Education System in Switzerland
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Study Abroad in Switzerland and explore the various career opportunities.Education System In Switzerland
• Overview - In Switzerland, most children attend public schools. Private schools usually are expensive. In addition, the general perception is that one studies in a private school only because they could not get into a public School.
Public schools include Kindergarten, Volksschule that means the elementary school, Gymnasium, which means the secondary school and Universitäten which means Universities.
Most municipalities provide kindergarten, primary and secondary schools.
The 26 cantons of Switzerland are the member states of the federal state of Switzerland. Most cantons provide at least one secondary school.
There are eleven universities in Switzerland, nine are run by cantons, and two are run by the confederation.
• Procedure - After elementary school, kids may choose either to go to secondary school or to start an apprenticeship.
In the later case, after finishing the apprenticeship, it is still possible to start an academic career at either a secondary school or a so-called Fachhochschule (FH) ("technical college").
• Levels - Switzerland has three levels of education: primary, secondary and tertiary.
The primary and lower secondary levels are compulsory, and together usually take nine years. This is followed by post-compulsory education (upper secondary level).
Switzerland operates a “dual system” where students can opt for
• vocational education
• training route (apprenticeship)
• for the general academic one
This will prepare them for the Matura (Swiss baccalaureate) and ultimately attendance at university.
Around 60% of young people opt for the apprenticeship route, which can take up to four years.
• Scope - There over 300 professions to choose from and currently, the most popular professions are administrative, sales or medical assistants, chefs and electricians.
