Stockholm schools recorded 338 reports of threats or violence involving teachers and other school staff in September 2026, according to the Swedish Teachers’ Union (Sveriges Lärare). The union has formally requested stronger workplace protections and given the city’s education administration 14 days to respond.
The formal complaint concerns working conditions in Stockholm’s municipal compulsory schools. Union representatives say the problems require action across the city’s education administration, rather than being handled separately by individual schools.
Teachers demand stronger protection in Stockholm schools
The union has identified 15 serious workplace safety shortcomings, including inadequate support during violent incidents, staffing problems and situations in which teachers work alone despite an identified risk of violence.
Simon Sandström, the union’s chief occupational safety representative in Stockholm, said several recent incidents had been particularly serious. According to the union, teachers were assaulted at two lower-secondary schools, with one sustaining facial injuries requiring stitches.
The union wants clearer emergency procedures, practical support when individual schools lack sufficient resources, and decisions about who can provide additional protective staffing. It also wants the city to ensure that employees are not left in unsafe conditions when several incidents require attention at the same time.
The request was submitted under Section 6:6a of Sweden’s Work Environment Act, which allows safety representatives to demand measures from an employer and seek intervention from the national workplace safety authority if the response is insufficient.
Why more reported incidents do not necessarily mean more violence
Stockholm’s Education Administration (Utbildningsförvaltningen) does not share the union’s description of an acute situation. As Swedish public broadcaster SVT reported, officials say that improvements in reporting procedures may explain part of the increase.
The wider trend is striking. Municipal figures reported by local newspaper Mitt i show 1,946 reports of threats or violence involving school staff in 2025, compared with 984 in 2021. These annual figures cover both compulsory and upper-secondary schools and cannot be directly compared with September’s monthly count.
The municipality says it has encouraged employees to report all incidents, including situations in which harm could have occurred but did not. It therefore cautions against treating an increase in recorded incidents as proof that actual violence has risen by the same amount.
The union maintains that staff still face serious risks and that inconsistent reporting and inadequate safety procedures are part of the problem it wants the city to address.
Stockholm education officials promise a response
Peter Bragner, Stockholm’s director of compulsory education, said on 21 October that the administration would examine the complaints and respond within the 14-day deadline. He acknowledged the rise in reports and said the city regularly encourages employees to document incidents.
If the union considers the response inadequate, the case can be referred to the Swedish Work Environment Authority (Arbetsmiljöverket). Under Swedish workplace safety rules, the authority can examine such requests and decide whether corrective measures are necessary.
The next decision for Stockholm is whether the city’s existing procedures, staffing and emergency support adequately address the risks identified by its teachers.
