As part of sweeping reforms to the school system, Canton Zurich is set to make learning English mandatory. The move will also create 12 new core high school subjects, ranging from technology and environmental science to law.

Canton Zurich to radically reform local Gymnasiums

In a statement, the government of Canton Zurich revealed major changes to how short-Gymnasiums will operate in future. In Zurich, the short-Gymnasium or Gymi follows the second or third year of secondary school or the second year of long-Gymnasium. The qualification earned at the end of Gymnasium, the Matura, is what local students use to apply for university.

As it stands, each Gymi specialises in certain fields and often does not give students the option to apply for all subjects. For instance, the Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Gymnasium (MNG) Rämibühl above the Kunsthaus specialises in maths and sciences, while the Kantonsschule Hohe Promenade is best at languages at the Kantonsschule Hottingen is most adept at entrepreneurship.

New pathways promise new opportunities for local students

According to the statement, from the 2029 / 2030 school year, all Gymnasiums in Canton Zurich will be required to teach as many core subjects as possible, which will be offered through 12 different pathways. These range from Communication and Media (German, English, Psychology) and Life Sciences and Health (Biology, Chemistry, Psychology) to Technology (Maths, Physics, Computer Science), Politics Law and Economics (Economics, Law, History) and Individual in Society (Pedagogy, Psychology, Philosophy).

In addition, each school will be able to offer supplementary subjects to students in each pathway, which will be dependent on what resources they have to offer. The Tages-Anzeiger found, for example, that the Zurich Unterland Cantonal School near the airport could include an aviation specialism.

English to be made a mandatory subject in Zurich schools

Also under the new rules, all Gymnasium students in Zurich will be required to learn English as their third language. This is in addition to German as a subject and the language of instruction, and the choice of either French or Italian as a second “national” language course. As it stands, 20 percent of Zurich Gymi students do not learn English.

Other third languages that students could have taken instead of English, like Latin and Greek, will only be taught as supplementary subjects. The move is a dramatic one for local Gymnasiums - only 27 percent of them currently offer Italian language courses.

Zurich school reforms met with cautious optimism

Following the announcement of the new curriculum, there was some cautious optimism among schools. Zurich school principal and president of the conference of secondary head teachers, Andreas Niklaus, told the Tages-Anzeiger that the changes are “courageous, correct and well-thought-out”. However, he feared that teachers would worry that the changes to subjects would lead to a higher workload.

Philipp Michelus, a teacher at MNG Rämibühl and head of the teachers’ conference, agreed noting that the reforms “inevitably cause uncertainty about the number of semester hours and workloads." However, both Niklaus and Michelus agreed that the changes provide a great opportunity for students and teachers to experiment with new classes.

The reforms have now been sent for consultation with the cantonal parliament expecting to vote on the plans next autumn.