St. Gallen latest Swiss canton to ban French lessons in primary schools

The St. Gallen Cantonal Council has approved a motion to abolish French lessons in primary schools. St Gallen follows Zurich and Appenzell Ausserhoden, which also recently voted to postpone learning French until secondary school. 

St. Gallen postpones French lessons until secondary school

The St. Gallen cantonal parliament has approved a proposal to abolish learning French in primary schools. The proposal was jointly submitted earlier this year by the four main political parties in the canton, and it passed in the Cantonal Council by 88 votes to 24, with one abstention.

The cantonal parliament will now draft an amendment to the cantonal law. However, St. Gallen is part of the Harmos Concordat (HarmoS), a cross-cantonal agreement on compulsory education in Swiss schools. This means that if the passed motion contradicts the Harmos Concordat, then it may have to be amended, reports Blick.

Learning French is currently compulsory in St. Gallen, and it is taught in primary schools from grade 5 onwards, at around ages 10 and 11. Postponing French lessons to secondary school would mean that schoolchildren will start learning French at around ages 12 to 15. 

St. Gallen schoolchildren should focus on other subjects, proposal says

The Cantonal Council’s proposal argued that learning French as a second language in primary school is an “additional burden for pupils” and that it has no “demonstrable long-term benefits”, reports Blick. The council suggests that schoolchildren should focus on building “basic skills” such as mathematics, science and German.

St. Gallen joins Swiss cantons Zurich and Appenzell Ausserrhoden in postponing French lessons until secondary school. Cantons Thurgau and Glarus are expected to debate a similar proposal soon. “Concerns are also growing” in Lucerne and Bern, reports SRF.