& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Education: A Solid System, Costly and Federalist
**Switzerland-700 years after
**smart and often expensive private institutes and boarding schools, for the children of well-off families from both Switzerland and abroad.
Adult education also offers a wide range of possibilities. For instance, there arc various cantonal institutes, old and
**students have already completed apprenticeships. Other non-unlvcrsity institutions include the music and theatre conservatories, and schools specializing in therapeutic pedagogy, social work, the hotel trade, transport, agriculture, forestry, etc.
**After spending two years in Switzerland, the British journalist, Will Hutton, was full of praise: "What struck my wife and I alfcut our daughter's school in the countryside between Zurich and Schaffhausen, were the patience and effort which teachers devoted to bringing the average or bclow-avcragc pupil, up lo a level which may nol be brilliant, but which in any ease was solid. Such an education might nol produce Nobel prizewinners, but schools like these do give people a high level of intelligence, and that's what the world needs today. Il is an education system which prepares people to participate actively in the ccortomic and social life of the country." (quote from "Das Magazin," 26/90).
ARE Ihc principles pul forth by the educationalist. Johann Heinrich Pestalozz! (1746 182 7), still relevant today? For him, and he was a living Illustration of these principles, all education should have a foundation of boundless love. He developed teaching methods the ultimate atm of which was to allow the individual to blossom. The Franco-Ocncvols philosopher. Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-78) also played* a major role in giving Switzerland its good repuls Hon for education. He advocated a natural development of the personality, and pave the way for a new approach to children, to their place In society and their mental attitudes. In the 20th century, the Swiss psychologist. Jean Piaget, formulated new theories on the development of a young child's Intelligence and thoughts, thus adding to the already solid foundations of education In Switzerland.
A Swiss education specialist, Moritz Arnct, tempers the praise which came from the British Journalist quoted above: "Admittedly we have a solid education system, which has strong foundations. But compared with the systems of other countries, it is In some respects lacking in dynamism and flexibility." this lack results directly from the fact that in Switzerland, the 26 cantons, or member ^states of the Confederation. Jealously guard their own powers with regard to education. It took no less than 20 years for a very simple problem, a uniform beginning of the school year in the fall, to be decreed for the whole of Switzerland, tn 1989.
A Citadel of Federalism
The education system Is one of the most striking examples of Switzerland's federalist structure. The federal institutes of technology in Zurich and Lausanne are the only educational domains placed under the exclusive control of the central federal authorities. All other educational Institutions, from preschool lo university and including compulsory schooling, arc bastions of cantonal sovereignty. Only in matters of school-leaving certificates and higher studies docs the Confederation have a say.
Slate education predominates In Switzerland — In 1988/89, only 5.2 per cent of Swiss pupils were being privately educated. This situation dates back to the 19th century, to a principle according to which elementary schooling should be at “a school of the nation and of the people", whereby children from all social strata had to be taught as equals. The education system is also founded on 19th century principles of free schooling, and of the strict religious and political neutrality of education.
The State School
Despite marked differences. the various cantonal education systems have much in common. Basically, Switzerland has three levels of education after nursery school:
compulsory schooling, divided into primary and lower-secondary education: upper secondary (professional training, schools which award certificates. high schools and lower colleges of education): and further education (universities, the hautes ccolcs, and engineering schools).
Swiss children have many educational possibilities, a situation which is effective but costly: accounting for per cent of the total, education Is the biggest single item of public expenditure. During this century, there has been major growth at every level of the education system. But until the immediate post-war period, further education remained a privilege of the better-off, despite the Increased possibilities. It was only in the 196Os, years marked by strong economic growth, that there was real change in the sense of more equal opportunity.
After attending nursery school between the ages of four and six, all children have nine years of compulsory schooling. At the primary level, this lasts six years in most cantons, although sortie times five and even four years. The remaining period of compulsory education, which can be three, four or five years depending on the region. Is the lower-secondary level. This prepares a young person through various channels for further studies or professional training. For many years, there have been many attempts at reforming this stage. In order to Increase the possibilities of being able to pass from one channel to another. Reform Is needed, to prevent the choice of a career being made to early.
