Open conflict about foreign language teaching averted
The Thurgau parliament made a U-turn and narrowly voted to keep French as foreign language at primary school
Keystone
Opponents of a coordinated approach to foreign language teaching at primary schools in Switzerland have suffered a setback.
This content was published on
1 minute
swissinfo.ch with agencies/urs
Parliament in canton Thurgau on Wednesday rejected a proposal to ban French at primary schools (grades one to six) in the German-speaking region in eastern Switzerland.
In a first reading of the bill in May, parliament had voted for the proposal, causing a nationwide outcry and raising the spectre of the federal government interfering in education – traditionally a domain of the 26 cantons.
As a compromise the Thurgau government put forward proposals for exemptions from the language classes.
Sensitive issue
Opponents argue French should not be taught at an early age but in the last three years of compulsory schooling (which in Switzerland is grades seven to nine).
However, the interior ministry and other supporters of early French say the teaching of another official Swiss language is crucial for the cohesion of a country with four official languages: German, French, Italian and Romansh.
This content was published on
A move by two German-speaking cantons to stop the teaching of French in primary schools has caused a storm of protest in western Switzerland. (SRF, swissinfo.ch)
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here. Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.
Read more
More
Two national languages urged for Swiss primary school
This content was published on
As English makes inroads, efforts are underway to preserve Switzerland's national languages as a linchpin of its culture.
This content was published on
On March 8, citizens in the canton of Nidwalden will decide on a rightwing proposal to simplify the curriculum at the primary school level, limiting the number of foreign languages to only one, besides the native German. It is widely assumed that the change would be at the expense of French, one of Switzerland’s four…
Which languages will Zurich’s young schoolchildren learn?
This content was published on
French, English or both? Zurich is the latest canton to decide on whether to teach just one foreign language at primary schools.
This content was published on
“We realised that for most primary school pupils learning two foreign languages does very little good. You just have two lessons a week for each language, English and French, and that isn’t intense enough to learn a language,” former Zurich cantonal politician Hanspeter Amstutz told swissinfo.ch. Amstutz is helping to spearhead a local people’s initiative…
This content was published on
They are between 11 and 12 years of age and live within 200 kilometres of each other. But in Switzerland such a distance is enough to separate two very different linguistic worlds. In mid-May, the pupils of Rachel Dällenbach, a teacher from Fribourg (French-speaking), and those of Marina Studach from Kilchberg (German-speaking), met for the…
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here. Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.