This week we will learn who receives the Nobel Prize in litterature. Seven Swedes have since the start of the prize – 1901 – won the prize over the years, namely: Selma Lagerlöf, Verner von Heidenstam, Erik Axel Karlfeldt, Pär Lagerkvist, Eivind Johnson, Harry Martinson and Thomas Tranströmer.
Out of this group of giants my personal favourite is Thomas Tranströmer, one of the best poets ever.
However our best writer will never win the prize, since it is not awarded posthumously. This has though occurred twice against the rules when the 1931 Literature Prize was awarded to Erik Axel Karlfeldt, and the 1961 Peace Prize awarded to UN Secretary General Dag Hammarskjöld. Since 1974, laureates must be thought alive at the time of the October announcement.
Astrid Lindgren (1907-2002) is in my opinion our best wrter ever and she has certainly sold more books and had impact on more people than sny other individual writer. The reason? She wrote childrens’ books.
But Astrid Lindgren was so much more than a best-selling author of children’s books like Pippi Longstocking. She was also an important opinion former who helped unseat a Swedish government, influenced changes in the law and even inspired anarchists.
Astrid Lindgren is the eighteenth most translated author in the world, and one of the most well-known Swedish authors.
She became an author relatively late in life, and an influential voice on everyday issues even later. Because of her popularity, people listened to what Lindgren had to say.
Lindgren talked about everything including politics. However she also turned her common sense, sharp mind and clarity of expression to the issue of violence against children. Here she used her acceptance speech for the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade, which she was awarded in 1978, as the platform for her views.
The essence of the speech was that if children are brought up with violence, chances are that they will use violence when they grow up. And if they are people with power, this may be very dangerous.
The speech generated a great deal of attention in Sweden, Germany and further afield, and was one factor behind Sweden becoming the first country to ban the smacking of children in 1979. Lindgren’s involvement also caught the attention of the victims; after the speech, two boys in foster care in Germany ran away and turned up on her doorstep in Stockholm. Lindgren helped send them back and ensured that they were well treated from then on.
Lindgren lecturing a skinhead on a Stockholm street
Lindgren’s drive to protect the powerless from the powerful also extended to animals, and she became a high-profile advocate of the prevention of cruelty to animals. ‘She was not a vegetarian, but she knew that if we are to keep our humanity, we have to treat other living beings with respect’, Törnqvist says.
Lindgren’s campaign, started as a reaction against industrial-scale farming, stirred up public opinion and led to the government announcing the so-called Lex Lindgren animal welfare law as an eightieth birthday present for the author.
Lindgren’s legacy to Sweden is a long row of much-loved books and charachters like e.g; featuring Pippi Longstocking, Emil in Lönneberga, Karlsson-on-the-Roof, the Six Bullerby Children (Children of Noisy Village in the US), as well as the children’s fantasy novels Mio min Mio, Ronia the Robber’s Daughter and The Brothers Lionheart. Having said that, her engagement and attitude also helped change the laws of our country in a range of areas. Because Astrid was an activist before people even knew what the word meant.
Astrid touched the everyday Swede. There was a combination of common sense, straightforwardness and warmth in everything she did, which made her unique.
Lindgren has sold roughly 144 million books worldwide.
It is Monday morning, again. Another morning at Copenhagen Airport a.k.a Kastrup.
This is my normal routine, to fly out to the world from Copenhagen on Sunday night or Monday morning.
It has become a part of my professional life to be in the air, travelling the world.
Last year I had 280 travelling days. This year, maybe more.
I like Kastrup, Copenhagen Airport. It is a great airport – all except for luggage handling which is of a quality below avarage in Europe.
I have my routines at the airport which notmally starts with a coffee at Starbucks.
This week is a travelling week with five countries in five days. See you in the air or on the road.
The World Economic Forum, a nonprofit foundation, has ranked the most educated countries in the world as part of its annual Global Competitiveness Report.
The WEF created the index using a variety of objective and subjective measures.
Each country’s score, from 1 to 7, is based on factors including secondary education enrollment rate and tertiary education enrollment rate – which means the number of people who studied either at university or an equivalent, such as a nursing college.
The score is also based on answers provided by business leaders from each country, to five questions.
10. New Zealand
Score: 5.9
New Zealand constantly ranks among the top education systems in the world. The country’s education department is innovative: in September, the government outlined plans to introduce online education courses, whereby students are not required to attend school on certain days of the week.
9. Australia
Score: 5.9
Australia is a well-educated country, and has a particularly high proportion of tertiary-educated adults. 43% of adults have trained at an institution after leaving school – that’s behind only Canada, Japan, Israel, Korea, the US, and the UK.
8. United States
Score: 5.9
A large proportion of adults in America have a university education – 43%. That is the fifth highest proportion in the OECD.
7. Norway
Score: 5.9
Norway has high levels of taxation and invests heavily in education. It devotes an annual expenditure of approximately £11,000 ($14,000) per pupil from primary to tertiary education – the third highest figure in the OECD.
6. Denmark
Score: 5.9
Denmark is the OECD country that spent the largest share of its wealth on education, with a total expenditure on educational institutions of 7.9% of its GDP. It is a major priority in the country: it was one of the few countries where education expenditure actually grew during the financial crash of 2008-2010.
5. Belgium
Score: 6.0
In Belgium, higher education pays: unemployment rates for those with a tetiary education is just 3%. Unemployment rates are lower than the European average for every other level of education, too.
Teaching is a well-paid profession in the country: teachers salaries are on average £57,000 ($74,000) adjusted for purchasing power. The OECD average is £39,000 ($52,000).
4. Switzerland
Score: 6.0
A large majority of Switzerland’s population has attained a full secondary education: 86% of 25-64 year olds. A large majority of Switzerland’s population has attained a full secondary education: 86% of 25-64 year olds. The country spends a lot on it: an average of £12,500 ($16,000) per student per year, compared to the EU average of £7,500 ($9,500).
3. Netherlands
Score: 6.1
The Dutch rank highly in many fields of education. A third of Dutch 25-64 year olds hold a university degree, which is significantly higher than the OECD average of 24%.
2. Finland
Score: 6.2
Finland’s education system is widely-acclaimed, especially since a 2010 documentary, “Waiting for Superman,” compared it favourably with the USA’s. Teachers are selected from the top 10 percent of the country’s graduates, and are required to earn a master’s degree in education.
1. Singapore
Score: 6.3
Singapore’s education system is the most highly-regarded in the world, but it is also famously known as a “pressure cooker” for its intensity and strictness. Global comparisons of maths and science ability are often topped by Singapore’s school system.
This time my home country Sweden was just outside the top ten. So there is something to work on.
Source: World Economic Forum
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