In an opinion piece for the Dagens Nyheter newspaper on the day she submitted her final conclusions to the government, inquiry chair Eva Broström stated that introducing a mandatory preschool for children with insufficient knowledge of Swedish would be "both legally and practically difficult, and raises questions regarding equal treatment and discrimination".
Instead, the inquiry recommended strengthening outreach programmes, granting a right to extended hours in the standard public preschool, and launching a pilot project focused on language-boosting initiatives. It also proposed a language assessment from the age of three, which could then qualify a child for targeted preschool language support.
In addition, the inquiry suggested that Sweden's National Agency for Education develop guidelines for authorities and staff on what constitutes good quality in preschool education. It further recommended setting regulatory criteria for staff-to-child ratios and capping the maximum number of children allowed in preschool groups.
Broström noted in a press conference that targeting specific groups lacks a legal basis and risks indirect discrimination, violating the Swedish Instrument of Government, the European Convention on Human Rights, and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
"The inquiry's analysis and conclusion is that there is no legal basis for introducing a mandatory preschool for certain children," she said.
However, Education and Integration Minister Simona Mohamsson, of the Liberal Party, insisted the government would not back down.
"The government is in agreement that we need to find a way to introduce a mandatory language preschool for the children who need it the most, and we will return in the near future with details on how we will achieve this," she told a press conference on June 16th.