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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 has 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 the 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 five or six, depending on the canton.

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 indroduction 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.^[1]

Links

educa.ch The Swiss Education Server
about.ch Information about Education in Switzerland

^ Education at Glance 2005 by OECD: Percentage of foreign students in tertiary education.

[1] Education at Glance 2005 by OECD: Percentage of foreign students in tertiary education.

[1]

Revision as of 06:09, 20 October 2006 edit Andonio (talk \| contribs) 149 edits m International Schools ← Previous edit		Revision as of 06:46, 20 October 2006 edit undo Glaurung (talk \| contribs) 877 edits removed unsourced and not-so-accurate information, as most pupils in international schools aren't Swiss. Next edit →
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	The '''education system in [[Switzerland]]''' is very diverse, because the [[constitution of Switzerland]] delegates the authority for the school system to the [[Canton of Switzerland\|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~~, and usually when Swiss parents can afford it, they will send their children to an international school for better education~~.		The '''education system in [[Switzerland]]''' is very diverse, because the [[constitution of Switzerland]] delegates the authority for the school system to the [[Canton of Switzerland\|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 has voted on [[May 21]] [[2006]] to reform the education system in one common program for all the States.		Diversification of the education system in 26 sub-systems is viewed by many as being inefficient. Consequently, the Swiss people has voted on [[May 21]] [[2006]] to reform the education system in one common program for all the States.