Last year the courts invalidated the canton’s refusal to offer school places to children living in France.
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According to the newspaper Tribune de Genève, the canton continues to refuse these children places in its schools.
In 2016, around 1,500 children living in France were going to school in Geneva. In 2017, things changed. 143 of a total of 443 applications were refused after the canton’s education administration tightened the rules.
Last year’s court ruling appears to have had little effect. The rules are even tighter in 2019. According to the newspaper, places are now only offered when they’re available. This means no children living in France were offered school places in Geneva this year unless they had a sibling already there.
The complicated issue looks set to return to the courts. Geneva’s constitution grants a right to free universal education to citizens and taxpayers. A Swiss family working in Switzerland but living in France would fit this definition.
Others argue sending children to a local school in the community where they live – France in the case of a cross-border worker – is better for the child and their social integration.
Add to this rules under Switzerland’s bilateral agreements with the EU against discrimination based on nationality and the issue gets even more complex.
More on this:
Tribune de Genève article (in French) – Take a 5 minute French test now
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