School St. Gallen school communities demand reduction in the number of lessons

A second relief lesson will be introduced for classroom teachers in the canton of St. Gallen from summer 2025. However, the school authorities are demanding a cost-neutral introduction. For this reason, one compulsory lesson is to be abolished.

The St. Gallen Education Council wants to improve the situation of classroom teachers. From the 2025/26 school year, a second relief lesson will therefore be introduced for them. The change is also part of the measures to combat the general shortage of teachers.

This relief is expressly welcomed, according to the joint press release issued by the St. Gallen Association of Primary School Authorities (SGV) and the Association of St. Gallen Municipal Presidents (VSGP) on Monday.

However, there is criticism of the costs. With the reduction in teaching hours, "more staff are needed overall" to cover teaching times. Spread across the entire canton, this amounts to 13.4 million francs.

More lessons than in other cantons

The two associations are demanding that the reduction in class teacher workload must be "as cost-neutral as possible" for the school authorities. For this reason, a previous compulsory lesson should also be abolished.

There is scope for this: in the canton of St. Gallen, the annual teaching time is a good five percent higher than the Swiss average. Primary school pupils go to school around one hour more per week than the national average.

It is unacceptable for the Board of Education to make a decision "whose costs and personnel consequences must be borne by the school authorities alone", according to the press release.