Teachers complain of having to work under a dictatorship

There have repeatedly been problems between the management and teachers at schools in Cham since 2008. Now another problem has flared up, this time at the Städli 2 Primary School, where teachers have complained about the authoritarian style of the senior teacher.
 
Six years ago rector Patrick Meier was forced to leave after teachers even took to demonstrating on the streets  and, since the appointment of his successor Philip Fuchs in 2009, a number of teachers and the Canton of Zug Teachers' Association have continued to complain about the authoritarian style of school management teams, at the Röhliberg school in particular. It was here that, as a result of intimidation and the pursuit of a "policy of the muzzle", that five secondary school teachers resigned.
 
The current senior teacher at the primary school was appointed just over one year ago on a 60% assignment. However, according to teachers at the school, she is not capable of leading the staff and merely dictates what they should do. "We are not taken seriously. Decisions are taken without consultation as in a dictatorship and minutes of staff meetings are not correctly recorded," complained one member of staff, who preferred to remain anonymous. She went onto say how staff were not appreciated enough and that a climate of fear reigned in the staffroom. It seems last year two members of staff resigned because of irreconcilable differences of opinion between them and the school management.
 
It has since been decided that 27 staff will be invited to personal interviews in order for them to air their grievances. Furthermore, Katharina Landolf, the cantonal ombudswoman, has also been invited to become involved "as a listener".
 
Speaking about the current situation, Fuchs said that it was inevitable that changes in leadership led to changes in how schools were run and that corrective measures would be duly introduced to alleviate the current problems. However, as the first of these 27 personal interviews had only just started and that it would be January before everyone had been heard, he could not be more forthcoming at present. He denied there seemed to be a curse on relationships between teachers and school management in the municipality.