The School Superintendent – an old role in an altered shape

The position of school superintendent, established in 1958, was abolished in 1991 as

a law-regulated position. The equivalent tasks of a superintendent were thereafter

carried out by a local government official with many different titles and a varying

set of responsibilities. However, in 2018 the position of school superintendent

was re-established in the Swedish Educational Act. The purpose of this article is to

study how school superintendents interpret the consequences of this change with

regard to their commission and role. One-third of the informants claim that the

revision of the law has not affected their daily work, while almost half believe that it

has had some effect, albeit to a small extent. Informants believe it has contributed

to a more well-defined commission, a strengthened mandate, and a clarification of

the superintendents’ responsibilities, which can be interpreted as yet an expression

of an ongoing process of re-centralization in the Swedish school sector.