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newcomers continued to arrive, settling principally in central and southern industrial areas. The Vatican subsequently established Sweden as a diocese (1953) with 18 parishes, 18 chapels, and four permanent priests. In 1969 there were 49,150 Roman Catholics in Sweden. The Greek (Old Russian) Orthodox Church has about 4,000 members (principally former Estonians), for whom a synod has been established in Stockholm.
There are about 12,000 persons of the Jewish faith in Sweden, of whom 50% reside in Stockholm and the remainder in other large cities. With the exception of a few German Jewish refugees, nearly all are Swedish citizens of several generations. There is no national religious organization, but there are eight autonomous Jewish congregations. Only the congregations in Stockholm, Goteborg, and Malmo have their own rabbis. Jewish families are generally assimilated into Swedish society, and anti-Jewish feeling among the population is insignificant.
H. Education
1. General
Until the post-World War II period, Sweden's educational system closely resembled the systems of other countries in northwestern Europe. Controlled by the church into the middle of the 19th century, Swedish schools were marked by the influence of Lutheran pedagogy, and the academic secondary school hewed close to the scholastic lines established in the neighboring German gymnasia more than a century ago. Since the demanding curriculum presupposed a congenial home cultural environment as well as high intellect, academic secondary education, and hence university matriculation, were limited to the small minority destined to run the affairs of the country. Only in the elementary education program was Sweden ahead of its neighbors (except for Denmark) by the first quarter of the present century, accounting that early for the extraordinarily high literacy rate of over 99%. Elementary schooling has been compulsory in Sweden since 1842, and school attendance was well enforced by the latter part of the 19th century.
The state gradually assumed direction of all schools after 1840. The overall responsibility for administration of the educational system is lodged in the Ministry of Education and Ecclesiastical Affairs, which exercises close control over all curriculums and sets uniform requirements for the admission and graduation of students as well as for training teachers. While the ministry is the central authority on policy, actual administration is handled by three agencies: the National Board of Education, with jurisdiction over the public primary and secondary school system; the Board of Institutes of Technology, with jurisdiction over the university-level technical institutes; and the semiautonomous Office of the Chancellor of Universities, with jurisdiction over the universities. In addition, 24 provincial school boards, one for each province, are appointed by the ministry and the King-in-Council, and more than 1,000 local school boards are elected by the local councils.
The public school system is financed entirely by national and local taxes. Expenditures for educational purposes, including research are the second largest item in the national budget, exceeded only by social welfare. Between 1961 and 1971—a period in which total national expenditures more than doubled—the proportion of total outlays allocated for educational purposes rose from 13% to about 20%. The following tabulation shows (in millions of U.S. dollars) total central government outlays, and the proportion allocated to the Ministry of Education and Ecclesiastical Affairs (which bears over 90% of central government expenditures for education) and other ministries for FY 1970/71:
| Millions U.S. Dollars | Percent of Total | |
|---|---|---|
| Ministry of Social Affairs | 2,500 | 28.4 |
| Ministry of Education and Ecclesiastical Affairs | 1,615 | 18.3 |
| Ministry of Defense | 1,130 | 12.8 |
| Ministry of Interior | 795 | 9.0 |
| Ministry of Local Government and Communications | 715 | 8.1 |
| Other expenditures | 2,065 | 23.4 |
| Total central government expenditures | 8,820 | 100.0 |
Sweden has an extensive system of public financial aid to students, in the form of free tuition, free school lunches, and free dental care. Since the academic year 1964/65, all students in the secondary and higher educational institutions, including the vocational and technical schools, receive basic cash allowances from the government, and many receive supplementary sums according to their needs. In addition, public study loans on favorable terms are available to students at all universities, teachers colleges, and other institutions of higher technical training.
The Swedish academic secondary schools have traditionally been highly selective, geared to produce a relatively small elite group of capable persons who eventually assume positions of leadership in the
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