The education system in Switzerland
is very diverse, because the constitution of Switzerland
delegates the authority for the school system to the cantons
(Article 62). The Swiss constitution sets the foundations,
namely that primary school is obligatory for every child and is
free in public schools and that the confederation can run or
support universities. The Swiss maintain a high standard for
education that is world renowned. Because of its diversity,
there are many private international schools in Switzerland that
encourage respect for all cultures. Diversification of the
education system in 26 sub-systems is viewed by many as being
inefficient. Consequently, the Swiss people have voted on May
21, 2006 to reform the education system in one common program
for all the States.
Primary
The obligatory school system usually includes primary education
(Primarschule in German, école primaire in French and scuola
primaria in Italian) and secondary education I (Sekundarstufe I
in German, secondaire I in French and scuola secondaria in
Italian). Before that, children usually go to kindergarten. The
minimum age for primary school is about six years in all cantons
but Obwalden, where it is five years and three months. The
cantons Thurgau and Nidwalden allow five year olds to start
primary school in exceptional cases. Primary school continues
until grade four or five, depending on the school. Any boy or
girl can take part in school if they choose to, but kids are
separated depending on whether they speak French, German or
Italian.
Secondary
At the end of primary school (or at the beginning of secondary
school), pupils are separated according to their capacities in
several (often three) sections. The best students are taught
advanced classes to be prepared for further studies and the
matura, while students who assimilate a little bit more slowly
receive an education more adapted to their needs. This
separation can be summarized as follows:
- Pre-gymnasium: this division aims to prepare the students for
Gymnasium (German) / gymnase/collège/lycée (French) / liceo (italian)
or other schools which deliver a Federal maturity diploma.
Students often have the choice between a science stream (with
many hours of mathematics, and an introduction to physics and
chemistry) and a more literary stream with Latin (and sometimes
Greek).
- Intermediate: this division targets intermediate students
whose goal it is to go to technical or secretarial schools, for
example.
- Pre-professional: This division regroups students who are
more interested in manual jobs, and prepares them for an
apprenticeship by giving them strong bases in spelling, reading
and mathematics.
The purpose of this system is to give every student an education
that fits his or her needs and interests, but it is also
criticized because it segregates children based on intellectual
capacity. Secondary I school continues until grade nine, which
marks the end of compulsory school.
Secondary II is facultative, and is spread among many schools,
depending of the Student's interest. The more important in term
of enrollment are the Gymnasium/Lycées/Collèges which prepare
the students for university. They are often separated in several
schools, specializing in science and literature or business.
Tertiary
Tertiary education depends on the education chosen in secondary
education. For students with a matura, university is the most
common one. Apprentices who did a vocational high school will
often add a Fachhochschule or a Höhere Fachschule to their
curriculum. Switzerland has the second highest rate of foreign
students in tertiary education, after Australia.
There are 12 Universities in Switzerland, 10 of which are
maintained at cantonal level and usually offer a range of
non-technical subjects. Most prominent of these,
internationally, are the Universität Zürich and the Universität
St. Gallen. The remaining 2 institutions are run by the Swiss
Confederation and are known as "Swiss Federal Institutes of
Technology". Of these the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule
Zürich (ETHZ) is renowned as a world leader in Science and
Technology education and research.
Federal Universities:
Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich (ETHZ)
École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL)
Cantonal Universities:
Universität Basel (BS)
Universität Bern (BE)
Universität Freiburg/Université de Fribourg (FR)
Université de Genève (GE)
Université de Lausanne (VD)
Université de Lucerne (LU)
Université de Neuchâtel (NE)
Universität St. Gallen (HSG)(SG)
Università della Svizzera italiana (TI)
Universität Zürich (ZH)
Private Institutions:
SBS Swiss Business School
European University(EU) [13]
