Swiss schools abroad threatened by government cuts

A sports lesson at the Swiss school in Barcelona, which has some 660 pupils. educationsuisse

The Swiss government’s austerity measures risk hitting Swiss schools abroad. If these schools disappear, it would deprive Switzerland of an influential international network that helps spread Swiss culture and education, warns Serge Künzler, director of the schools’ umbrella organisation.

There is tension in the corridors of the 17 Swiss schools abroadExternal link, spread across ten countries and three continents. They are threatened by the government’s cost-cutting programme, which aims to save between CHF3 billion ($3.65 billion) and CHF4.5 billion a year from 2027 onwards to rebalance federal finances. 

One of the proposed measures is to cut cultural funding by CHF18.4 million by 2028. If approved by parliament, this would have a big impact on Swiss schools abroad, whose budget would be cut by CHF7.9 million. 

The group of expertsExternal link who drew up the savings plan believes that “a reduction here seems possible given the large residual credits accumulated in recent years, partly because the number of Swiss children attending these schools abroad has fallen”.

Kai Reusser / swissinfo.ch

‘Disproportionate cuts’

Serge Künzler, director of educationsuisse, the umbrella association for Swiss schools abroad, disagrees. “These cuts hit Swiss schools abroad hard and would affect them disproportionately,” he says.

Künzler points out that Swiss schools abroad would bear 43% of the cuts imposed on the culture ministry, even though they account for only 8.5% of its total budget.

This is all the more difficult to swallow since schools under the educationsuisse umbrella already had to make savings of CHF5.6 million as part of the 2024-2028 culture plan. 

The consequences of further cuts could be disastrous, Künzler says. “We can expect some schools to close, or lose their Swissness,” he warns.

Federal support covers only 20% of the schools’ expenditure, which is funded mainly by tuition fees, but Künzler can’t see how the subsidies cut could be offset by other funding sources. “The cantons already help us, for example with the purchase of teaching materials and funds for continuous training,” he says. “What’s more, they are also under pressure from the federal savings package.”

The team at the Swiss school in Bangkok, which teaches some 340 pupils. educationsuisse

Most pupils are not Swiss

Swiss schools abroad were all founded by German-speaking Swiss Abroad. As a result, they are traditionally German-speaking. Only the school in Bogotá has a French-Spanish section.

Originally, the aim was to meet the needs of expatriates who wanted to offer their children a quality Swiss education. The first such school was opened in Bergamo, Italy, in 1892, for the children of Legler cotton mill employees. In the 1930s and 1940s, Swiss schoolsabroad also represented an alternative to German schools, which were marked by Nazism.

Today, the aim of Swiss schools around the world is still to strengthen ties between young Swiss people abroad and their homeland. However, most of their students now come from the host country or other nationalities. Non-Swiss make up 80% of the nearly 8,000 students, Serge Künzler points out.

There is widespread interest in these schools, which have a reputation for quality and are distinguished by their multilingual teaching (courses are always taught in at least two languages). The Swiss government also sees them as a way of forging good relations with the host country and attracting highly qualified students and staff to Switzerland, as it states in a report.

Ambassadors for Switzerland

These schools represent Switzerland to the world in a very powerful way, Künzler stresses. “Every child who passes through one of our schools carries Switzerland in their heart in some way. Some of them may go on to become business leaders who can be recruited by our country,” he says. 

Swiss schools are often cited as the most important Swiss institutions in countries where they are located, alongside embassies and consulates, Künzler notes. He thinks closing Swiss schools abroad would not only disadvantage students and their families but also seriously damage Switzerland’s image.

Pupils from the Swiss school in Lima, Peru, surround Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis (centre). educationsuisse

He also points out that Switzerland’s larger neighbours are investing more to support their network of schools in other countries. Germany has 136 schools abroad and, according to a federal government report, spends around €315 million (CHF295 million) a year on them. France spends around €1.2 billion on 540 schools in 139 countries, according to the same report. Italy directly manages eight schools and supports 43 Italian schools worldwide.

Divided opinions in parliament

The Organisation of the Swiss Abroad (OSA) is also concerned about the subsidies disappearing. “These schools are important for the Swiss Abroad but are also a key factor for Switzerland’s international presence, as they transmit Swiss values, culture and education,” it writes. The OSA fears that this is in jeopardy. 

Parliamentarians’ opinions on this issue differ, although it is not high on their agenda. Laurent Wehrli from the centre-right Radical-Liberal Party, who belongs to the “Swiss Abroad” parliamentary groupExternal link, strongly defends Swiss schools abroad and considers them essential. “I visit them regularly when I’m abroad,” he says. “The last one I visited was in Lima, Peru. These schools are often among the top-ranked in their country, thanks to Swiss quality.”

Wehrli thinks the solution is to transfer the burden from the federal government to the cantons. “Education is a cantonal task in Switzerland,” he points out. Wehrli proposes dialogue between the federal government and cantons to find solutions that would enable the cantons to gradually take over the financing of Swiss schools abroad.

The right-wing Swiss People’s Party is less enthusiastic. Parliamentarian Thomas Stettler believes Switzerland can do without these schools and plans to support the cuts. ”Schools that offer genuine added value and meet high demand should be able to survive without federal funding,” he asserts.

In Bogotá, Singapore, Madrid and elsewhere, students and teaching staff will have to wait a bit longer to know their fate. The government’s budget reduction plan is under consultation until May 5. Parliament will then have to examine it over the next few sessions. If it goes to a referendum, the Swiss people will probably decide next year. 

Edited by Samuel Jaberg. Translated from French by Julia Crawford/ts

SWI swissinfo.ch also affected

SWI swissinfo.ch is also threatened by the government’s savings plan. The government is proposing to abolish the CHF19 million federal contribution to the Swiss Broadcasting Company’s international offering. This includes SWI swissinfo.ch, the Italian-language website tvsvizzera.it, and cooperation with the international television channels TV5MONDE and 3sat.