Every year, Lausanne-based IMD business school publishes its global competitiveness ranking. Switzerland climbed from 5th last year to 4th behind Singapore, Hong Kong and the US. Venezuela (63rd) was last. The ranking, established in 1989, incorporates 235 indicators and takes into account a wide range of “hard” statistics such as unemployment, GDP and government spending […]
Geneva considers changing school holiday calendar
Geneva’s education authority is considering changing the canton’s school holiday calendar. The holidays under discussion are Easter, the long weekend of Ascension and the summer break. Proposed changes would extend the Easter break from one to two weeks, make the Friday following Ascension – Thursday 30 May 2019 this year – a school holiday and […]
Swiss government agrees on bigger tax deductions for childcare
Switzerland’s parliament recently decided to increase the amount of childcare costs that can be deducted from taxable income. Parliament voted 131 to 48, with 14 abstentions, to increase the maximum annual childcare deduction from CHF 10,100 per child to CHF 25,000 when calculating federal taxes, according to RTS. Childcare in Switzerland is expensive. According to […]
Global Geneva launches young journalists and writers competition
The Geneva-based magazine Global Geneva is running a writing competition for young writers (14 to 19 year olds). A total of 2,450 francs of prize money will be awarded to the best entries – 1st 1,200 francs, 2nd 750 francs, 3rd 500 francs. To enter, write a compelling article or short story (1,000 words) on […]
Poor air quality in two thirds of Swiss classrooms
A recent study by Switzerland’s Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) estimates that the air quality in two thirds of Swiss classrooms is inadequate. The main problem is the build up of CO2. High CO2 concentration affects the concentration of those in the room. It can also provoke head aches and lethargy. The study, which […]
Switzerland comes third globally for higher education
Switzerland trails only the US and UK in this year’s QS World University Ranking. UK-based QS, which ranks 1,200 universities across 78 countries, placed Switzerland’s two federal universities, ETHZ (7th) and EPFL (22nd), in the global top 50 in 2019. ETHZ was ranked in the top 10 across 22 domains, ranking first in biosciences. Both […]
Religion declines further in Switzerland
Statistics for 2017 show that 26% of Switzerland’s residents have no religion. As recently as 1960 the same figure was less than 1%. In 2016, the same figure was 25%. The percentage with no faith shows significant regional variations. While only 20% of Italian speakers have no religion, 25% in German-speaking Switzerland and 31% in […]
Switzerland scores well on youth job market conditions but suffers from skills mismatch
A recent report places Switzerland second in a ranking of 33 european countries on conditions in the youth labour market in 2016 – youth are those between 15 and 24. Switzerland’s overall score of 5.67 out of 7.00 is close to Denmark’s 5.72. Switzerland’s highest scores are for employment rate (6.01) and working conditions (5.77), […]
Swiss gender pay gap 10th highest in Europe
In a recently published study Switzerland has the 10th highest gender pay gap in Europe. Switzerland’s gap of 17% is bigger than Italy’s (5.3%), Luxembourg’s (5.5%), Belgium’s (6.1%), Sweden’s (13.3%), Spain’s (14.2%), Denmark’s (15%), France’s (15.2%) or the Netherlands’ (15.6%), but lower than Finland’s (17.4%), Portugal’s (17.5%), Austria’s (20.1%), the UK’s (21%) or Germany’s (21.5%). […]
Swiss children reach only 77% of their potential, according to World Bank
Yesterday, the World Bank released its Human Capital Index (HCI), a measure of how much human potential nations realise. Singapore takes the top spot. A child born there can expect to realize 88% of their potential. Switzerland comes 20th with 77%, just ahead of New Zealand. Among european nations, Switzerland is 14th, behind Italy (13th), […]
