Schools in Bern to put French before English

Learning French in canton Bern's schools will take priority over English Keystone

The cantonal parliament of Bern - where the majority speak German – has voted in favour of French over English as the first foreign language at primary school.

Children in the canton will in future learn French from their third school year, followed by English two years later.

The reform, which was proposed by the cantonal government, is due to be introduced in the 2010/11 school year.

Motions put forward in favour of teaching English before French were turned down.

As part of education reform in Switzerland, the teaching of two foreign languages will be obligatory in primary schools from 2010-2012.

This was decided in March last year by the Conference of Cantonal Ministers of Education, who are responsible for education, training, culture and sport.

German-language cantons have mostly preferred to introduce the teaching of English before French, while French-speaking regions have all opted for German as the priority.

Up to now in canton Bern, French – one of Switzerland’s four national languages – has been taught from the fifth school year, with English introduced from the seventh.

English motions

One of the motions favouring English wanted to introduce lessons from the third year, with French only being taught from the fifth year. A second motion wanted to offer English as an optional subject from the third year.

Good arguments for both early French and early English were brought into the debate, with no fewer than 14 speakers having their say after the party factions had expressed their views.

Supporters of early French argued that for political reasons and as a bridge to the French-language region of Switzerland Bern had a duty to favour French.

They said that since pupils in the French-speaking area learned German as a first foreign language, it would be an affront if canton Bern did not support French in return.

Supporters of English countered that if English were to be given priority, there would be a harmonisation of the situation in the German-language area of the country.

World language

They also said that children preferred to learn English – a world language – rather than French and that English was the language of the business world.

The foreign-language issue at schools has been a hot potato, complicated by the fact that there are different education systems in Switzerland’s 26 cantons.

Some cantons favour English as a first foreign language, while others want German or French.

In canton Bern, the issue is part of an education package that is expected to be put to a vote on Tuesday.

swissinfo with agencies

Key facts

Switzerland has four national languages

63.7 per cent of the population speak German
20.4 per cent speak French
6.5 per cent Italian
0.5 per cent Romansh

Three cantons are bilingual (German and French): Fribourg, Valais and Bern.
One canton is trilingual (German, Italian and Romansh): Graubünden.

In brief

The Swiss Conference of Cantonal Ministers of Education comprises the 26 members of the cantonal government who are responsible for education, training, culture and sport.

In Switzerland, schools and education are primarily the responsibility of the cantons.

The Conference tasks are based on intercantonal accords, of which the most important is the 1970 Agreement on the Coordination of Education.

Under the accord, the Conference may issue recommendations for all cantons concerning the promotion of education and the harmonisation of the corresponding cantonal legislation.