As more than 55,000 students return to school across Valais this week, the canton is launching new initiatives to tackle rising behavioral challenges, introducing specialized support staff, digital intervention toolkits, and revised safety protocols for the academic term.
The new school year is staggering its start between Monday and Thursday across linguistic regions, bringing a mix of enrollment shifts and targeted administrative measures. At the compulsory schooling level, primary student numbers have increased by 150 compared to August 2025, while the orientation cycle sees an increase of 200 students. Conversely, general secondary II enrollment has dropped by 150, bringing the total compulsory school population to 46,600. Across the broader educational spectrum, including apprentices and higher education students, total enrollment surpasses 55,000, supported by 80 additional teachers for a total workforce of 4,800 educators accounting for 3,400 full-time equivalents (EPT). An additional 8,500 adolescents are entering vocational training programs throughout Valais.
Targeting Difficult Behaviors and Classroom Climate in Valais Schools
During the previous academic year, schools recorded 1,400 difficult cases within the French-speaking region of Valais. Of those incidents, 12 percent involved inappropriate physical behavior, while 4 percent constituted harassment. To assist teachers, authorities have distributed a digital binder containing an observation grid and intervention protocols to compulsory schooling teachers in the Valais romand.
Head of Department Christophe Darbellay specified during a press conference in Sion that they had about thirty young people who represented severe cases, noting editorially that this occurred mainly at the time of entry into schooling.
In one of his statements, the president of the Valais Government recalled the importance of being able to work in a good school climate. For this return to school, the State of Valais will benefit from 23.5 EPT of living together resource teachers (ERVT) whose mission is to foster a good school climate, carry out prevention, and provide help to pupils and teachers. A pilot project on the same theme is also starting in the Upper Valais. To further fight against problematic behaviors within Valais schools, the cantonal youth observatory will conduct research on the issue of difficult behaviors in cycle 1.
Digital Platforms, School Bag Weights, and Shared Responsibilities
Administrative and logistical adjustments accompany the academic rollout. The new communication platform between the school and parents (Schoolinked) is going to be progressively deployed. A directive on student video and audio recordings has been written, and mandatory digital education training for general secondary II teachers is launched.
Physical health is also drawing administrative attention. The Teaching Service also wishes to see the weight of students’ bags reduced. The goal sought is to target a satchel of about 10% of the child’s weight by limiting the strictly necessary material requested each day and by encouraging the use of lockers when they are available.
The Department estimates that the best solution is a shared responsibility between the school, the students, and the parents. Explaining the impetus behind new regulatory frameworks, Christophe Darbellay admitted that he had received an enormous amount of feedback from mothers, leading them to conclude that they needed to create some sort of general rule.
Emergency First Aid and Legislative Updates at the Grand Council
Curriculum updates for this term introduce a progressive learning of life-saving gestures between 1H and 8H, in order to allow a child or teen to recognize emergency situations and adopt the right reflexes. A strengthening of virtual language exchanges for 7H and 8H also sees the light of day between pupils of the two cantonal languages. In 7H, a first aid initiation is also planned with two main themes: cardiac massage and mountain prevention. Finally, in 10CO, a practical training will see the light of day, notably regarding cardiac massage and the use of a defibrillator.
Looking toward the legislative horizon, three laws on the school will be the subject of a second reading this autumn at the Grand Council. These concern the Valais school, the teaching of secondary degree II, and private schooling.
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