School closures continue in Sweden amid political anti-Islamic motive

The Swedish government continues to close down Islamic academic institutions in a bid to push “anti-Islamic rhetoric” and “stop privatization” in education.

This is despite the fact that many of them are among the best-performing schools in the country.

Earlier this year, the Nordic country’s then-Educational Minister Lena Axelsson Kjellblum told a press conference that her government had introduced a bill aiming to “prohibit the establishment of so-called independent religious schools.”

The bill essentially prevents the schools from expanding by increasing the number of their students or opening new branches from 2024 onwards.

Only Islamic schools have been targeted by the legislation so far, triggering an outcry from Muslim organizations, researchers, and schools, arguing that the decision to shut down Islamic schools was not based on poor academic results or other teaching shortcomings, but rather had political, anti-Islamic motives.

Mohamed Amin Kharraki, head of the independent Muslim school Framstegsskolan in the Ragsved suburb of Stockholm, told news sources that around 20 schools that classify themselves as Islamic or those that are owned by Muslims are being closed with the only three remaining fighting a lawsuit against them.