Vaud schools in race for consensus on reform

As a consequence of direct democracy, cantonal school systems in Switzerland are periodically subjected to political roller-coaster rides. Parents who do not agree with the way the public school system is educating their children regularly start referendums (against a law that is already applied) or initiatives (in favour of a new one).

Ecole 2010 was launched in 2007 by three associations that want to "save school" by reinstituting a traditionalist and competitive approach to learning. The initiative will be put to vote on February 13, 2011.

The three associations in question, Aspics (Association de parents intéressés et concernés par la scolarité), Avec (Association vaudoise d'enseignants pour une école crédible) and Avpc (Association Vaudoise de Parents Chrétiens) have been waging a battle against the public school system for years.

In order to neutralize the initiative by proposing a new set of laws that redefines school organisation in Vaud and assuages its most virulent critics, Anne-Catherine Lyon, the socialist education minister, has led a vast consultation.

The purpose of the consultation is to identify the issues that are considered the most problematic and to propose remedial solutions.

More than 300 political parties, cantonal, communal and local authorities, trade unions and associations, including parents associations have been consulted. An additional 350 concerned individuals have also given their opinion.

"I am thrilled that so many partners have responded," the minister commented.

The results of the consultation, which contained 131 items, have just been published. Most submitted proposals have obtained a clear majority, but several have been rejected or will require further discussions with interested parties.

One rejected proposal planned to eliminate the possibility for a student to repeat a class. Vaud has the highest level of repetition in Switzerland, a measure that is considered detrimental to the student and costly to the system.

According to the Swiss federal office of statistics, a staggering 36 percent of students in Vaud repeat at least one year during their nine years of obligatory schooling, an annual cost for the state of between 30 and 40 million Swiss francs.

Furthermore, studies indicate that countries such as Finland, that consistently obtain the best results in terms of international school comparisons, do not allow a student to repeat, but instead provide extra tutoring.

Apé (Association vaudoise des parents d’élèves), the oldest and largest parent association, further to its own internal consultation, rallied vigorously to the proposal, but has remained a lone voice in the debate.

Unlike the three smaller associations behind Ecole 2010, apé consistently defends a school that adapts to the needs of a changing society, including its heterogeneity.

"The public school system must first abolish repetition if it is to find the appropriate solutions to help a student who is in difficulty," insists Barbara de Kerchove, president of apé. "Studies have shown that repetition is rarely satisfactory."

"But I get the general message and will not insist," Lyon affirms, although she would like to propose a compromise that would limit repetition to a maximum of two years.

Other sensitive issues have been exposed by the consultation, namely the rigid Vaud streamlining system. At the age of 12, students are oriented into one of three sections.

In a nutshell, VSB (voie secondaire baccalauréat) allows students to strive for a "maturité" that is necessary to go on to university, VSG (voie secondaire générale) prepares white collar (office) workers and VSO (voie secondaire à options) is for future blue collar (trade) workers.

The system was considered to work efficiently as long as students in the VSO section were able to secure apprenticeships at the age of 16 when their official schooling is supposed to end and they were considered to have the necessary basic skills.

But for many years now, not only have apprenticeships become difficult to find, but the VSO section has become identified with problem students who are not given the same chance as others.

The consultation has therefore advanced a number of solutions, including abolishing all sections or reducing the sections to two and introducing different levels of classes in all main subjects according to a student’s needs.

Such a solution would bring the Vaud public school system closer to what the international baccalaureate in most international schools has been doing for years.

Predictably, a clear political divide has been confirmed by the consultation, with conservative parties in favour of the status quo and Ecole 2010 promoting an even more "exclusive" school, but with school practitioners and left-leaning parties in favour of a deep structural change.

The centre right Radical-Liberal party is said to hold the key to the negotiations, since it has shown that it is open to modifications to improve the system, but must first be convinced on what it will consider to be the best option.

The success of Lyon to obtain a consensus will therefore depend on her ability to bring on board a maximum of partners. She is in a race against time.