Mandatory Swedish

In Finland learning Swedish is mandatory as it is one of the two official languages. Learning Finnish language is equally mandatory, with the exception of the Åland Islands. In Finnish the derogatory term pakkoruotsi is often used in reference to mandatory Swedish. Other commonly used term in Finnish is toinen kotimainen kieli (secondary domestic language), which refers to the one of the official languages, which is not primary (first) for the person in question.

Many Finns do not like the fact they have to learn Finland-Swedish at school and some think this should be changed. In many cases pupils have negative prejudice towards learning Swedish and this tends to reflect back from the teachers, whose mother tongue is often Swedish. This creates a negative learning environment, which in turn creates negative attitudes towards Swedish language and the Swedish speaking minority in general. These slightly negative attitudes often remain in adult population.

Swedish is spoken as a mother tongue by 5.1% of the population in Mainland-Finland in addition to the autonomous Åland islands, which are monolingually Swedish according to international treaties and Finnish laws. The status of Swedish as an official language in Finland is protected by Finland's Constitution and to some degree supported by international treaties according to which Åland is to remain exclusively Swedophone. The political party representing the Swedish speakers, the Swedish People's Party, has successfully been a minor partner in most Cabinets since Finland's independence.

Swedish teaching for all pupils of the primary education was introduced in the 1970s, until then it had only been required in secondary and tertiary education. Governmental service is, since the end of the 19th century, offered in both domestic languages; therefore employees must be proficient in both Finnish and Swedish. The reform was based on a political ambition to strengthen the ties with the Western world through Scandinavia, and to show that Finland was still a part of the Nordic countries, and not an Eastern Bloc country; but also by a will to improve the social mobility by ensuring that a bad decision on language in the early school years shouldn't become an obstacle for applicants to the Civil Services.

In the upper secondary general school all the students learn at least two foreign languages, one of which is the other domestic language (Swedish or Finnish). The Finnish speakers take Swedish, and vice versa. Practically all the students took English, either as a compulsory or an optional language; 44 per cent took German and 21 per cent French. [1]

See also: poispakkoruotsi