Switzerland’s government is considering forcing cantons to keep teaching a second national language in primary schools. The Federal Council said on September 19th that it would draft a law to that effect, though the rule would bite only if the 2004 compromise on language teaching were abandoned. Some German-speaking cantons have moved French from the […]
Baidu picks Switzerland to pilot its robotaxis
Robotaxis are common place across much of the US and China. Waymo, a self-driving taxi pioneer, operates in Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Silicon Valley, Austin and Atlanta, with plans to expand further. In China, robotaxi services are widespread across major cities such as Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Shanghai and Beijing. Progress in Europe has been relatively […]
High Swiss multilingualism driven by English
Multilingualism is widespread in Switzerland. Nearly two-thirds use more than one language regularly in daily life, and according to the Federal Statistical Office, 86% of residents believe speaking several national languages is important for national cohesion. Overall, 63% of Swiss residents are multilingual – 37% of the population speak one language, 37% speak two, and […]
Switzerland’s largest print newspaper to end
The days of picking up copy of 20 Minutes (20 Minuten), a free Swiss print newspaper, from one of the many blue bins are numbered. Switzerland’s largest print newspaper will cease its physical edition and go online-only from the end of 2025 The move is less about failure than adaptation: far from being unprofitable, the […]
City of Bern closes experimental bilingual school
Many mistake Switzerland as a nation of polyglots who speak all of the nation’s three main languages fluently. However, German won’t get a visitor very far in Geneva and nor will French in Zurich. At the same time a political imperative to raise multilingualism remains widespread. This week, the closure of an experimental bilingual school […]
French-speaking Swiss earn more if they also speak German
A study by the University of Geneva estimates that those who speak German in addition to French in the Switzerland’s French-speaking region earn on average 10% to 20% more than those without German, reported SRF. Across Switzerland’s French-speaking region, German is taught at school. Those remaining in school until 18 have typically studied the language […]
Switzerland cuts low emission heating subsidies
In 2023, Swiss voters accepted a plan to provide subsidies to replace oil and basic electric heating with cleaner more efficient heating, such as electric heat pumps. The plan involved spending CHF 200 million a year on such incentives over a 10-year period starting on 1 January 2025. However, Switzerland’s federal parliament decided in December […]
Tiktoc inspired school shooting threats create headache for Swiss police
Recent threats of school shootings in several Swiss cantons have created extra work for the local police, reported SRF. The threats seem to be inspired by posts on the social media platform Tiktok. Around one month ago, a shooting threat was found posted in a school toilet in Muttenz in the canton of Basel Landschaft. […]
Swiss support mobile phone bans in schools
This week, a survey revealed that 82% of Swiss favour mobile phone bans in schools, reported RTS. The percentage rises to 87% among women, with men supporting a ban slightly less (78%). Support for school phone bans cuts across political party lines. 85% of Swiss People’s Party (SVP/UDC) and Socialist Party members favour such a […]
Swiss university remains top-ranked in continental Europe
ETH Zurich remains the best university in continental Europe, according to the World University Ranking, published by Times Higher Education. ETH Zurich was ranked eleventh worldwide in the 2024 ranking, the same position as in 2023. The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL), the next Swiss university in the ranking moved up one […]
