Handbook for Investors. Business location in Switzerland.

12.1.1 Basic and further education
Education begins at the kindergarten level at age five or six.
Primary school starts at age seven and runs through to grades
four to six, followed by the lower secondary level, the name and
curriculum of which vary from canton to canton. Students attend
a secondary school which corresponds to their personal level.
With the completion of the lower secondary level, students have
finished the nine compulsory school years. Students can then either
begin vocational training, attend high school to prepare them
for university studies or earn a specialized diploma.
95 % of students finish their mandatory education at the public
school where they reside; only 5 % attend private schools.
Public schools enjoy a good reputation. In the OECD Program for
International Student Assessments (PISA), Swiss students scored
higher than the average in OECD states, with the public schools
achieving higher scores than the private schools.
The public schools not only provide an education, they also fulfill
an important integration function: children with different social,
linguistic and cultural backgrounds all attend the same schools.
For Switzerland, a country with four national languages, multilingual
skills are extremely important.
Fig. 56: Quality of the educational system (2009)
1 = Does not meet the economy’s needs,
10 = Meets the economy’s needs
1 Finland 8.53
2 Singapore 8.20
3 Switzerland 8.07
4 Denmark 7.45
5 Canada 7.38
7 Netherlands 6.87
8 Ireland 6.85
11 Belgium 6.60
13 Germany 6.13
14 India 6.07
17 France 5.87
18 Hong Kong SAR 5.83
21 Japan 5.45
22 Luxembourg 5.38
25 UK 5.14
28 US 4.81
35 Italy 4.23
40 Russia 4.00
43 People’s Republic of China 3.80
53 Brazil 2.82
Source: 2009 IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook
In addition to their mother tongue, children are taught a second
national language and English beginning in primary school.
Fig. 57: Public spending on education per capita in USD (2007)
1 Luxembourg 5,153
2 Norway 4,494
3 Denmark 4,224
4 Switzerland 3,066
5 USA 2,839
6 Ireland 2,650
8 France 2,473
9 UK* 2,453
10 Netherlands 2,394
11 Belgium** 2,151
15 Germany 1,606
16 Italy* 1,435
18 Japan* 1,325
21 Singapore 1,090
22 Hong Kong SAR 996
32 Russia 369
34 Brazil 319
43 People’s Republic of China 71
45 India 29
*2006 **2005
Source: 2009 IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook
112 Handbook for Investors 2010