by Helmut Scheben*
(19 June 2026) The US base is a blessing for Germany, according to the news magazine “Echo der Zeit” published by Swiss public broadcasting agency SRF. The message sounds like a NATO press release.
by Marie-Estelle Dupont,* France
(19 June 2026) (CH-S) France has long been familiar with violent riots following major events, even when, for example, a football match has ended in victory for the French team. Nationwide, 22,000 police officers were recently deployed; hundreds of rioters were arrested; and there was widespread damage to property and several injuries.
by Norbert Häring,* Germany
(12 June 2026) US schools are already spending ten times as much on digital learning software and hardware as they do on textbooks. Instead of increasing pupils’ academic achievement, as promised, it has actually declined. An analysis of PISA results confirms that academic achievement decreases as screen time at school increases.
by Christine Staehelin*
(5 June 2026) Teachers embody the subject. They stand for the content. It is their task to pass on culture and tradition so that something new can emerge. In addition to knowledge, this requires, above all, pedagogical and methodological-didactic skills. Teachers can be great role models or the opposite. They can encourage or discourage, be taken seriously or ridiculed. As counterparts in the educational context, they always play a role, yet in recent decades this has increasingly been pushed off the stage. We present Christine Staehelin’s speech, which she delivered at the press conference of the “Bildungswende” group [turning point in education].
by Dr Stefan Nold,* Germany
(29 May 2026) (CH-S) Stefan Nold is one of the clearest voices in Germany warning against the impending war. He knows what he is talking about. What is going on with the churches? Are they caving in again, as they did before the First and Second World Wars? Are they allowing themselves to be corrupted by power yet again? Nold describes the situation in a deeply divided Germany in a very personal way.
by Philipp Loretz*
(22 May 2026) (CH-S) It’s common knowledge: schools in German-speaking countries are on a downward trajectory that threatens to turn into a nosedive. Warnings from the field have so far gone unheeded by the self-referential education bureaucracy. That is set to change soon.
On 27 April 2026 an inter-cantonal group comprising teachers, school leaders, experts in educational science, child and adolescent psychology, and politics presented a manifestoA and invited the public to the press conference “Turning point in education – the courage to change course.B
Below you will find the statement from Philipp Loretz, President of the Baselland Teachers’ Association (LVB). As a practitioner, he presents seven proposals for a change of course.