1Bund und Kantone sorgen gemeinsam im Rahmen ihrer Zuständigkeiten für eine hohe Qualität und Durchlässigkeit des Bildungsraumes Schweiz.
2Sie koordinieren ihre Anstrengungen und stellen ihre Zusammenarbeit durch gemeinsame Organe und andere Vorkehren sicher.
3Sie setzen sich bei der Erfüllung ihrer Aufgaben dafür ein, dass allgemein bildende und berufsbezogene Bildungswege eine gleichwertige gesellschaftliche Anerkennung finden.
Art. 61a FC is the centrepiece of the Swiss «education constitution» and regulates the coordination of the education system between the Confederation and the cantons (Hänni, BSK BV, Art. 61a N. 10-12). The provision obliges all state levels to work together to ensure a high-quality and permeable Swiss education system.
Who is affected? The coordination obligation applies to the Confederation, cantons and their educational institutions at all levels - from primary school to higher education (Hänni, BSK BV, Art. 61a N. 20-21). Pupils, students and working people also benefit from the improved permeability between educational pathways.
The three main objectives of the provision are firstly quality assurance through common standards, secondly permeability between different educational levels and pathways, and thirdly equal social recognition of vocational and general education (Hänni, BSK BV, Art. 61a N. 22-27).
Practical consequences: The Confederation and cantons must coordinate their educational measures and can no longer act in isolation. This led to harmonisation projects such as the HarmoS Concordat and Curriculum 21. Educational qualifications are recognised throughout Switzerland, and switching between cantons or educational programmes is facilitated.
Example: Today, thanks to coordination, a pupil can move from Basel to Zurich without any problems and without suffering disadvantages in the curriculum. A craftsman with a vocational qualification can switch to a university of applied sciences via the vocational baccalaureate, since vocational and academic education are considered equivalent.
However, the provision is not directly enforceable, but acts as a coordination mandate for authorities and an interpretative aid for courts (BGE 148 I 271). In doctrine, it is disputed whether the coordination obligation goes beyond the general cooperation obligation of Art. 44 FC (affirming: WBK-NR; denying: Biaggini, Komm. BV, Art. 61a N. 25).
Limits: Cantonal educational sovereignty remains in place. The cantons can continue to enact their own school laws, but must take harmonisation into account. In cases of serious coordination problems, the Confederation can intervene subsidiarily.
N. 1 Art. 61a Cst. is the centrepiece of the «Education Constitution» adopted by the people and the cantons in 2006 and marks a paradigm shift in Swiss education policy. The provision emerged as a response to the increasing fragmentation of the education system and the challenges of educational mobility in a federalist system (Hänni, BSK BV, Art. 61a N. 15–19).
N. 2 The parliamentary genesis of the Education Constitution is remarkable, as it did not originate from a Federal Council proposal but emerged from the Zbinden parliamentary initiative (97.419). After the failure of earlier attempts at comprehensive education reform in the 1970s (BBl 1972 I 375 ff.), the Education Committee of the National Council developed a new concept between 2003 and 2005 that does not weaken federalism but strengthens it through coordination (Hänni, BSK BV, Art. 61a N. 8–9).
N. 3 The Federal Council was critical of the proposal and suggested deleting the word «together» in para. 2, as it was not legally clear (Hänni, BSK BV, Art. 61a N. 24). However, Parliament maintained the wording to emphasise the partnership responsibility of the Confederation and the cantons.
N. 4 Art. 61a Cst. forms the programmatic opening of Section 3 on «Education, Research and Culture» and is systematically closely linked to the subsequent special provisions: → Art. 62 Cst. (School system), → Art. 63 Cst. (Vocational and professional education and training), → Art. 63a Cst. (Universities), → Art. 64a Cst. (Continuing education). The norm functions as an overarching framework encompassing all levels of education (Hänni, BSK BV, Art. 61a N. 10–12).
N. 5 The coordination obligation under Art. 61a para. 2 Cst. goes beyond the general cooperation obligation of → Art. 44 Cst. While doctrine is divided on whether there exists an «obligation considerably exceeding the measure of Art. 44» (rejecting: Biaggini, Komm. BV, Art. 61a N. 25; affirming: Education Committee of the National Council), practice shows that Art. 61a Cst. legitimises specific coordination instruments such as the HarmoS Agreement.
N. 6 The provision stands in tension between cantonal sovereignty over education (→ Art. 62 para. 1 Cst.) and the harmonisation mandate. Art. 61a Cst. resolves this tension through the concept of coordinated diversity: the cantons remain primarily responsible but must exercise their powers in a coordinated manner.
N. 7Swiss Education Area (para. 1): The concept encompasses all levels of education from pre-school to quaternary education as well as formal, non-formal and informal education. The «area» is to be understood not geographically but functionally as a coherent system with permeable transitions (Hänni, BSK BV, Art. 61a N. 20–21).
N. 8Quality: Quality assurance relates to both educational content and structures and processes. It encompasses minimum standards, evaluation mechanisms and continuous improvement. The concept is dynamic and oriented towards international standards (Hänni, BSK BV, Art. 61a N. 22).
N. 9Permeability: Central is vertical (between educational levels) and horizontal (between educational pathways) mobility. Permeability requires mutual recognition of qualifications, compatible structures and connectivity of educational pathways (Hänni, BSK BV, Art. 61a N. 23–24).
N. 10Coordination and Cooperation (para. 2): The «joint» responsibility establishes a constitutional obligation to cooperate that goes beyond mere consultation. The Confederation and cantons must coordinate their measures and cannot act in isolation (Hänni, BSK BV, Art. 61a N. 25–26).
