Young Swiss Must Learn Second National Language, Says Government

(MENAFN- Swissinfo) Switzerland's 26 cantons could be obliged to continue teaching a second national language at primary level. The government intends to draft a bill to this effect. This regulation would apply only if the 2004 compromise on languages is abandoned. This content was published on September 19, 2025 - 11:06 2 minutes Keystone-SDA

• Français fr L'enseignement des langues nationales doit être encadré Original Read more: L'enseignement des langues nationales doit être encadre

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The government is“concerned” by the decision of some German-speaking cantons to postpone the teaching of the second national language to secondary level, it said in a statement on Friday. Such a decision“jeopardises the harmonisation of teaching and national cohesion”.

+ After Zurich, St. Gallen votes to relegate French to secondary school

The government has instructed the interior ministry to draft a bill. The aim is to clarify the place of national languages in education, while taking into account cantonal competencies in education and the differences between language regions.

+ Top teacher questions early French in Swiss schools

With this bill, which will be put out to consultation, the government is preparing“for a possible failure of the harmonisation of language teaching”, which was decided as part of the HarmoS agreement.

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