Education Committee wants to withdraw Basel remedial classes initiative

Following the approval of the counter-proposal by the Basel Grand Council, the initiative committee wants to withdraw the remedial classes initiative. This was confirmed by the Vice President of the Basel-Stadt Voluntary School Synod (FSS) to the Keystone-SDA news agency on Wednesday.

A majority of the committee members are in favor of a withdrawal. The initiative committee will submit a declaration of withdrawal to the State Chancellery in the next few days, said FSS Vice-President Marianne Schwegler. The decision will then be official. "I welcome the decision of the Grand Council," continued Schwegler.

Parliament decided on Wednesday morning by 92 votes to 0 with 4 abstentions to oppose the remedial classes initiative with the counter-proposal of the Education and Culture Commission (BKK).

The counter-proposal stipulates that schools can create remedial classes, but only for children with learning difficulties and learning disorders, not for those with behavioral problems. It wants to leave it up to the schools to decide whether they want to introduce remedial classes.

The initiative committee and the FSS had already announced two weeks ago that they would consider withdrawing if the Grand Council approved the compromise. With the wording in the BKK counter-proposal that schools can introduce remedial classes, the core concern of the initiative is taken up.