N. 11Equivalent Recognition (para. 3): The norm postulates the equivalence of general and vocational education pathways. This prohibits hierarchical evaluation and demands equal access to further educational pathways (Hänni, BSK BV, Art. 61a N. 27).
N. 12 Art. 61a Cst. primarily establishes objective legal obligations for the Confederation and cantons. The norm is not directly justiciable but has legal effects as an interpretive maxim and limitation on legislation. BGE 148 I 271 shows that courts use Art. 61a Cst. to assess the «coherence of Swiss legal orders».
N. 13 From the coordination obligation follows a burden of justification: measures that counteract harmonisation require special justification. The subsidiary federal competence under → Art. 62 para. 4 Cst. can be activated if coordination fails.
N. 14 Equivalent recognition (para. 3) has concrete effects on admission requirements and recognition procedures. Educational institutions may not systematically disadvantage vocational qualifications compared to general education qualifications.
N. 15Scope of the coordination obligation: The central controversy concerns the relationship to Art. 44 Cst. Biaggini (Komm. BV, Art. 61a N. 25) takes a restrictive interpretation and denies a qualitatively different obligation. The Education Committee of the National Council and parts of doctrine (Ehrenzeller/Sahlfeld, SG Komm. BV, Art. 61a), however, see a reinforced, education-specific coordination obligation.
N. 16Justiciability: It is disputed whether enforceable claims can be derived from Art. 61a Cst. The prevailing doctrine (Hördegen, ZBl 2007, 113, 142 f.) denies subjective rights but recognises indirect effect via → Art. 8 Cst. (Equality before the law) and → Art. 19 Cst. (Right to basic schooling).
N. 17Relationship to cantonal school sovereignty: The boundary between permissible coordination and impermissible interference with cantonal competence is disputed. The judgment 1C_665/2015 shows the practical explosiveness of popular initiatives against harmonisation projects such as Curriculum 21.
N. 18 When drafting cantonal education acts, compatibility with intercantonal agreements (HarmoS, Higher Education Agreement) must be examined. Deviations require factual reasons and may not disproportionately impair mobility.
N. 19 For educational institutions, Art. 61a para. 3 Cst. establishes the obligation to design admission procedures without discrimination. The «sur dossier» admission of professionals to universities is not only permissible but constitutionally required.
N. 20 In legal disputes over educational matters, Art. 61a Cst. can serve as an interpretive aid, particularly in the assessment of recognition issues and in the application of the principle of equality before the law in education. Case law shows an increasing willingness to use the provision as a coherence standard.
The case law on Art. 61a FC is still relatively sparse, as the provision was only incorporated into the Constitution in 2006 with the reorganisation of the education articles. The existing decisions deal primarily with the delimitation of powers between the Confederation and the cantons in the field of education as well as with the practical implementation of educational coordination.
#Educational Federalism and Coordination Obligation
BGE 148 I 271 (2022-03-08)
Language proof in naturalisation; recognition of Matura grades
In this fundamental decision, the Federal Supreme Court recognised the significance of Art. 61a ff. FC for the coherence of the Swiss education system in assessing language proofs in naturalisation procedures.
«Where the cantons impart language skills according to their constitutional educational mandate (cf. in particular Art. 61a ff. FC), they are also responsible for the corresponding quality. In Matura examinations, the Confederation assumes supplementary quality control with the federal recognition of Matura certificates. At issue is the coherence of the Swiss and cantonal, in the present case Bernese, legal orders.»
The Court emphasised the constitutional obligation to coordinate education and the shared responsibility of the Confederation and cantons for quality assurance in the Swiss education area.
Judgment 1C_665/2015 (2016-10-05)
Invalidity of the popular initiative "No to Curriculum 21"
The decision dealt with the admissibility of cantonal popular initiatives against the introduction of harmonised curricula and illuminated the tension between cantonal school sovereignty and coordination obligations.
The Federal Supreme Court held that while Art. 61a FC obliges coordination, the cantonal responsibility for school matters (Art. 62 para. 1 FC) remains in principle intact. The initiative was declared invalid on formal grounds, without the material compatibility with Art. 61a FC having to be conclusively assessed.
In various decisions on special needs education (BGE 130 I 352, BGE 138 I 162), the Federal Supreme Court has indicated the significance of Art. 61a FC for guaranteeing the permeability of the education system, without however giving central consideration to the provision. This case law shows that the coordination obligation under Art. 61a FC also encompasses ensuring equal educational opportunities.
BGE 139 I 229 (2013-07-12)
Freedom of language and school language in the Canton of Graubünden
Although Art. 61a FC was not directly applied, the decision touched on the coordination task in the multilingual education area, particularly regarding the determination of languages of instruction.
The Federal Supreme Court implicitly recognised that language coordination is part of the general educational coordination under Art. 61a FC, without however making a detailed delimitation from Art. 70 FC (Languages).
BGE 148 V 84 (2021-11-09)
Insured earnings of working students
In this social insurance law context, the Court mentioned Art. 61a FC in passing in connection with the recognition of educational qualifications and cross-border educational mobility, without however dealing with it substantively.
The case law to date shows a restrained application of Art. 61a FC as an independent constitutional provision. The Federal Supreme Court treats the norm primarily as a coordination mandate that does not fundamentally change the existing distribution of powers between the Confederation and cantons. A comprehensive concretisation of the coordination obligation is still pending. The case law indicates, however, that Art. 61a FC is increasingly being used as a standard for assessing the coherence of educational policy measures.