In its ruling, the Federal Court supported the July 2015 verdict of a canton Zurich court, which had denied the “al Huda” Islamic foundation an operating permit for its kindergarten on the grounds that the teaching of religious and secular content would not be properly separated. The school planned to teach students that religious knowledge forms the basis of everything later learned and experienced, which the court ruled went beyond the amount of religious focus allowed in private schools.
The Federal Court also echoed the cantonal court’s ruling that the 25% of staff capacity dedicated to teaching Arabic and the Koran is too high to achieve the necessary educational aims at the school, and that the people who would be teaching those subjects do not have the necessary qualifications.
Finally, the Federal Court found that the concept for the kindergarten was missing the necessary commitment to humanistic and democratic values, which is enshrined in Switzerland’s education law. [swissinfo.ch] Read more
