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Switzerland Education

Switzerland has one of the world's best education systems with education levels determined by each of the 26 cantons. Public schools are where most children are educated, starting with kindergarten then Volksschule (elementary school), Gymnasium (secondary school), and universities. Elementary education is mandatory for nine years starting at age seven. Secondary options include specialized schools and International Baccalaureate programs. A few bilingual schools also exist teaching in French and German weekly. Overall, Switzerland's diverse educational system includes public, private, bilingual, and international schools.

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415 views3 pages

Switzerland Education

Switzerland has one of the world's best education systems with education levels determined by each of the 26 cantons. Public schools are where most children are educated, starting with kindergarten then Volksschule (elementary school), Gymnasium (secondary school), and universities. Elementary education is mandatory for nine years starting at age seven. Secondary options include specialized schools and International Baccalaureate programs. A few bilingual schools also exist teaching in French and German weekly. Overall, Switzerland's diverse educational system includes public, private, bilingual, and international schools.

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Education is a major part of ever childs life, as they grow as does their

knowledge. Switzerland is one of those countries that is full force with education and
they have one of the worlds best education systems. The education levels abide by the
cantons, the 26 member states of the federal state of Switzerland. Although, Switzerland
does not had a federal minister of education.
Public schools are where most of the children attend here in Switzerland, but
there are some private schools as well. The public schools include "Kindergarten",
"Volksschule" (elementary school), "Gymnasium" (secondary school) and
"Universitten" (universities). Switzerland looks not too different from the United States
with having some of the same systems involving Kindergarten, Elementary school,
Secondary school also known as high school, and Universities. However, most of the
cantons provide at least one secondary schools which shows that there is always a
place for learning and Switzerland is very different from the teachings in the United
States. Switzerland as a whole has eleven universities that are divided up by who is in
control of them. Out of the eleven universities, two of them abide by the confederation
and nine abide by Cantons.
In Switzerland attending Volksschule (elementary school) is mandatory, but it is
the only part of the schooling that is required. Depending on where the elementary
school is located in its region it will vary on the systems of its teachings due to the

Cantons being responsible for the educational system. Children begin to attend at the
age of seven and they will attend for about nine years. The elementary school or better
known as Volksschule, is broken into two separate parts known as Primarschule and
Oberstufenschule. Primarschule is six years of education with one teacher and
Oberstufenschule is three years long with two teachers each class.
After the children have finished their schooling for Volksschule they continue or
transfer to upper secondary education. Upper secondary education include
Baccalaureate schools, also known as International Baccalaureate (IB) schooling and
they include specialized education as well.
Switzerland does include a few bilingual schools as well. How this education
system works is that each week they will switch a language, for example one week their
learning will be in French and the next week will be in German while continuing their
work progress. The bilingual schools are not offered to the public and do require an
annual tuition. Before attending these schools like any schools you should research
them and make sure you know what you or your child will be getting into and make sure
it is a right fit.
Overall Switzerland has a very different education system than the United States,
just like any country will probably have a different system. The structure of their
education system seems to be working very well and expanding from public, to private,

to bilingual, and to international schools which shows the great diversity in Switzerlands
educational system.

Sources:
Eymann, C. (n.d.). Brief description of the Swiss education system. Retrieved March 24,
2015, from http://www.edk.ch/dyn/16342.php
Gmbh, T. (n.d.). Information about Education in Switzerland. Retrieved March 24, 2015,
from http://www.about.ch/education/index.html
Swissworld.org - Switzerland's official information portal. (n.d.). Retrieved March 24,
2015, from
http://www.swissworld.org/en/education/general_overview/the_swiss_education_system
/
The Swiss education system. (n.d.). Retrieved March 25, 2015, from
http://swisseducation.educa.ch/en/swiss-education-system-3

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