Education

Since Switzerland lacks notable natural resources, education and knowledge have always played an extremely important role. Switzerland therefore has the reputation of having one of the best public education systems in the world. As the system is organised in accordance with the federal political structure, with each canton responsible for its own educational sub-system, there can be significant variations from region to region. For example, some cantons introduce a first foreign language in the fourth grade, while others begin in the seventh grade. This means that moving from one canton to another can be difficult if you have children. There is, however, a nation-wide effort to harmonise the systems eventually.

In Switzerland, almost all children attend the free public schools. They automatically go to school in the community in which they live.

Public schools include Kindergarten, Volksschule (elementary or primary school), Oberstufe/Gymnasium (secondary school) and Universitäten (universities). Most communities provide kindergarten, primary and secondary schools, and most cantons provide at least one Gymnasium. There are ten universities in Switzerland; eight are run by the cantons, two are run by the state.

The Gymnasium can be entered either upon completing the 6th or the 8th school year, and an apprenticeship is usually entered after completing the obligatory 9 years at school. In many cases, pupils will attend an additional 10th year. This is often used to bridge the time until there is a space at the desired apprenticeship. It also has the advantage that after completing their apprenticeship, apprentices can go back to school to embark on an academic career at either a secondary school or a so-called Fachhochschule (FH) ("technical college").