There are a million questions that come up during an international move, and one of the most pressing for families is: Where do I send my kids to school? This is no simple question. Finding and vetting schools and arranging enrollment can be a challenge, and the choice of a school can shape a family’s social life and cultural adjustment.
Petition To Silence Church Bells; Schools Struggle With Infection Rates; Corona Forces Cancellations
News For 3 November 2020
A basel civilian has managed to gather 157 signatures for his petition to the Grand Council of Basel-Stadt to silence the ringing of church bells at night. Apparently, churches regularly ring their bells at night not just every hour, but at quarter hour increments as well. The goal of the petition signers is to stop the bells all together between the hours of 10:00 pm and 7:00 am, however, it seems the proponents would be satisfied to simply reduce the chimes to once an hour. Interestingly, none of the churches that were asked for a response to the petitioners seemed to be against the idea - in fact, seemed to suggest that they operate in accordance with the wishes of their parishioners and the communities in which they reside. Despite the support for quieting the bells, they do have their fans that describe them as "comforting" and adding to the unique ambience of the community.
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Despite the mandates the Swiss Federal Government announced last Friday, and additional guidance coming from Cantonal authorities, The Basel Health Department announced yesterday that 67 public schools have had Coronavirus exposure. 1028 students and 139 faculty members are currently quarantined. School efforts to ensure proper distance-learning measures have not stopped the infection rates from continuing to rise.
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Basel's Grand Council announced today that the annual Christmas Markets will be cancelled. Although, contingencies had been planned for implementing social-distancing and other hygiene rules, in the end the risk factors appeared too great for the planners to continue. In an unrelated matter, the canton also ruled that the BVB will no longer operate its night network of buses in response to the curfew rules that went into effect last week. In coordination with the Federal Office of Transport, the buses will stop running at 11:00 PM. Other regularly scheduled transport modes like trams remain unaffected.