Zurich and Vaud are expanding school exchanges as French lessons in Zurich’s primary schools come under political pressure, reports SRF.
French teaching in primary schools is under pressure in German-speaking Switzerland. But Silvia Steiner and Frédéric Borloz, the education directors of Zurich and Vaud, are promoting exchanges between pupils at every level, writes SRF.
Switzerland’s linguistic divisions have long demanded compromise. Christophe Büchi, a longstanding correspondent for the Neue Zürcher Zeitung in French-speaking Switzerland, once suggested that the country’s national language might be reconciliation. School exchanges offer a practical way to bring its language communities closer.
Tout va bien was Ms Steiner’s message at a press conference in Lausanne on Friday morning. For five years, the two cantons have promoted language exchanges in primary, secondary and vocational schools.
More than 16,000 Zurich pupils have since visited Vaud for language stays of varying lengths. Several hundred secondary and vocational students have also taken part. More than 16,000 young people from Vaud have travelled in the opposite direction.
The programme goes beyond language stays. Schools organise bilingual class trips and online exchanges, known as e-tandems, in which young people act as both learners and teachers. Having started from scratch, the programme now attracts growing interest from pupils, teachers and parents.
The cantons plan to make short school exchanges easier to arrange. A dedicated platform will allow teachers to register their classes and find partners in the other canton. Primary pupils will also be encouraged to write to penfriends from their first French lessons.
In Zurich, the expansion may seem surprising. A majority in the cantonal parliament wants to scrap French lessons in primary schools. Ms Steiner sees no contradiction: parliament has also instructed her to expand language exchanges.
She says pupils’ progress in French must be measured and teaching improved where results fall short. In the first quarter of next year, she will submit a proposal to parliament on the future of French teaching in Zurich’s primary schools. She understands the criticism, but favours reform.
For Mr Borloz, closer ties with Zurich offer more than better language skills. Exchanges help young Swiss meet their compatriots and understand their country. Switzerland’s four national languages, he argues, are a cultural and social asset it should put to use.
Arranging such encounters has not always been easy. One parent who spoke to Le News tried to organise an exchange in German-speaking Switzerland in 2020. Teachers approached there said they had never heard of a pupil from French-speaking Switzerland coming to study in their schools. For some families, an exchange in Germany was easier to arrange than one across Switzerland’s own language divide.
More on this:
SRF article (in German)
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