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 […]
Why Switzerland ranks near the bottom for working women
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 […]
