The Vaud Department of Education and Vocational Training signed a directive this week which explicitly prohibits teaching staff from any sexual relations with students until the end of secondary II, even consensual with adult students.
Signed on Monday, the directive echoes the motion of the Green MP Yannick Maury tabled last March in the Grand Council and which had been supported by elected officials from all parties. The objective was to clarify the cantonal law which remained too general and vague. It will come into force on July 1st.
His text asked the Council of State “to explicitly prohibit secondary II teaching staff from having intimate relationships with students”. It was therefore a question of modifying the law on higher secondary education or proceeding by way of directive, following the example of the Canton of Geneva.
>> Read: A motion wants to ban any teacher-student sexual relationship in Vaud post-compulsory education
Zero tolerance
Indeed, for the moment, sexual relations between teachers and adult students are not prohibited in post-compulsory schools in most French-speaking cantons. Only Geneva applies zero tolerance on this subject: “Any behavior, even consensual, affecting sexual integrity is prohibited” by the Geneva Department of Public Education.
>> Read also: The relationships between teachers and post-compulsory students raise questions
The same path was chosen by the Vaudois Council of State. “Teaching staff in compulsory and post-compulsory education are prohibited from maintaining intimate relationships or engaging in acts of a sexual nature with students, even if the latter consent or the initiative is theirs. returns or appears to return to them,” the directive states.
Immediate sanctions
A distinction is made between minor and adult students. For the former, the ban applies even if the teaching staff does not attend the same educational establishment. For adult students, the ban only applies to teachers who attend the same school.
The sanctions provided range from a warning to immediate termination of the employment contract. “Such behavior may also be criminally relevant,” concludes the directive.
ats/jop
