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SCHOOLS

Why teachers in Swiss schools are worried about falling education standards

Switzerland is seeing a drop in standards at its state schools, especially in German-speaking regions of the country, teacher's associations warn and it's all to do with staff, or the lack of them.

Published: 10 August 2022 11:19 CEST
Pictured is a boy in a classroom.
Teachers warn that education standards could worsen in Switzerland. Photo by Taylor Wilcox on Unsplash

Switzerland’s teachers’ association has warned of worsening school education standards because of a lack of certified staff.

Association president Dagmar Rösler told a news conference that an increasing number of primary schools have had to bring in supply staff who are not qualified to be a teacher. “The quality of our education is in danger”, she said.

“The new school year starts with a further worsening of the shortage of qualified staff. This is hardly surprising and the schools are paying for what the politicians have failed to do for too long”, Rösler said.

READ ALSO: Geneva’s private universities charge high fees for unrecognised diplomas, probe reveals

She added there is a need to train new teachers, reduce overtime work, and provide new teachers with financial support. In addition, Switzerland needs to “make the profession more attractive”, according to the educator.

Where is the situation worse?

Rösler said the situation was worse in the German-speaking cantons in Switzerland and that schools were having trouble recruiting teachers to fill vacant positions ahead of the new term.

In Bern, for example, there were still 500 positions vacant in May 2022. The situation, which was already bad, was worsened by the Ukraine refugee crisis. As schools resorted to “emergency solutions”, they ended up hiring insufficiently qualified stern.

Rösler said: “In the canton of Bern, about 1,500 out of 15,000 teachers are insufficiently qualified. Moreover, two-thirds of the professionals working in education settings in the canton of Aargau do not have appropriate qualifications”.

READ ALSO: How different is raising kids in Switzerland compared to the United States?

“Teaching is a demanding and complex task that requires basic training. Where this is lacking; the remaining experienced teachers have to provide support”.

“What is meant to be a relief turns into the opposite”, she said.

Rösler warned that the knock-on effect could see parents opt to place their children in private schools or homeschool.

What needs to be done?

David Rey, president of the teachers’ workers’ union SER, said that the emergency measures taken must become the norm and that recruited persons who are inadequately trained “must not be offered permanent employment”.

He added that “false solutions” such as having more kids in the same class just place an additional burden on the teachers.

READ ALSO: Zurich mandates organic food for hospitals, schools and cafeterias

For the professionals, the cantons need to recruit and hire more qualified people. They also ask governments to support the career start with a reduced workload to avoid “burnout” among young teachers.

“We must ensure that people stay in the profession for the long term with attractive working conditions, salaries that meet requirements, opportunities for further trending and protections against excessive work”, Rey said.

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SCHOOLS

Swiss cantons move to hire more foreign teachers

Too few teachers are being trained in Switzerland, with an important shortage expected by 2031. How is this situation dealt with?

Published: 6 May 2024 16:09 CEST
Swiss cantons move to hire more foreign teachers

By the beginning of the new decade, between 43,000 and 47,000 new primary school teachers would need to be recruited, according to the Federal Statistical Office. 

However, in view of the number of teachers who will retire by that time, and faced with insufficient numbers of new professionals being trained in Switzerland, the country is facing an acute shortage. 

To remedy this situation, various cantons are taking steps, or are planning to do so in the near future, to fill the gap with teachers trained abroad.

The canton of Bern, for instance, allows people with a foreign teaching diploma to receive further training via a ‘Certificate of Advanced Studies’ (CAS) course at its University of Teacher Education (Ph-Bern).

“The CAS provides basic knowledge of the Swiss education and school system. The participants strengthen skills that are important for their work at Swiss primary schools,” the university said.

According to Tages-Anzeiger, the residence status for course participation was left open.

There are participants with protection status S (reserved for Ukrainian refugees), provisional admission, as well as B and C permits.

However, all course participants are expected to speak German, at least at B2 level. This means that they should understand the most important content of complex texts on concrete and abstract topics. They should also be able to communicate orally spontaneously and fluently — all reasonable requirements for teachers.

What other cantons are planning to implement similar measures?

Zurich is also considering training foreign teachers to work in Swiss schools.

“The development of programmes for people with a foreign teaching diploma is currently being examined, ” the University of Teacher Education (PH Zurich) said.

The interest in training foreign teachers is also high in Lucerne, where “measures to combat the shortage of teachers are continually being developed.”

As for Schaffhausen, its geographical location means that teachers from Germany have always had employment opportunities in local schools.

“As a border canton, Schaffhausen has always employed teachers from nearby countries, mainly from Germany,” officials pointed out.

However, unlike Bern, where teachers from a variety of countries are being trained, Schffhausen “has no plans to provide specific training or further education for teachers from other language areas.”

How can a foreign teacher find work in Swiss schools?

One thing to remember is that cantons are responsible for their school system, so requirements (as well as opportunities) may be different from one region to another.

By the same token, while the above measures are taking place in German-speaking cantons, if you are looking for a job in French or Italian cantons, you must have a proficiency in those languages to be able to teach in local schools.

Teachers with a foreign teaching diplomas can apply to the Conference of Cantonal Directors of Education (EDK) to have their diploma recognised in Switzerland. 

The EDK will decide what (if any) further training or certification you may need in order to work in a school in a given canton.
 

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