On Monday, 6211 schoolchildren will start the new school year in Biel. That is slightly less than last year. (Symbolic image)
Keystone
In the city of Biel, 6,211 students will start the new school year on Monday. After a sharp increase in recent years, this number has stabilized, the city announced.
Compared to 2011, the number of pupils starting the new school year is still 1,006 higher, the city wrote in a statement on Thursday. However, compared to the previous year, it is slightly lower – in 2023, 6,240 schoolchildren began the new school year.
This includes all children in kindergarten, primary school, secondary school and special classes. 2,796 children are French-speaking and 3,415 are German-speaking.
The classroom is being adapted
The city of Biel also announced that children will increasingly encounter differently furnished classrooms “that support different teaching methods and correspond to modern pedagogy.” The days of classic rows of desks, blackboards and desks lined up next to each other are over.
The city says it is taking advantage of opportunities presented by renovations or selective conversions to adapt the school premises to educational developments.
One example of this is the new school building on the Champagne, she wrote. Today’s teaching methods require rooms in which groups can be formed and modulated. This aspect is also taken into account in renovations such as the renovation of the Geysried school building.
In the future, outdoor spaces will also be part of the school premises, for example so-called “garden rooms,” as it was further stated. These are areas protected by large awnings and can be used by the children for group or individual work.
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