Although the summer holidays in Sweden can last over two months for some children, many parents opt to save their own annual leave for later in the year, whether that’s to enjoy better weather at their destination, save money on flights or to escape the Swedish winter. 

It’s becoming increasingly common for parents in Sweden to take their kids out of classes in term-time for holidays abroad, whether that’s to visit family elsewhere, as some of The Local’s readers may be considering, or just for some winter sun. The number of parents heading off to Thailand in particular during the winter has reached such levels in Sweden that a new word has been coined to describe it – a thaimout.

But what are the rules if you want to take your kids out of school?

School is compulsory

Sweden, like most countries, has compulsory schooling. In Swedish this is known as skolplikt – literally “school duty” – and applies from the year children turn six to the year they graduate from ninth grade (around the age of 15-16). Unlike elsewhere, this can’t be met through homeschooling either, so you’re not allowed to take your kids on holiday with the promise that you’ll keep up with the curriculum while you’re away.

Of course, there are exceptions to this school duty. If you plan to live abroad with your child for over a year, they lose their skolplikt. If you’re looking at taking a shorter, but still relatively long, break (say six to nine months) you can apply to the municipality to revoke the skolplikt.

Note that when you return you have to reapply for a place in school for your child, and there’s no guarantee they’ll end up in the same class or even at the same school when they come back.

What if we won’t be gone that long?

If you’re only taking a mini-break, say a week, you have to ask the school’s principal for permission. Depending on the school, you might get lucky. 

School policies vary with some being more lenient than others, but factors the principal could take into account are the length of the break, how important the break is, and whether they expect that the child will be able to keep up or catch up with their studies despite being off.

If you take your child out of school without permission, you could be fined. 

Solna municipality recently took a family to court and demanded 50,000 kronor after they took their children to Thailand. The parents put their children in a school in Thailand that followed the Swedish curriculum, but the school board in Solna rejected their application. 

Swedish media also reported on Facebook groups where parents share advice on taking a thaimout, and some parents admitted to ignoring rejected applications for time away from school and instead seeing the fine as part of the cost of the trip and paying up when they got home.

That sparked a major debate in Sweden about the benefits of foreign travel, the fact that many children today have roots in other countries, children’s right to uninterrupted schooling and some parents’ perceived middle-class entitlement to vacationing on the other side of the world.

What else should I be aware of as a foreign parent?

One aspect you should be aware of if you’re not a Swedish citizen is that the government is planning on tightening up the rules for citizenship and permanent residency, including opening up the possibility to revoke residency for any immigrants who show “issues with their way of life” or not granting citizenship to people with bristande vandel, essentially “leading a flawed way of life”.

The definition of bristande vandel is extremely vague, so it’s difficult to say what could be included in the future. In the government’s Tidö coalition agreement, written in collaboration with the Sweden Democrats, it lists one example of bristande vandel as “lack of compliance with rules”, and the government has also said that immigrants may need to show that they live by Swedish values.

It’s possible, but not certain, that not complying with skolplikt could be considered as falling into this category.

There are also currently rules in place that prevent you from becoming a citizen if you have any outstanding debts or have committed any crimes. Being issued a fine by the school board doesn’t mean you’ve committed a crime, but being unable to pay the fine and going into debt could cause issues for you down the line.

It’s also important to be aware of the fact that extended periods of time outside of Sweden (usually around three weeks or more) can affect future applications for residence permits or citizenship in Sweden. Essentially, you’ll need to prove you were legally resident (had hemvist) in Sweden for a specific amount of time, and trips abroad that are longer in duration than a standard holiday may need to be subtracted from this.

Of course, you are allowed to travel, whether that’s for a holiday or for a trip back home to visit family, but bear in mind that a normal Swedish holiday is usually around three to four weeks. If you were away for months at a time, then you may not be able to count that as time spent living in Sweden when you apply for a permit renewal or for Swedish citizenship.