Education Partial revision of the St. Gallen Elementary School Act is delayed

The St. Gallen government has extended the timetable for the partial revision of the cantonal primary school law. The inclusion of stakeholders from the school environment is taking longer than originally planned.

The canton wanted to prepare the preliminary draft and the dispatch by the end of 2024, wrote the St. Gallen Department of Education in a press release on Friday. However, the project committee, in which the school base is represented, considers this timetable to be unrealistic.

The government now wants to carry out the consultation in 2026. The law could come into force on August 1, 2028 at the earliest.

In addition to the "Structures" and "Pedagogy" sub-projects, a new "Special needs education" sub-project will be created, the press release continued. This will deal with the many complex issues in this area.

The St.Gallen Elementary School Act is more than 40 years old. In November 2022, the cantonal council instructed the government to submit a draft for a revised primary school law. The aim is to simplify the division of tasks between the canton and municipalities.

In addition, modern guidelines are to be created "that are tailored to the autonomy and flexibility of the school authorities", the canton wrote in its communication.

SDA