Lingenäs school three years on: only 30 pupils with Swedish as their first language
According to what Kb/NSk has learnt, families, in particular in Gamla Näsby, actively choose not to send their children to Lingenäs school, where there is an overrepresentation of pupils from socio-economically disadvantaged families.
This is the opposite of what the municipality had hoped to achieve.
Lina Leyman Nilsson, head of the education department, explains that it was never intended that 800 pupils should attend the school, even though the school is dimensioned for it.
– We knew right from the start that we had more room than we needed. It wouldn't have been a good thing to have such big classes, says Lina Leyman Nilsson.
– We think there are other reasons than that the school has a low standard, she says.
The number of pupils has dropped.
– Forecasts have changed, the birth-rate has gone down compared to what we saw a few years ago, and grants to help new arrivals to get established have been abolished. And families moved to other areas too.
An external assessment of Lingenäs school is in progress, in which the amalgamation of schools, the teaching and the geographic situation will be evaluated. This will be completed during the autumn.