Three semesters instead of two
The Center-Right Alliance as well as the Social Democrats want to divide the school year into three semesters rather than two, in an effort to get fresh baked students out on the market faster. According to the utbildningsdepartementet (department of education) Sweden together with Denmark have the oldest students in the world, therefore several efforts to shorten the length of the education are proposed. Says Swedish Minister for Higher Education Tobias Krantz: “The summer holidays are well established in our educational system, and it has proven difficult to change that, but if the Alliance wins the election we will look into a proposed bill to change into three semesters.” Utbildningsdepartementet also wants to introduce a bonus system, with bonuses awarded to students who take their exams, and a study allowance system, which will give money per credits taken. “Some 32 000 candidates applied for this year’s summer courses at colleges and universities around the country,” explains Ulrika Carlsson, the Center Party’s spokesperson for education. “That indicates a need for a third semester.”

Woman denied job because of pregnancy
A woman in Vårgårda was denied a job in a store because she was pregnant. Now she’ll receive 100 00 SEK ($13,965.54) in compensation after a reconciliation with the company. “We had to have someone in the store for August, but that’s when she’s going to a have a baby,” the owner says. Through Arbetsförmedlingen (Swedish Public Employment Services), the woman began as a trainee in the store last spring, and was later given a summer job there. She told the owner about her pregnancy, but that was not a problem for him. Two weeks later, it became clear that the store had to hire someone for fall, and the woman then applied for that job. However, the owner then said they couldn’t hire her, since she is pregnant. The woman taped these conversations. “I felt used. It was a disappointment, because I had hoped it (the time as a trainee and the summer job) would lead to a job there,” the woman says. She received help from Arbetsförmedlingen, who told her to report the company to diskrimineringsombudsmannen (Equality Ombudsman). The woman will now receive 100 000 SEK, before taxes, as reconciliation. “I’d much rather have a job,” she says. “But it’s nice to know I was right. It’s not about money, I just wanted to put my foot down, it was important to show that this is not how you treat people.”Says the owner: “We needed someone who could begin in August, and that’s when she is having her baby. That was the reason she didn’t get the job. If we had hired her, we would have had to look for someone else anyway. Of course I am not allowed to say that she didn’t get the job because she is pregnant. But we had to have someone who could work.”

Forced sterilization can be abolished
The Moderate Party wants to abolish the requirement for sterilization of people undergoing sex changes. Thus, the Christian Democrats is the only parliamentary party that has not made a clear statement on the matter. Under current Swedish law, one must be unmarried, a Swedish citizen, and sterilized to undergo a sex change. The Christian Democrats want to wait for the submissions for comment on a commission report, but is thereafter open for changing these requirements.

Stockholm Pride 2010
The sun showed up at the last moment, and the carnival spirit was at its peak when the Stockholm Pride Week closed Sunday with the traditional parade through Stockholm's inner city. A lot of people had gathered to join in on the twelfth Pride Parade. The organizers estimated about 35 000 visitors at the finale of this festival for homosexuals, bisexuals and transgender people. Since the start in 1998, Stockholm Pride has grown to become one of Sweden's and Stockholm's largest annual outdoor events, as well as one of the largest Pride celebrations in Europe. Each year Stockholm Pride attracts visitors from all over the world. The celebrations normally begin with lectures and exhibitions all over the city on the Monday. Pride House is the festival's cultural center. It is packed with seminars, debates, workshops, exhibitions, film, theater and other performances.