities to use other media with the same critical perspective instead of being suspected of cheating or looking for shortcuts.

You can get through an education without constantly having your nose in a book, but you can't get through an education without thinking. We urge the Minister of Education to think before he reads or speaks next time, just like we do.

/Victor Nygren,
Vice President of SUS