Zurich Teachers Log 18% More Hours Than Their Contracts Say — Now Voters Get to Decide What That's Worth
Published on 09/16/2026 at 12:11 | Editorial boerse-global.de
On 27 September 2026, voters in the canton of Zurich will settle a long-running argument about how much of a teacher's unseen workload actually gets paid for. At stake is a revision of the cantonal law governing school staff (Lehrpersonalgesetz), and the headline change concerns class teachers at Volksschulen — the canton's compulsory primary and lower-secondary schools.
Under the proposal, the time allowance for running a class would rise to 160 hours per year per class, up from 100 today. Where teaching posts are shared between job-sharing partners, the draft splits that allowance into 80 hours each.
A demand that started at 250 hours
The Zurich Teachers' Association (ZLV) had pushed for 250 hours per class per year, arguing that only that figure reflects the real workload. Education director Steiner instead backed an increase to at least 120 hours.
A ZLV survey reported on 16 September 2026 found that teachers rate their own workload 18 percent higher than their contractual teaching load suggests.
The staffing squeeze is not confined to Zurich. In Thuringia, the 2026 education report confirmed a continuing shortage of qualified teachers alongside growing demands created by inclusion and integration. With large numbers of teachers approaching retirement, the state's teachers' association is calling for long-term recruitment strategies and fewer bureaucratic obstacles.
Pay is strong — recruitment still isn't easy
Whatever the outcome on working hours, Zurich remains one of Switzerland's best-paying cantons for teachers. A newcomer at primary level earns 98,900 francs a year on a full 100 percent post, equivalent to a gross monthly salary of 7,600 francs. At the top of the scale, lower- and middle-level teachers can reach 11,700 francs a month, while secondary-level staff can climb to 12,550 francs.
Elsewhere in Switzerland, starting pay trails well behind: 6,700 francs a month in Basel-Stadt, just under 6,600 in Aargau and 5,800 in Obwalden. Even so, filling posts remains difficult.
In Germany's North Rhine-Westphalia, 341 school leadership positions are currently vacant, with Hauptschulen and Förderschulen (lower-secondary and special-needs schools) hit hardest. Baden-Württemberg had 426 unfilled posts shortly before the current school year began — down from 1,159 a year earlier.
Bavaria opened the 2026/27 school year with a record 1.77 million pupils, the highest figure in 15 years. With teacher numbers holding roughly steady at about 166,000, the Bavarian Teachers' Association (BLLV) demanded a dedicated education fund to address the shortage of full-time staff and the expansion of all-day schooling entitlements.
Social media conflicts add a new layer of strain
Staffing gaps are only part of the picture. According to a recent analysis, three out of five people find school life stressful because of conflicts playing out on social media.
Just one in four teachers believes schools are adequately equipped for media education. European Commission President von der Leyen has said she intends to put forward a proposal for binding minimum ages on social media.
The system's performance is also under scrutiny from PISA, which last recorded a historic low in competence scores. One in three children no longer reaches minimum standards in reading and mathematics.
In the INSM education monitor 2026, Saxony took first place among Germany's federal states with 62.9 points, while Saxony-Anhalt and Bremen finished at the bottom. Experts point to teacher shortages, missing language support and insufficient resources for inclusion as the main drivers of the negative trends.
