Two day school variants come to the vote
For the definitive introduction of day schools in the city of Zurich, an amendment to the municipal ordinance is required, which is to be voted on in 2022.
After the successfully completed pilot project Day School 2025, the day school will definitely be introduced in stages based on the model of the city of Zurich. On April 6, 2022, the municipal council decided on a corresponding change in the municipal code for the attention of those entitled to vote.
At the same time, he issued a decree on the day schools of the municipal elementary school. This differs in essential points from the original template, which the city council had referred to the municipal council at the request of the Zurich School Board (ZSP).
A parliamentary referendum was initiated against the ordinance of the municipal council, so that in addition to the amendment to the municipal code, the ordinance passed by the municipal council is also put to the vote.
City council uses double application right
Since the city council believes that the original ordinance defined a day school model that does justice to children, parents and school staff and at the same time keeps an eye on long-term financial viability, it also wants to present this variant to those entitled to vote.
The city council makes this possible by exercising its right to apply twice.
Significant differences in the day school variants
The following points are decisive for the city council in deciding to use the right to apply twice. The experiences of the pilot schools and the results of two internal evaluations have been incorporated into the ordinance on the day school by the city council and ZSP.
The changes in the ordinance of the municipal council would lead to considerable expense for the schools and to effects that may have an unfavorable effect on the desired goals, in particular the promotion of educational opportunities through social mixing and the cooperation of teaching and care.
The city council and the ZSP opted out of annual operating costs of 75 million Swiss francs from the nationwide introduction of day schools in their day school ordinance. It is estimated that the changes to the municipal council would increase this by up to CHF 51 million to CHF 126 million per year.
In September 2022, those entitled to vote will not only decide on the municipal ordinance, but also choose the future day school model.
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