Interview with Tony Mufic, Director of Education in Stockholm Stad

In a conversation with Tony Mufic, Director of Education in Stockholm Stad, he told me about his first impressions and experiences in his new role since July 2015. Before that, he was Director or Education of 1.900 employees in a small town Ängelholm, in the west of Sweden. Nowadays, he is facing the same challenges in Stockholm together with15.000 employees.

Tony wants to get in contact with all his employees but, since that would be a daily job, he meets with a mixed group of six employees twice a month. This group represents the whole school. During lunchtime they tell them about their situation, vision and challenges. His conclusion so far is that there are big differences between the 14 districts in Stockholm. These differences are a big challenge in itself because it requires specific and customized policy. The toughest task for the coming 20 years is building two schools each year for at least 900 students and recruiting 900 teachers every year because Stockholm is a fast growing city.

Besides that, Stockholm wants to be a smart city in Information Technologies. Tony is thinking about building schools near to the high-tech cluster in Kista near to the centre of Stockholm to meet the great demand for graduates in that field. These fast growing and successful companies estimate a demand of a thousand new employees each year. Stockholm Stad is working very hard on implementing IT and digital communication in every development which affects its citizens. Tony is on a mission to get citizens to think along with all the developments within Stockholm, in the field of education as well.