Language Education Shift: St. Gallen Joins Zurich in Postponing French Classes

St. Gallen becomes the second major Swiss canton to vote for delaying French language education to secondary school, challenging national language harmony policies.

Key Takeaways

The St. Gallen parliament voted to postpone French teaching from primary school to secondary school.
The specific change involves moving French instruction from the 5th year of primary school to the 1st year of secondary school.
St. Gallen joins Zurich and Appenzell Outer-Rhodes in voting to delay French education.
The decision contradicts the HarmoS inter-cantonal agreement.
A proposal to replace French with English in secondary schools was rejected.