Sweden Rethinks Digital Learning, Returns to 'Old-Fashioned' Books in Effort to Reverse Poor Literacy

Emily Mangiaracina : Apr 20, 2026
LifeSiteNews.com

In the neighboring country of Norway, children's reading comprehension scores tanked after 2016 when each five-year-old starting school was given an iPad.

[LifeSiteNews.com] Sweden's educational system is distancing itself from digital learning and returning to books, paper and pens in an effort to remedy its poor literacy rates. (Image: Pixabay)

"We're trying, actually, to get rid of screens as much as possible," said Joar Forsell, an education spokesperson for the Liberal party, which is led by Sweden's education minister.

"With higher ages in school, you might use them a little bit more, but with lower ages, or in school, I don't think we should use screens at all," he added.

The education official stressed that data shows kids who have been working with tech devices through their entire education are "lagging behind" in international achievement benchmarks.

It is clear that educational outcomes have suffered in the country for over a dozen years. Sweden's Pisa ranking—the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's (OECD's) benchmark for core educational subjects—markedly dropped in 2012 and then again in 2022. That year, almost a quarter (24%) of students ages 15 or 16 failed to demonstrate even a basic level of reading comprehension.

In 2019, Sweden's then-Social Democrat government administration mandated computer tablet use in preschools.

Neuroscientist Dr. Sissela Nutley has highlighted the mounting evidence that digital devices impair reading comprehension. Nicholas Carr made a case in his book The Shallows that the internet tends to rewire our brains' attention spans and depth of processing for the worse. One of the reasons for this, he says, is that when we read on the internet, we tend to skim, while books encourage deep and focused reading.

One recent study shows that children with high levels of screen engagement before age two showed brain development changes "linked to slower decision-making and increased anxiety by their teenage years."

After a 2023 consultation involving academics, teaching organizations, and public groups, schools are no longer required to use digital devices, and tablets are no longer given to children under age two.

Later this year, a total ban on cell phones in schools will come into effect... Subscribe for free to Breaking Christian News here

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