The Swiss Educational System By Anh Tho Andres, MBA

Brief Country Overview Federal Structure with 3 political levels: Confederation (Federal capital: Berne); Cantonal (26 cantons); Communal (also have own powers in various areas). Multi-ethnic, multilingual, multi-confessional Not member of EU, but part of Schenghen GDP per capita: US$ 42.600 (est. 2010) Population: 7.785 million (50.8 F / 49.2 M)

Swiss Education in Brief Swiss System Unique Federal Institutions Role of Cantons National and Regional Competences Swiss Edu Organigram Education, Research & Transfer of Technology International Cooperation THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEMThe Swiss educational system is distinguished by its diversity, each of the 26 cantons being responsible for all aspects of education in its territory.

Swiss Education system is unique No Ministry of Education at national level Federal level points of contact: OPET & SER National coordination agency is EDK Each canton has own education policy

Swiss Federal Contacts on Education OPET / OFFT Federal Office for Professional Education and Technology SER State Secretariat for Education & Research

Professional Education &Technology OPET/OFFT is the federal competence centre Upper-secondary level Vocational Education and Training (VET), targets 235’000 students; Tertiary-level Professional Education and training (PET), targets 50’000 students; Universities of Applied Sciences (UAS/HES) and innovation, targets 63’000 students; Over 600 professional organisations. Budget : 22 billion CHF (2008-2011)

Swiss Education and Research The State Secretariat for Education and Research SER belongs to the Federal Department of Home Affairs; Specialised agency for general and university education, research and space; 100 members of staff; Annual Budget 2.3 billion CHF.

Swiss Cantons & Education The main responsibility for education lies with the 26 cantons (EDK network); The federal government and cantons share responsibility for public post-compulsory education (matura schools, vocational training and universities); Due to cantonal differences Multilingual Multi-cultural Multi-confessionnal

EDK National Competences CPS/WBZ Swiss Office for In-Service Training of Upper Secondary Teachers; CSFO/SDBB Swiss Centre for Vocational Training/Study and Career Counselling; CSRE/SKBF Swiss Coordination Centre for Research in Education; CSPS/SZH Swiss Office for Special Needs Education; CTIE/SFIB Swiss Centre for Information Technologies in Education; IEDS/IFES Institute for External Evaluation of Upper Secondary Schools;

EDK Regional Conferences Handle various tasks which require cooperation at a regional level: List of cantonal education departments French & Italian Speaking Parts German Speaking Parts BKZ (LU-NW-OW-SZ-UR-ZG) EDK-OST (AI-AR-GL-GR-SG-SH-SZ-TG-ZH-FL) NW-EDK (AG-BE-BL-BS-FR-SO-VS-ZH)

National Languages Spoken / Canton German 17 cantons 67.8% French 4 cantons 24.2% Italian 1 canton 11.1% Bilingual (F/D) 3 cantons

Cultural Diversity in Switzerland Serb / Croat 1.4% Albanese 1.3% Portuguese 1.2% Spanish 1.1% English 3.4% Turkish 0.6% Tamil 0.3% Arabic 0.2 % Vietnamese 0.2% Dutch 0.2 % Russian 0.1 % Chinese 0.1% Thaï 0.1% Kurdish 0.1% Macedonian 0.1%

Swiss Education Organigram Pre-school compulsory schooling Post-compulsory education Tertiary (Higher Education) Vocational Education Continuing Education

Pre-school compulsory schooling 91% students go to local state pre-school and compulsory schooling 9% attend private school Pre-school education is free (1-2 yrs) Compulsory begins at age 6 (9 yrs) Languages: German, French, Italian. Most students are bi-lingual or tri-lingual. Some 152 000 children between the ages of 4 and 6 – that is, 98.5% of children in this age group – attended nursery school (pre-school level) in 2007. Of these, over 9% were enrolled in unsubsidised private schools.

Compulsory & Upper Secondary Compulsory school 9 years Include Primary & Secondary level I Free of Charge for ALL (Swiss or foreign) Total in 2007: 788’000 Upper Secondary Matura school (French Baccalauréat) Specialised Middle School Specialised Matura Basic Vocational Education and Training Compulsory schooling lasts for nine years and includes a primary and a secondary cycle (secondary level I) in all cantons. Attendance is compulsory and free of charge for all children, whether Swiss or foreign. The municipalities ensure that all children can attend their local public school or one nearby. The schools directorate of each municipality (or the municipal administration if there is no schools directorate) can provide information on general schooling matters (e.g. admission, regulations or transport). A total of around 788 000 pupils were enrolled in compulsory schooling in 2007, 3.6% of them in private schools.

Post-compulsory Education Swiss legislation (intercantonal or national) forms the basis for the type of education in the area of post-compulsory education (upper secondary level and tertiary level). Exceptions : The Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology are in charge of the federal authorities. 90% complete secondary school at age 18 The years of compulsory schooling are followed by secondary level II, at which there are two choices: (1) the general academic route in, for example, ‘Matura’ schools or specialised schools, or (2) vocational training. Some two thirds of children go on from compulsory schooling to vocational training (apprenticeship), while one third take the general academic route.

Tertiary (Higher Education) For Bachelor or Master Degrees Swiss Universities by World Ranking Federal Institutes of Technology (FIT) Universities of Teacher Education Universities of Applied Sciences (HES) Federal Diploma / Advanced Federal Certificate Colleges of Higher Vocational Education and Training Tertiary level education comprises advanced vocational training, the universities and vocational schools with university status. In 2007/08 some 225 862 students were engaged in tertiary education. Useful information on tertiary education (university-level schools and universities) is available on the website of the Rectors’ Conference of the Swiss Universities

World ranking of Swiss Universities 52. Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zürich 135. Université de Genève 138. École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne 274. Universität Basel 310. Universität Bern 321. Universität Zürich 341. Université de Lausanne 571. Université de Fribourg 611. Université de Neuchâtel

Federal Institutes of Technology EPFL – One of the most famous European institutions of science and technology Missions: Training, Research & Technology Transfer Over 11’000 Students, Researchers & Staff. 13 complete Study programmes incl. Bachelors to Masters in Engineering, Basic Sciences, ICT, Life Sciences, Construction, Architecture and Environment and Research for Ph.D.

Universities of Teacher Education The Swiss Conference of Rectors of Universities of Teacher Education (COHEP) combines all rectors of universities of teacher education, as well as the rectors of other teacher education institutions. 2 Objectives: Increase professionalisation of Teaching & Recognition of cantonal teaching qualifications on national level. Core tasks: Teaching – R&D – Counselling 14 universities

Universities of Applied Sciences 9 UAS/HES as complementary partner to Cantonal Universities and FITs; Bring Academic & Business together; Offer 300 Bachelor & Master Degrees; Solid reputation on international market; Subjects taught : technology, business, design, health, social work and art.

Vocational Education Training VET: Vocational Education Training 200 VET programmes 400 Professional College Degree Prog. 400 Professional Education Training for Federal PET/Advanced PET Diploma. Targets 2/3 young people entering labour market.

Switzerland & International Network Research Programmes Eureka in Economy-oriented development; HFSP in Neurobiology & Molecular Biology; ESA European Space Agency; CERN European Nuclear Research. Cooperation with EU programmes Bologna Agreement ECTS Credit Transfer System Socrates Leonardo da Vinci Erasmus Multilateral and Global Bilateral Contacts

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