Education in Switzerland
[citation needed] The other students split in two or more school-types, depending on the canton, differing in the balance between theoretical and practical education.
In total, there are 12 Universities in Switzerland; ten of them are managed by the cantons, while two federal institutes of technology, ETH in Zürich and EPFL in Lausanne, are under the authority of the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation.
[2] In addition, there are seven regional associations of Universities for Applied Sciences (Fachhochschulen) which require vocational education and a special Berufsmatura, or a Fachmatura (a graduation by a Fachmittelschule) to study.
More recently Vladimir Prelog, Heinrich Rohrer, Richard Ernst, Edmond Fischer, Rolf Zinkernagel, Didier Queloz, Michel Mayor, Kurt Wüthrich, and Jacques Dubochet have received Nobel Prizes in the sciences.
[6] Other important research centers are the Empa and Paul Scherrer Institute which belong to the ETH domain.
The obligatory school system usually includes primary education (Primarschule in German, école primaire in French, scuola primaria / elementare in Italian and scola primara in Romansh) and secondary education I (Sekundarschule or Sekundarstufe I in German, secondaire I in French and scuola secondaria / media in Italian and scola secundar in Romansh).
In some German speaking cantons kindergarten and the first one or two years may be combined into a Grundstufe or Basisstufe where they are all taught together in a single class.
The cantons Thurgau and Nidwalden allow five-year-olds to start primary school in exceptional cases.
Any child can take part in school if they choose to, but pupils are separated depending on whether they speak French, German or Italian.
Rather recently introduced is a third, middle path via the Fachmittelschule which leads to a direct access to a Fachhochschule after a successful graduation of a Fachmatura.
In the science literacy, mathematics and reading assessment of PISA, 15-year-old students in Switzerland had the 10 highest average score of 81 countries.
Generally, each school type has its own adapted curricula, teaching material, teachers and, in some cases, its own range of subjects.
The pupils attend lessons in certain subjects in differentiated requirement-based groups (whereby the core classes are mixed).
Apprentices who attended a vocational high school will often add a Fachhochschule or a Höhere Fachschule to their curriculum.
There are 14 public and generic universities in Switzerland, 10 of which are maintained at cantonal level and usually offer a range of non-technical subjects.
[20] In 1995 Switzerland took part in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) assessment.
[22] TIMSS is an international assessment of the mathematics and science knowledge of fourth- and eighth-grade students around the world.
[23] A National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) study that used the TIMSS assessment among 12th graders found similar results.
Under the fifth pillar of the report, Higher education and training, the Swiss had a score of 5.79, which is the fourth highest among all the countries surveyed.
[25] According to one EPFL source, globally, 4 out of the 20 top labs in the field of AI are located in Switzerland.
[26] While compulsory schooling in Switzerland is between 9 and 11 years long, many of the specifics of the system vary by canton.
In some German speaking cantons kindergarten and the first one or two years may be combined into a Grundstufe or Basisstufe where they are all taught together in a single class.
