[ad_1]
Switzerland became a school mosaic during the crown pandemic. This is particularly noticeable for high school students.
At the currently closed cantonal school in Freudenberg, there should be no school leaving exams this year.
Actually, it is quite simple. Last week, the Federal Council showed how schools should continue to warm up after closing. Mandatory schools will reopen on May 11, and the other educational institutions, including middle and vocational schools, will start again on June 8. This is because the number of corona virus infections does not increase too much.
The Federal Council must approve the exemption from exams.
But in practice there are already certain obstacles. For example, there is likely to be no one-size-fits-all solution for schoolchildren taking their Matura exam this year. This is becoming evident after the Conference of Directors of Education (EDK) made its fundamental decisions on Tuesday. The plenary assembly decided that oral exams should be avoided in all final classes of secondary schools and specialized secondary schools. However, this exemption is not ordered.
Furthermore, the cantons should be able to do without Matura’s written exams. To make this possible, cantonal education directors trust the Federal Council. To adapt Matura regulations accordingly, the state government must issue an emergency ordinance. EDK submitted a request to the Federal Council on Tuesday. A Bern decision is expected in the coming days.
Cantons are already expected to approach this scope in completely different ways. “If the Federal Council creates this possibility, the canton of Zurich will follow this path when it comes to secondary school and specialized secondary schools,” says Niklaus Schatzmann, director of the Canton of Zurich Intermediate Schools and Vocational Training Office.
According to Schatzmann, the EDK attaches great importance to the quality and equivalence of diplomas. She was convinced that this could be ensured if the cantons that did not test were based on experience. The Matura certificate is based on thirteen degrees, most of which are already experience qualifications. In some subjects, in addition to experience grades, exams are taken, each weight is halved. The exams would represent around twenty percent of the final result. “Therefore, a stronger support in degrees of experience seems justifiable in this extraordinary situation,” emphasizes Schatzmann.
This should not be the norm, at least in German-speaking Switzerland. Based on the decisions made so far in the area of education, it can be assumed that written courses will also take place in 2020 in many cantons. Lucerne’s director of education Marcel Schwerzmann said Tuesday that everything would be done in his canton so that the written tests could be carried out.
Preparations are also underway in the other cantons of central Switzerland, at least for the written exams. The directors of education in the eastern cantons of Switzerland decided in early April that school leaving exams would also be possible this year, but the procedure is still being resolved.
On the other hand, some of the cantons in western Switzerland and possibly Ticino are likely to send their graduates to school without an exam. The background to this may be that these regions are most affected by the coronavirus. For most dropouts, however, despite Covid-19, it means learning and preparing for final exams.
The absence of final exams should not bring any disadvantage to the 2020 dropout exam. The transition to secondary schools, such as universities and technical colleges, must be ensured with this regulation.
Many high schools remain closed longer.
A patchwork quilt is not just the result of the Matura. Not all cantons define the compulsory school level in the same way. “The Canton of Zurich Directorate of Education declares that secondary schools are not compulsory schools, but represent a compulsory range of schools,” says Schatzmann. Accordingly, the possible resumption of classroom instruction decided by the Federal Council on April 16 refers to the elementary school, but not to the lower secondary schools. Therefore, the 15 long-term grammar schools must remain closed.
“Therefore, we currently assume that high schools at all grade levels will only return to classroom instruction on June 8,” says Schatzmann. However, since the Federal Council did not make a final decision on the resumption of class attendance until April 29 and, if necessary, also clarified the school and age groups in question, it was not yet possible to take a final decision before this date.
The canton of Zug, which wants to manage it in the same way as the neighboring canton of Zurich, has also decided. The two long-term grammar schools in Zug will also be closed on May 11. Only kindergartens and elementary schools will resume operations at this time if the Federal Council decides definitively on this opening step. As Zug’s director of education, Stephan Schleiss (svp.) Explains, there are several reasons for this decision. Secondary schools would count for middle schools and therefore for non-compulsory lessons.
“Our secondary schools are central schools attended by students from all over the canton. We want to avoid passenger flows as early as May 11, ”explains Schleiss. Authorities also want to prevent teachers from having to provide distance education for upper classes and face-to-face teaching for lower secondary school students. “In addition, the final exams of the upper classes that take place in these weeks must be protected,” explains the director of education in Zug.
Officials in the canton of Lucerne also want to prevent the six long-term grammar schools from developing students who take the Matura exams or attend classes in the lower classes. Therefore, a compromise has been agreed. Classes for the first and second classes of lower secondary school begin on May 11. For the third class, you shouldn’t start again until June 8. In addition, high school students will take a week off during their Matura exams, as Regula Huber of the Lucerne Directorate of Education explains.
The cantons of Uri, Schwyz, Obwalden and Nidwalden in central Switzerland go even further. Classroom instruction for all three lower secondary classes begins in full at all cantonal schools. Those responsible accept that face-to-face and distance learning will be taught in parallel for a few weeks.
