Voluntary music lessons in St. Gallen schools
The St. Gallen Cantonal Council obliges primary, secondary and vocational schools to offer voluntary instrumental and vocal lessons. A proposal by the SP/Greens that the music schools offering these lessons must be recognized by the Department of Education was rejected.
The SP and the Greens had requested that any lessons decided upon must take place at a music school recognized by the responsible department. The applicants argued that all music schools in the canton had to demonstrate a minimum set of quality criteria. These included criteria such as the recognized qualifications of the teaching staff, a demand-oriented range of instruments and professional organizational and management structures.
In connection with the implementation of a language concept and extended block times in 2008, a stronger focus was placed on music when drawing up the timetable for pre-primary schools in St. Gallen. To this end, the number of lessons was slightly increased and the previously voluntary primary music school was now included in the timetable on a compulsory basis (with one lesson of 50 minutes each in the second year of kindergarten and the first year of primary school).
In the new St. Gallen elementary school curriculum, which will be applied from the 2017/18 school year, music is also included as a compulsory subject in the lesson plans from elementary school onwards, with the exception of the 3rd year of upper school. Music will be offered as an optional subject in the 3rd year of upper school if there are sufficient applications. In addition, a new teaching aid "MusAik" has been developed for the subject of music in grades 1 to 6 and will be introduced as a compulsory teaching aid.
