The Lucerne Cantonal Council debated the external school evaluation on Tuesday. In principle it was undisputed. In the case of individual points, the director of education has to go over the books again.
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The schools in the canton of Lucerne will continue to be checked externally in the future. On Tuesday morning, the Cantonal Council took note of an impact report on the external school evaluation. The Lucerne government had commissioned the school inspection, which is carried out every six years. The report was published in July and gives the external school evaluation good marks.
The schools in the canton of Lucerne have to undergo an external review every six years.
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However, there was controversial discussion in the Cantonal Council. She was positively recognized by the Greens and the CVP. “Primary school is accepted throughout the canton because parents can expect high-quality instruction,” said Rahel Estermann (Greens, Lucerne), President of the Education and Culture Commission. This is also thanks to the external school evaluation.
Low costs in an intercantonal comparison
According to Gabriela Schnider-Schnider (CVP, Schüpfheim), the impact report shows that the school evaluation is continuously developing in the right direction. For the current third cycle, which will last until the end of this school year, simplifications and optimizations have been made again. The annual expenditure of 750,000 francs is very low compared to other cantons. “It is positive that all the associations involved have taken note of the report and approved,” said Schnider.
SVP, FDP and SP were more critical. The report speaks of the great satisfaction of all those involved. “That does not correspond to our feedback from the teaching staff,” says Rosy Schmid (FDP, Hildisrieden). The school evaluation has improved and has become less complex. “But the benefits are being questioned in many places. There is also no view of the higher-level positions. “
There is no control over the responsible agency
The SP also criticized this point. “We lack the outside view,” said Urban Sager (SP, Lucerne). The external school evaluation is carried out by the primary school education department. “This means that it is not viewed from the outside.” Angelina Spörri (GLP, Eschenbach) also complained that an important control is missing. “Education is the biggest budget item, so it’s worth taking a closer look.” Overall, however, the path taken is the right one, said Spörri.
The SP also lacks concrete examples and a strategy for further development. “Here we would like to see more creative drive across all school types,” said Urban Sager. At the same time he emphasized that the abolition of external school evaluations was definitely off the table with this report. Jonas Heeb (Greens, Horw) agreed: “Not doing an external school evaluation would be a mistake and would mean even more pressure and stress for the school management.”
Schwerzmann wants to take a closer look
Two years ago, Willi Knecht (SVP, Geiss) called for their abolition in an initiative. There was no more talk of that yesterday, but the SVP remained critical. “The present report shows the government’s positive view. There are no real reasons why it would not work without the external school evaluation, ”said Lisa Zanolla (SVP, Lucerne).
Education director Marcel Schwerzmann agreed to take a closer look in the future so that not only the schools but also the department are viewed critically. Education is costly. “The canton and communes spend well over a billion francs. Spending less than a per thousand of the total budget on the external school examination is justified. ”
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