37 percent of schoolchildren go to the Kanti this year

The long-term grammar school has recorded more student allocations than ever before.

The long-term grammar school (Langzeitgymnasium) in Zug recorded record student allocations in 2022, according to a statement from the Zug Education Directorate (Bildungsdirektion). A total of 1,407 schoolchildren in the 6th grade are assigned to the four types of school in Canton Zug: Werkschule, Realschule, Sekundarschule and Langzeitgymnasium. 209 of these children attend a private school, with the majority going to an international school.

Never before have more students gone through the Transition Procedure I, the statement continues. Parents and teachers could not agree in 2.2% of all allocations. In these cases (31 in number), Transfer Commission I had to decide on the allocation.

"Based on the results of a clarification test and after a thorough examination of the preliminary files, the Transfer Commission has made these 31 allocation decisions, all of which were accepted by the parents," explains Markus Kunz, President of the Transition Commission I, in the statement.

Educational pathways got out of balance
At 25.5%, the allocation rate to the long-term grammar school reached the highest value ever achieved. The rate for municipal schools (excluding private schools) is 28.4%. The combination of the largest number of pupils and the highest allocation rate has thereby led to the highest number of pupils ever allocated to the long-term grammar school (359).

Stephan Schleiss, the Director of Education (Bildungsdirektor) is quoted as follows: "28% of the sixth graders of the municipal schools move directly to the long-term grammar school. The figure is as high as 37% in the city of Zug this year."

The Zug Cantonal School is popular with parents           Photo: Stefan Keiser

He explains: "Only a few years ago, we were below 20% across the canton. This had a negative effects not only on vocational training, but on all educational pathways that follow the Sekundarschule. The Sekundarschule itself also suffered because it was missing the best students. Even the long-term grammar school isn’t helped if it doesn’t keep up its profile. The educational pathways were out of balance."

Transfer test is an issue
The Government Council (Regierungsrat) has concluded its report and its proposal to the motion raised by the two cantonal councillors Kurt Balmer and Roger Wiederkehr regarding steering measures for a highest high school quota, and has sent it to the attention of the cantonal council (Kantonsrat).

"In order to preserve the educational diversity when transferring from the primary school, the government council is requesting that the entry into the long-term grammar school be steered more strongly again," it says in the message. To this end, the existing transfer procedure is to be supplemented by the element of a transfer examination for the long-term grammar school.

For the 2022/23 school year, a total of 168 pupils registered for a cantonal secondary school on the basis of an allocation decision. This is 40 more registrations than in the previous year.

In particular, the Fachmittelschule (vocational intermediate school) (plus 15) and the Wirtschaftsmittelschule (school of economics) (plus 17) recorded an increase in registrations, and each of these has led an additional class in the school year 2022/23.
A total of 78 students have registered for the short-term grammar school (Kurzzeitgymnasium) in Menzingen (70 in the previous year).