Apprenticeship: Practical Experience
Switzerland places strong emphasis on the professional training of young people: 90 per cent of them go though one of the many channels of higher secondary education after completing compulsory schooling at the age of 16. Most of them — about 70 per cent — take up an apprenticeship In one of the 400 crafts recognized and regulated by the Confederation: some last for three or even four years. Priority is given to practical training In the work place. Theoretical instruction — one day a week on average — takes place in the professional schools. The advantage of this system Is that training conditions are very close to the real working conditions. Some cantons have Introduced courses which, while preparing them for their particular field of work, also improves their general knowledge more than would be the case in the traditional professional schools. While the later are, in quantitive terms, the main channels of further secondary
education, they are by no means the only ones. There are high schools, known In Switzerland as gymnasiums, which prepare students for university, as well as teachers’ training schools and those with diploma cour«-» in the social and paramedical fields.
Universities and Other Higher Education
Numerous possibilities arc offered by the professional training schools. There arc also the technical colleges which train future engineers, and the management and administrative colleges whose
University training is available at the two federal institutes of technology (Zurich and Lausanne), at the seven cantonal universities (Basel. Bern, Zurich, Fribourg, Lausanne, Geneva and Neuchatel), In St. Gallen at the institute of business and social studies and the pedagogy college, and In Lucerne at the theology faculty. About 10 per cent of young people arc taking university courses or their equivalent.
Further Training and Private Schools
Further training — or refresher courses — have become increasingly important in modern society, and in Switzerland great efforts arc being made in this direction. The Conference of cantonal public instruction authorities
has recommended much greater flexibility In education. In the sense of permanent training. This requires a common effort on the part of the public authorities, economic organizations and private Institutions. The mnin thrust of further training comes today from the private sector, specifically frdm internal courses within companies, professional bodies and specialized Institutes. Private schools also play a part In traditional education, from primary to high school level, and including 'professional training and commercial schools. Then there arc the
rich in tradition, as well as Ihc courses run by the leading Swiss supermarket chain, Migros. It is not uncommon in Switzerland for the private schools to be Innovative. In August 1990 for example, the country's first bilingual German-French schools were opened in Geneva and Bern, these provide children from the age of 10 with a bilingual education — an interesting venture in pluriilngual Switzerland.
Fairer Treatment for Women is Needed
The disadvantages confronting women in Swiss society apply in the field of education. The Number of women with no training other than compulsory school education (17 per cent) is double the to
tai for men (8 per cent). The duration of apprenticeships in most of Ihc so-called female profession* is shorter than those tn the so-called male professions. Occupations chosen by women perpetuate the traditional division of roles between the sexes: women tend lo lake Job* In olflces, shops, body care salons, and hospitals. However, more women have undergone professional training than was the ease 10 years ago: 66 per cent of female* aged 20 have today served apprenticeships, compared with 76 per cent of Ihclr male colleagues. And as many 20-ycar-old women as men of the same age have a school-leaving certificate or teaching diploma: 15 per cent.
Hut at university level, the proportion of females is low. One-third of university degrees and only one-fifth of doctorates arc obtained by women, who also account for a mere two per cent of the university teaching staff, the lowest proportion of females Is in engineering studies (8.4 per cent) and the highest In the human sciences (43.8 per cent).
Opening Outwards
Switzerland's educational system is strongly Influenced by the political and social characteristics which lie at the very foundations of the country: decentralization and pragmatism. The expert* arc unanimous in stating that despite all their advantages, these structures could be an obstacle to international cooperation. How can they open themselves up to the outside world, when Swiss higher education Institutions do not even recognize each others' diplomas, and when the possibility of free movement between the country's own universities can still present problems? There Is a clear need for much more coordination and among the cantons themselves, and between the cantons and the Confederation.
'Swiss education policy Is today going in the direction of cooperation and exchanges of Information and experiences, even Internationally." declared the Conference of cantonal directors of public Instruction.
These good Intentions have been proved by the fact that for the first time, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development ha* made a study of Swiss education policy. Also, Switzerland agreed to sign — it Is one of the last countries to do so — four Council of Europe conventions on eduction, allowing for reciprocal recognition of school-leaving certificate*, semesters- and high school diploma*, a* well a* the payment of grant* for >ludle* abroad.
— Jurg Muefler.