Winterthur disappointed by music school bill
In February, the Zurich cantonal government forwarded the bill for the new music school law to the cantonal council. For Winterthur, the draft is a disappointment. It drives up expenditure and leaves the municipalities alone with the infrastructure costs.
The Winterthur City Council welcomes the fact that the law allows music schools to offer extracurricular music lessons for children, adolescents and young adults up to the age of 25. In principle, the City Council does not question the high quality requirements for music schools.
What the city council finds objectionable about the bill, however, is that the canton sets high quality requirements for the recognition of music schools, but at the same time is only prepared to make a minimal contribution to the costs. In the consultation responses, the municipalities and music schools demanded a cantonal contribution of twenty percent, writes the city of Winterthur. In addition, infrastructure costs were not classified as eligible for a contribution.
The bill stipulates that music schools must guarantee a minimum offer and access to an extended musical offer, have a qualified school management and ensure that music lessons are taught by music school teachers with a university diploma or equivalent training.
The bill also does not do justice to the constitutional mandate to promote gifted pupils, the city council continued. It does state that musical talents and particularly talented pupils should be supported. However, the canton is not prepared to make an appropriate contribution to the costs incurred and to the expenses of the support centers (special music schools).
The City of Winterthur suggests that the canton's share of costs be raised to at least twenty percent during the deliberations by the cantonal parliament and that the passage "infrastructure costs are not considered eligible operating costs" be removed without replacement.
Photo: Machine park of the nail factory in Winterthur. Roland zh/wikimedia commons
