New curricula for religious education in Switzerland

Both the public school system and the catholic church have been working on a new curriculum for religious education over the past ten years. Non-denominational religious education as a school subject will be introduced either as a separate subject in the seventh or nineth grade, or as part of the subject 'social sciences' from kindergarten through sixth grade in the German-speaking part of Switzerland. Lessons specifically for the catholic religious education are offered within the schools in many cantons. These particular lessons are offered by the catholic church, which sees this as a holistic delivery of an understanding of religion in general. The denominational delivery outside of school takes place in parishes or in associations of parishes (as far as they are established yet). The curriculum for the catholic church in the German-speaking areas in Switzerland is also an educational tool. It is a contribution to the heterogeneity inside the catholic church towards the education and socialization of the society within the church.