Education
There is no national education ministry in Switzerland. In the spirit of cooperative federalism, the municipalities, cantons and the federal government share responsibility for the decentralized education system. Their interaction is stipulated in the Federal Constitution, which was modified in 2006, and is currently among other things. still guaranteed on the basis of the Concordat on School Coordination (1970) and the Intercantonal Agreement on the Recognition of Qualifications (1993), further regulations on diploma recognition, a number of federal regulations and at the level of the Swiss Conference of Cantonal Education Directors (EDK). The state supervision of the education system is v. a. in the 26 cantons that have sole regulatory authority for the pre-school level, have compulsory schooling (primary and lower secondary level) and general education in upper secondary level. The federal government ensures quality requirements for primary education and free tuition at state schools during compulsory education. In the upper secondary level he has the regulatory competence for vocational training and he has to ensure the permeability of the offers in the vocational training area. While the curricula for vocational schools have always been applicable throughout Switzerland, such framework curricula have only existed for maturity schools (upper secondary level) since the late 1990s. The federal government ensures quality requirements for primary education and free tuition at state schools during compulsory education. In the upper secondary level he has the regulatory competence for vocational training and he has to ensure the permeability of the offers in the vocational training area. While the curricula for vocational schools have always been applicable throughout Switzerland, such framework curricula have only existed for the Matura schools (upper secondary level) since the late 1990s. The federal government ensures quality requirements for primary education and free tuition at state schools during compulsory education. In the upper secondary level he has the regulatory authority for vocational training and he has to ensure the permeability of the offers in the vocational training area. While the curricula for vocational schools have always been applicable throughout Switzerland, such framework curricula have only existed for maturity schools (upper secondary level) since the late 1990s.
According to topschoolsintheusa, there is general compulsory schooling between the ages of 6 and 15 (in many cantons voluntary attendance up to the age of 16). After the voluntary pre-school, in most cantons there is a six-year elementary school (primary level) and an equally compulsory (two to four-year level depending on the canton) three-year secondary level I (four years in Ticino). The lower secondary level provides a basic general education and prepares the children for the basic vocational training or for the transfer to general schools of the upper secondary level such as grammar schools. Compulsory schooling ends with lower secondary level.
The upper secondary level can be divided into general and vocational training courses. Since there is no nationwide qualification at the end of secondary level I, the transition to upper secondary level (3-4 years) is regulated differently by canton, with or without an entrance examination. The general education courses include the high school Matura schools and the technical secondary schools. They do not qualify for a job and prepare for training courses at the tertiary level. In basic vocational training, young people learn a trade. Most of it is completed in training companies with supplementary school lessons. However, it can also take place in full-time schools.
At the tertiary level, the education system offers training courses that can be completed either at a university or as part of higher vocational training. As a rule, admission to the higher education institutions takes the form of a high school diploma or a federal professional diploma. The higher vocational education is a specialty of Switzerland. It offers training courses for demanding professional areas of activity and management functions and serves to specialize after professional training. The tertiary level comprises nine universities (Basel, Bern, Freiburg im Üechtland, Geneva, Lausanne, Lugano, Lucerne, Neuchâtel, Zurich), a university for economics, law and social sciences (St. Gallen) and two federal technical universities (Zurich, Lausanne).
The oldest universities are the universities of Basel (founded in 1460), Lausanne (1537) and Geneva (founded in 1559 as the theological academy by J. Calvin ; university since 1873).
Media
Freedom of opinion and freedom of the press are guaranteed, and reporting is free. Due to the multilingualism and the federal structure of the country, there is a strongly decentralized press with a total of 180 titles.
The market for daily newspapers is essentially shared by Ringier AG, Tamedia AG and the NZZ media group (all from Zurich). The free newspapers »20 Minuten« / »20 Minutes« and »Blick am Abend«, the tabloid »Blick« (with Sunday edition), »Tages-Anzeiger« (with »SonntagsZeitung«), »Berner Zeitung« and the papers of the NZZ group (“Neue Zürcher Zeitung” with »NZZ am Sonntag«, »Neue Luzerner Zeitung«, »St. Galler Tagblatt «). The largest daily newspapers in French-speaking Switzerland are “Le Matin” (Lausanne), a tabloid, and “Le Temps” (Geneva). The consumer magazines “K-Tipp” and “Observer” (twice a month each) and the “Schweizer Illustrierte” are among the popular magazines with the highest circulation. News magazines are “L’Hebdo” (Lausanne) and “Die Weltwoche” (Zurich).
News agency: SDA / ATS.
Broadcasting: The federal authority responsible for the electronic media is the Federal Office for Communication (Bakom). Digital terrestrial television (DVB-T) was introduced in 2003. The Swiss radio and television company (SRG SSR) is a company organized under private law and commissioned by the Swiss Federal Government to distribute programs under public law (“public service”). Three German-language, two French and two Italian TV channels (with Romansh program windows) are broadcast. In addition, there are 14 radio programs (six in German, four in French, three in Italian, and one in Romansh) and three stations on Swiss Satellite Radio. The largest of a dozen private (mostly regional) television providers is »Star TV«. There are also around 50 regional and local radio stations.
