Cham,26.11.2014

Parents of pupils at problem primary school relieved

Following the publication of the problems between management and staff at the Städli Primary School in Cham, as reported yesterday, parents of pupils at the school have spoken of their relief that the matter is now in the open.
 
When asked what he thought of the allegations that staff there felt they were having to work under a dictatorship, Beat Schilter, who is responsible for education on the local council, said he did not want to comment before all 27 personal interviews with all members of staff had been completed, which means in January at the earliest. As to the comments made by rector Philip Fuchs on the matter, Schilter said these has been cleared with him beforehand.
 
While the key problem remains one between the school authorities and the teaching staff, naturally pupils and parents are equally affected. Speaking about the conflict, one parent said, "At least this matter is now out in the open. We have known for some time that things were not right at the school. It seems the rector and the cantonal director of education, Stephan Schleiss, are not going to take responsibility for having wrongly appointed the senior teacher in question. While the politicians have the power, it is the children who suffer. Had this matter arisen in the world of private business, it would have been dealt with much earlier. It just makes me wonder how it is all going to turn out."
 
And how did Schleiss (photograph) himself react to this criticism?  He was rather indignant about it. "It is not for the canton to get involved in a conflict between the authority responsible, namely the education department of the municipality of Cham, and one of their own appointees," he said. When asked about the fact that Cham seemed to have been blighted with problems relating to schools for some years, he said, "You always get problems like these cropping up from time to time,  but they happen in other municipalities, too. Naturally if the authority in Cham asks for our assistance, we will gladly help. It is in no-one's interest to have discord in schools."
 
The mayor of Cham, Bruno Werder, has also spoken on the issue. He hopes the conflict can be solved as soon as possible. He is not happy about the fact that his municipality is regarded as having problems at schools in particular. "I just hope that, once the series of personal interviews is over, the school can return to normal," he said.