24 Heures. According to report put together by Zurich head hunting firm Schilling Partners, building a career in Switzerland, requires more than mastering English. The firm, which works with SMEs and large corporates, says linguistic ability is central to choosing managers for companies that span all of Switzerland. The ability to communicate in German and […]
Fine for Swiss school absence overturned by judge
20 Minutes. Unauthorised school absence is against the law in the Swiss canton of Vaud, and parents can be fined if their children are absent without prior authorisation from school management. Article 54 of Vaud’s law on compulsory schooling requires all parents resident in the canton to enroll and send their children to a state or […]
Could foreigners be required to do Swiss military service?
Requiring foreign residents to undertake military service is one option explored in a government sponsored report published last week. The current system requires all able young male Swiss citizens to do military service. In 1985 there were around 45,000 eligible men. By 2014 this number had dropped to about 37,000. Estimates for 2035 are between 36,000 […]
Summer camps – keeping the kids busy
Brought to you by InterSoccer. If you are a parent, and your boss is not kind enough to let you take the entire summer off, then you might be wondering what to do with your kids. Even if you do have time off, having energetic youngsters under your feet all day has the potential to […]
Secretly filmed teacher files legal complaint against Swiss pupils
24 Heures. Live video streaming has been invading classrooms across the canton of Vaud. Mobile phone apps such as Periscope, launched in early 2015 with the tag line: “Explore the world through the eyes of others”, has turned the world of some Vaud teachers and school children upside down. After being secretly filmed by students […]
Swiss president wants tougher university entrance exams
Tribune de Genève. Johann Schneider-Ammann, Swiss president and minister of education wants to make it harder for Swiss school pupils to gain access to Swiss universities. He thinks students shouldn’t gain entrance to university without high grades in mathematics and their primary language – French, German or Italian, depending on the region. Many cantons, which […]
Geneva child care costs to drop by 20%
Tribune de Genève. The news was welcomed by some parents. “It’s great. I didn’t know” said one who was unaware that from the beginning of the next school year, the cost of Geneva city’s nurseries will drop 20%. The city’s administration recently approved the new prices, according to 20 Minutes. The 20% price reduction will apply […]
News inequality – why Switzerland needs more female reporters
It’s a sexist world. Women and their efforts are poorly covered by the media. A recent 2015 report by the Global Media Monitoring Project shows how women’s airtime progress has stalled. In 2015, women were mentioned in only 24% of news stories seen in newspapers, on television or on radio, exactly the same percentage as 2010. Some […]
Gender related work inequality persists in Switzerland
24 Heures. In the Swiss canton of Vaud more and more mothers work. The traditional model, where dad worked and mum looked after the home and the kids, now feels like it’s from another time. In Vaud, 77% of mothers with young children worked in 2014. This figure hides something though: only a minority were the […]
80% of 12-year-olds in Switzerland told they can’t go to university
Relatively few qualify for university in Switzerland. To apply you need to score well in school exams at the age of 11 or 12, enter the academic stream and graduate from it, normally at the age of 19. In 2015, only 20.8% of Swiss-based school leavers gained the chance to apply for entry to a Swiss […]
