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Minder questions early selection in the school system <\/p>\n
Keystone-SDA <\/p>\n
The president of the Swiss Association of Head Teachers wants to scrap entrance exams to secondary schools.\n<\/p>\n
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April 5, 2026 – 09:37\n<\/p>\n
+Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox<\/a><\/p>\n In an interview with the SonntagsBlick newspaper, Thomas Minder questioned why the two-track secondary school system should test pupils\u2019 academic abilities so early. <\/p>\n + Swiss teachers are well paid but stressed<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cWe know from science that every transition in school reinforces social inequalities,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n The head teachers\u2019 association is therefore of the opinion that there should be no selection at the start of secondary school. Some Swiss cantons already manage the transition without exams.<\/p>\n Minder favours selection at a later stage towards the end of school and heterogeneous classes with different levels of difficulty.<\/p>\n He also criticised the training of teachers as inadequate in the face of growing demands. Teachers need to have social, emotional and communication skills in addition to specialised knowledge. \u201cIt is a mission impossible to achieve this in the three years of study,\u201d Minder told the newspaper.<\/p>\n He called for at least four years of training and a Master\u2019s degree for all teachers. \u201cPolitically, this would be very difficult to push through because the costs would rise. But it would pay off in the long term,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n The shortage of teachers could be alleviated despite longer training programmes by integrating prospective teachers into school operations before they complete their studies.<\/p>\n \n More<\/p>\n More <\/p>\n Education\n <\/p>\n \u2018I\u2019ve always had a passion for teaching\u2019 <\/p>\n This content was published on <\/p>\n Jan 9, 2023 <\/p>\n The lack of teachers in Switzerland is currently being solved by hiring unqualified teaching staff. <\/p>\n![\"Allievo](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/dbdffb9f19e66b615869295497b4ac35-maurizio_audino_1-data.jpg\")
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