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Court: Canton may reorder languages taught

Citizens of the canton of Graubünden will be able to vote on an initiative that would require only one foreign language to be taught in primary school. The Federal Court in Lausanne, Switzerland’s supreme court, ruled on Wednesday that the text was valid.

That decision allows voters to consider an initiative which, if accepted, would result in only German being taught as a foreign language in the Romansh and Italian-speaking regions of Graubünden.

Switzerland’s easternmost canton, which borders Italy, Austria and Liechtenstein, is the only place where all four Swiss national languages – German, French, Italian and Romansh – are spoken.

The initiative would also result in only English being taught as a foreign language in primary school in the canton’s German-speaking parts.

Language debate

Cantonal officials tried to block the initiative, saying it was unlawful and would cause discrimination based on language. In April 2015, the canton’s legislature declared it invalid.

In the ruling, a majority of the federal court‘s judges said the “one foreign language at primary school” initiative does not cause violate laws against unequal treatment or discrimination.

But two judges voiced a minority opinion that “the initiative creates manifest discrimination”, a court statement said.

The Swiss constitution recognises the rights of various language groups to communicate in their own language. All laws and official documents must be available in German, French, and Italian because they are full official languages of the Confederation.

Romansh is a “partial” official language for the purpose of communication with Romansh speakers. The federal government, in accordance with the constitution, provides assist to the cantons of Ticino and Graubünden in supporting Italian and Romansh.

Most Swiss speak one of the four national languages, but the number using foreign tongues, particularly English, keeps rising. About two-thirds of the Swiss use more than one language at least once a week; after German, Swiss-German and French, English is the fourth most regularly used.