Sweden Spent Over $100 Million Bringing Books Back to Classrooms. Here’s Why?

We’ve grown used to digital technology. It’s all around us and has pervaded basically every aspect of our lives. In many ways, this is a positive thing – it has expanded our access to knowledge, broadened our horizons, and put a wealth of possibilities right at our fingertips.

But this doesn’t necessarily mean we should abandon more traditional technology and dive headfirst into this digital world. Sixteen years ago, that’s what Sweden’s Ministry of Education and Research did. More than a decade later, the Scandinavian country found itself spending years and over 100 million euros, reversing this revolutionary step.

Here’s how Sweden’s government set out with the best intentions, but ended up adopting a more balanced approach.

Sweden’s Digital Transformation in Education

2009 was a big year for digital technology. The earliest touchscreen smartphones had been launched a couple of years earlier, but these devices really started to capture the public’s attention in 2009.

The revolutionary video game Minecraft was launched that year too, going on to become the biggest-selling game of all time, and the very first block was added to the Bitcoin blockchain. Meanwhile, WikiLeaks was regularly making headlines for its digital transmission of leaked documents.

Against this backdrop, it’s easy to see why Sweden’s Ministry of Education and Research was so energized. The world was changing, and young people needed the skills and capabilities that would help them capitalize on new opportunities.

So a decision was made: traditional textbooks would be phased out, with computers and tablet devices taking their place. Students wouldn’t just learn how to use these devices – they would learn almost exclusively via digital media.

Problems Emerge

The issues with Sweden’s new approach did not make themselves known at first. It took several years for problems to emerge. But when they did, it became clear that the Swedish government had been a bit too eager with its sweeping changes.

Firstly, reading exclusively from a digital screen, rather than a paper book, can cause significant health issues. Eyes become strained, and the blue light emitted by the screen can result in problems with sleep and rest, two often-overlooked aspects of effective learning.

Knowledge, comprehension, and retention were also questioned. While digital technology is undoubtedly well-suited to interactive learning and problem-solving, this is only part of the modern educational landscape.

Concerns were raised that schoolkids weren’t able to learn some aspects of the curriculum with the same effectiveness as they were before.

Then there was the issue of screen addiction. So much of our lives is now governed by digital devices that it’s difficult to find any respite. By pivoting completely towards these devices, Sweden risked fueling the obsession with screens, potentially reducing attention spans and harming social skills.

An Expensive Fix

Sweden did not ignore the potential harm of a total digital revolution – after a while, they began to wake up to the potential problems. From 2022 to 2025, the Swedish government set about reversing its policies, or some of their policies anyway. They began to reintroduce paper textbooks to Sweden’s classrooms.

This didn’t mean getting rid of digital devices altogether; instead, it meant redressing the balance. Politicians and educators worked together to understand where digital devices could offer significant help and where paper textbooks were better suited to successful learning.

Of course, none of this was free. The Swedish government spent more than 1.13 billion Krona (around US$120 million) on bringing books back to the classroom. This was partially responsible for a 5,000 Krona jump (US$514) in per-student education costs in 2022. While the costs didn’t exactly cripple the Swedish economy, they did represent an expensive reversal of the earlier policy.

A Balanced Approach to Education

The thing is, Sweden’s Ministry of Education and Research was not wrong. It is important for students to gain digital literacy skills and become proficient in using a wide range of devices. It’s also true to say that digital tools can be seriously beneficial in the classroom, introducing new learning concepts and helping educators find new ways to impart knowledge.

The issue is that they went too far, too fast. Education is all about balance and considered approaches. Making sweeping changes and doing away with resources like paper textbooks and traditional materials isn’t the best way to bring about meaningful change. Instead, new learning concepts can work alongside longer-established processes, achieving something quite remarkable in the classroom.

Sweden’s government, to its credit, did learn this valuable lesson. Unfortunately, it took them fifteen years and over a hundred million dollars to put it right.