Swiss education system tested by immigration and digitalisation
The report said the focus must be on improving the results of young people who did not complete all their schooling within Switzerland.
Keystone
Swiss schools must keep up with digitalisation and ensure that migrant children don’t fall behind their peers, according to an annual education report.
But Switzerland is close to achieving its goal of ensuring 95% of the population over the age of 25 has completed the upper-secondary level – through an apprenticeship, senior high school (gymnasium) or vocational school.
The 2018 findings were presented on Tuesday by the education ministryand the Swiss Conference of Cantonal Ministers of Education.
About 94% of Swiss youth has finished the upper-secondary level. The rate of success is lower for Swiss-born foreign nationals and young adults who were born abroad – 86% and 73% respectively.
The report said the focus must be on improving the results of young people who did not complete all their schooling within Switzerland.
Meeting the economy’s needs
There is still not enough research available to make conclusions about the impact of digitalisation on education, according to the authors of the 300-page report. As such, predictions are difficult to make.
The authors, however, did stress that vocational education and training needs to step up to the challenge of digitalisation so that the Swiss economy is supplied with relevant expertise.
Currently, Swiss education meets national industry needs.
A nation of university graduates
With regards to further developing the education system, the report noted that the trend toward tertiary degrees at universities or universities of applied sciences would continue to grow.
Currently, 40% of the Swiss population has graduated from university, but this figure is expected to rise to 60% by the year 2045.
The growing number of people with higher education degrees has been absorbed by the labour market. The relative income of graduates has therefore remained constant over the past few years.
The 2018 report provides a summary of the state of the Swiss education system. The review has been published every four years since 2010.
More
More
Education
Patchwork education could be the future
This content was published on
The classical working path is no more, experts say. What does this mean for the Swiss vocational education model?
Switzerland could produce up to 5Mt of emissions annually by 2050
This content was published on
Two to five megatonnes of CO2 equivalents per year: this is the amount of greenhouse gas emissions that Switzerland is still expected to produce annually in 2050, a new study shows.
US tariffs putting 100,000 jobs at risk in Switzerland
This content was published on
US tariffs of 39% on Swiss imports will directly affect 100,000 jobs, mainly in the watchmaking, machinery, metals, and food industries, economiesuisse warns.
This content was published on
Switzerland has released CHF4 million (nearly $5 million) to help Sudan, which has been severely affected by famine and cholera.
Switzerland rejects new Israeli settlements in Palestinian territory
This content was published on
Switzerland says it rejects the announced construction of thousands of housing units in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian West Bank.
Larry Finck and André Hoffmann named interim co-chairs of WEF board
This content was published on
The WEF also revealed an investigation commissioned by the board has cleared its founder Klaus Schwab and his wife of accusations made by anonymous whistleblowers.
Vice-president of German parliament in favour of Switzerland joining EU
This content was published on
The vice-president of the Bundestag says his country should support closer ties between Switzerland and the European Union given the customs conflict with the United States.
Lindt & Sprüngli reportedly considering shifting Easter bunny production to US
This content was published on
Swiss chocolate manufacturer Lindt & Sprüngli could relocate the production of its gold-wrapped Easter bunnies to the US in order to circumvent the import tariffs imposed by the Trump administration.
Swiss petition launched against curbing 30km/h speed limit
This content was published on
The Traffic Club of Switzerland (TCS) has submitted a petition to the Federal Chancellery, challenging the 30km/h speed limit on local roads.
Parents blamed for putting schoolchildren under pressure
This content was published on
A 2014 study by the World Health OrganisationExternal link (WHO) found that 27% of eleven-year-old children in Switzerland suffer from sleep problems, while 15% complain of constant depression. In addition, 12% regularly suffer from headaches, Swiss public television reports. However, Pro Juventute Foundation president Katja Wiesendanger, herself a primary school teacher for more than 30…
Immigrant students in Switzerland more motivated, less integrated
This content was published on
A new report shows that immigrant teens in Swiss schools perform well, are satisfied with life, and are more motivated than their native classmates.
PISA survey: young Swiss are the best at maths in Europe
This content was published on
Switzerland’s results for maths, science and reading were stable compared with previous years with only small changes, according to the 2015 “Programme for International Student Assessment” (PISA) External linkpublished on Tuesday by the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). In all, 6,600 Swiss 15-year-olds took part in the survey, out of a total…
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.