Earlier this year the Economist ranked OECD countries on workplace gender equality. Switzerland ranked near the bottom scoring last on one measure and third last on another, pegging it as the forth worst place for women to work. Only Turkey, Japan and South Korea are considered worse. The index covers 28 of the 34 OECD countries – Iceland, Mexico, […]
Geneva’s striking teachers could kill some kids’ chances of making it to university
Geneva’s teachers continue to strike over increased hours, larger classes and potential job losses. Many parents and students have supported teachers in their efforts to preserve the quality of their teaching environment. New developments however are posing questions on the effect of extended strike action on the children. Students recently voiced their discontent when the […]
English bridges Switzerland’s language-divide to a surprising extent
A recent survey by Pro Linguis demonstrates the importance of English in Switzerland. The notional line, known as the röstigraben, that marks the border between French and German speaking Swiss does not confine Switzerland’s English speakers. To test each language group’s mastery of the world’s lingua franca, they selected difficult to translate words, like the […]
Switzerland’s national broadcaster to stop religious programming
Radio Television Swiss (RTS), the French language arm of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation, plans to discontinue three religious programmes by 2017. According to a spokesman the decision was taken for cost-cutting reasons. A group of cross-party politicians, academics and civic leaders has protested that the decision was taken without consultation or debate and has demanded a […]
Half of Swiss jobs will be lost to automation, says Deloitte.
An analysis by Deloitte shows that 48% of current Swiss jobs could be lost to automation. Administrative, secretarial, agricultural and production jobs are most at risk. Most jobs set to go require low levels of education but some requiring highly educated people will disappear also. Self-driving vehicles, 3D printers, speaking robots and artificial intelligence will […]
Young multicultural Swiss prefer English
A study recently released by ch-x shows that only 28.2% of young people in the academic stream (Gymnase) at high school in French-speaking Switzerland speak German. On the German-speaking side of the rösti graben 40.6% of the same group speak French, still far from a majority. The number speaking a national language, other than their […]
Big fines for those who skip school
Tribune de Genève. Travelling outside the school holidays might be a good way to beat the crowds and save money however the DIP, Geneva’s department of education (Département de l’instruction publique) thinks it’s a poor way to ensure children get a proper education. Pierre-Antoine Preti, head of DIP’s communications told the Tribune de Genève that […]
Must a second Swiss language be taught at school? No says commission.
24 Heures. The long running battle over which languages should be taught at Swiss primary schools, took another twist this week. Swiss cantons largely decide for themselves which languages they teach at school, with minimal interference from the Federal government in Bern. This makes a lot of sense given Switzerland’s linguistic diversity – Switzerland has […]
Most UK graduates fail to get a job doing what they studied. Most Swiss do.
A recent report by the UK based Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) calculates that nearly 59% of UK graduates end up with non-graduate jobs, such as working in a cafe or bar. The report looks at European countries and only Greece and Estonia perform worse on this measure. In Switzerland less than 10% […]
Why is Swiss French so similar to Standard French, but Swiss German so different from Standard German?
Quora.com – where questions are asked and answered by a community of users. Martin Strohmeier says “it is more about culture and attitude towards the countries than the languages itself….by the time of WW1, Swiss German proved to be a useful way of differentiation from other German speakers and to establish their own identity.” Richard […]
