<p>This thesis addresses the problem of how it is possible to understand the governing system for the school sector by studying how the relationship between the government and municipalities comes to the fore in the position held by the directors of education, who are the administrative directors of education in the municipalities. In order to put the position of the directors of education in its place in the government´s system for adminsitrating the school sector, we have studied how this office developed to be a part of the central adminsitration of school acivities in the municipalities. The study includes an analysis of how the position and function of this office changes up until the 1990´s, as well as what experiences the directors of education who serverd during the 1990´s had of the control and adminsitration of matters in the school sector.</p><p>The empirical material of the study consists partly of documents and litterature - particularly hostoric texts, and partly of a questionnaire and interviews. The questionnaires have been carried out among all of the directors of education that served during the whole 1990´s. The results of the study show that the changes in the government´s system for governing the school sector have rendered the system itself seomwhat obscure. Positions of responsibility have not become clear. Hidden control becomes visible by the way in which economic issues are handled and by the existence of the agreement on school development - both of which are control instruments in the school sector, but not parts of the national control and adminsitration system. Underpressure has been developed in which the government, through its decrees, has strengthened the school level in issues that need to be solved in the municipal level in the present system, whithout the municipal level actually beeing strengthening.</p>

This thesis addresses the problem of how it is possible to understand the governing system for the school sector by studying how the relationship between the government and municipalities comes to the fore in the position held by the directors of education, who are the administrative directors of education in the municipalities. In order to put the position of the directors of education in its place in the government´s system for adminsitrating the school sector, we have studied how this office developed to be a part of the central adminsitration of school acivities in the municipalities. The study includes an analysis of how the position and function of this office changes up until the 1990´s, as well as what experiences the directors of education who serverd during the 1990´s had of the control and adminsitration of matters in the school sector. The empirical material of the study consists partly of documents and litterature - particularly hostoric texts, and partly of a questionnaire and interviews. The questionnaires have been carried out among all of the directors of education that served during the whole 1990´s. The results of the study show that the changes in the government´s system for governing the school sector have rendered the system itself seomwhat obscure. Positions of responsibility have not become clear. Hidden control becomes visible by the way in which economic issues are handled and by the existence of the agreement on school development - both of which are control instruments in the school sector, but not parts of the national control and adminsitration system. Underpressure has been developed in which the government, through its decrees, has strengthened the school level in issues that need to be solved in the municipal level in the present system, whithout the municipal level actually beeing strengthening.