Zurich First-HandCooler classrooms and one app for families – the new schools chief’s plans
By summer 2027, at least 20 per cent of the hottest classrooms are to get shading or cooling. The “Meine Kinder” platform is to become the single entry point for subsidies and courses.
Balthasar Glättli has headed the city’s Schools and Sports Department since late May 2026. After 120 days, he has set out four priorities.
Heat in classrooms
Together with the building department, the city will identify the classrooms most affected by heat. By summer 2027, measures are to be in place in at least 20 per cent of them: shading, better ventilation and building systems, and active cooling where it makes sense. Of the roughly 100 “Züri-Modular” prefab school pavilions, about a third already have heat pumps that can cool; up to seven more will be retrofitted each year.
“Meine Kinder” as the single entry point
The “Meine Kinder” (“My children”) platform is to become, step by step, the central digital access point for all city services for children and young people, and simpler to use:
- from autumn 2026: subsidies for pre-school childcare,
- from the 2027/28 school year: subsidies for state schools,
- from early 2028: music, sport and holiday courses.
Education data and equal opportunities
With the “Expedition Bildungsdaten Zürich” project, the department wants to find out how existing data can improve the quality of education and equal opportunities, with data protection built in from the start.
Sport
The Oberer Letten and Allenmoos pools are to have longer opening hours in a two-year pilot from 2027. More than CHF 14 million is available for girls and women in sport, including for clubs, new offers and protection against abuse.