Government wants to obligate Swiss-German cantons to teach French; new federal budget to skimp on public transport and universities; and more news in our Monday roundup.
The Federal Council wants to force Swiss-German regions to teach French
Zurich’s recent decision to stop teaching French in its primary schools has sparked controversy in multilingual Switzerland – especially as another Swiss-German canton, St. Gallen, has also chosen to postpone the teaching of French in their public schools.
Though the federal government usually leaves a lot of leeway to cantons to make their own policy decisions – in education and other matters as well – in this particular case, it wants to intervene.
On Friday, therefore, the Federal Council has “instructed the Federal Department of Home Affairs to prepare a draft law requiring cantons to continue teaching a second national language at the primary level, the government said.
READ ALSO: Is Zurich breaking Swiss law by scrapping French lessons in primary schools?
Swiss government moves toward more expensive public transportation and student fees
The Federal Council intends to continue reducing the state budget by cutting certain subsidies.
To that end, it presented on Friday its planned cuts for the next three years. “The relief program will reduce federal finances by 2.4 billion francs in 2027, 3 billion in 2028, and 3.1 billion in 2029,” the Federal Council said.
Among the planned reductions is the contribution to public transport: the share of costs covered by the federal government will decrease.
Further, the Federal Council wants to reduce its subsidies to universities, suggesting the funding shortfall could be made up by increasing tuition fees.
Concretely, additional revenue could be generated by universities “doubling fees for domestic students and quadrupling them for foreign ones,” the government said.
New foreign students at Switzerland’s two polytechnic institutes – in Zurich and Lausanne – already pay triple fees for their tuition from the September 2025 academic year.
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Accidents involving foreign visitors are costly for Swiss municipalities
Switzerland is a mecca for high-risk sports, but some foreign tourists leave the country without paying the bill for rescue operations and hospital costs.
These costs must therefore be borne by municipalities where the injured were rescued and / or treated – tens of thousands of francs in some cases.
According to a report by the SRF public broadcaster, this concerns mostly people from third countries.
That’s because EU / EFTA nationals can be treated in Switzerland for free – and vice versa – I case of medical emergencies.
READ ALSO: Why getting rescued in the Swiss Alps could cost you thousands
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Welcome to the first day of autumn
The so-called Autumnal Equinox marks the official start of autumn in the Northern Hemisphere – including Switzerland.
It is too early to know ahead of time what the weather will be like once autumn officially begins, but after a summer with some extremely hot spells, most people are probably looking forward to sunny and cooler (but not TOO cool) days.
If you have any questions about life in Switzerland, ideas for articles or news tips for The Local, please get in touch with us at news@thelocal.ch
