Training
The country's state of affairs is to a large extent based
on direct democracy, which means that citizens of the
citizen vote in a number of issues, at national and local
level. The administrative apparatus is thus more
decentralized than in any other country. The same applies to
the education system. There is no federal or national
education ministry.
The cantons (states or counties) are responsible for
education at all levels and account for 90 percent of all
education costs. The country has four official languages
spoken in different parts of the country (German, French,
Italian and Romanian), and the teaching is conducted in the
language spoken mainly in the area where the school is
located. The country's education system is thus difficult to
describe as the variation is large between the cantons. 5
percent of the country's elementary schools are run by
private players.
What is common in the country's cantons is the following.
Schooling is compulsory for 9-11 years, primary school
(compulsory school) comprises 6-8 years and school start
occurs when a child is 4-6 years. Quarterly sitting is
applied if a student has not met the requirements for
starting in the upcoming class. After primary level,
students are allocated based on school performance and
placed in types of schools and at levels considered
appropriate for the individual student. Students who have
the ability and willingness to study further go to
Mittelschule (also called high school or canton school). As
a rule, students move to high school when they are 11-12
years old. Education in high school or cantonal school
usually lasts for three years but is in Italian-speaking
cantons for four years.
According to Digopaul,
the cost of education in Switzerland is high compared to the
corresponding countries. As a nation, Switzerland has one of
the highest educational costs per student in Europe, but
also within the OECD. In addition, the country has one of
the highest proportions of international students in higher
education.
There are three types of upper secondary education:
vocational education, secondary school in the general sense
and specialized upper secondary education. The length of
vocational training varies from two to four years and
consists to a large extent of internship within a company or
agency.
In this article, the canton of Zurich's structure for
education will be used as an example. The compulsory school
in the canton of Zurich comprises elementary and high
school, ie 10-11 years. The education system has the
following levels and variants:
- Elementary school (6 years), which is followed by
high school (3-4 years) and then upper school (Oberschule)
(2 years) and high school 4.5 years.
- Elementary school (6 years) and then high school
(6.5 years).
- Elementary school (6 years), which is followed by
apprenticeship in a company and then vocational school (Fachschule)
and teacher training (Fachmittelschule).
Only upper secondary education grants admission to higher
education. There are also other opportunities to gain
competence by building on different courses.
The upper secondary school is divided into the following
lines: general high school, new language secondary school,
old language secondary school, economic high school and
music gymnasium. Everyone grants admission to higher
education unless the student completes the degree which
completes the respective upper secondary education. 45 per
cent of all pupils in upper secondary school continue in
higher education. 30 percent undergo university education,
the rest undergo some higher vocational education. The
proportion of students in higher education is among the
highest in the world. In addition to graduating from high
school, there are a number of other complex alternatives or
variants that also give admission to higher studies.
The line the student chooses at the high school
determines which area of higher education the person can
access.
Ten of the country's universities are run by the cottons,
and there are two federal (national) universities (both of
which are technical universities) and a college of
engineering. It takes 4.5 years of studies for the
undergraduate degree in higher education, but the college
education lasts 3.5 years. Half of all students are women.
When it comes to further education or retraining,
Switzerland is known for its vocational adult education.
Every university must have a center for further education.
The country's policy in this area is particularly aimed
at women who re-enter the labor market after working at
home. 80 per cent of all organizers of adult or further
education are private and comprise, for example, trade
unions, religious organizations and companies.
|
