In an interview with the Christian newspaper Dagen, Ekström suggested that religious charter schools were “bad for society” and that stopping them was a matter of integration.

However, there may be one notable exception. Jewish schools are to be exempted from the ban, fellow Social Democrat Civilian Minister Ardalan Shekarabi assured following the criticism from the Jewish Central Council.

“There are special rules for the minorities we have in Sweden. The Jewish minority is protected in that legislation and this means that they will be able to maintain their structure with special training,” Shekarabi was quoted as saying by Aftonbladet daily.