Page 103 - Štremfel, Urška, and Maša Vidmar (eds.). 2018. Early School Leaving: Contemporary European Perspectives. Ljubljana: Pedagoški inštitut.
P. 103
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The ESL Situation in Switzerland
Manja Veldin and Maša Vidmar
Synopsis
Switzerland does not provide an official definition of ESLers, al-
though the rate reported by Eurostat is low. The issue of ESL is typ-
ically embedded in the context of national programmes and initia-
tives tackling poverty, risk groups, employability etc. This approach
importantly contributes to success in preventing and tackling ESL.
Multi-agency partnerships at the local/institutional level are well
established.
Summary
Since Switzerland is not an EU member state it officially does not
follow the Europe 2020 targets nor has it set any national quanti-
tative target in this area. However, in one national education doc-
ument the objective is stated as 95% of the population aged below
25 years being an upper secondary graduate (EDI/EVD/EDK, 2011).
According to Eurostat data, in 2016 Switzerland’s ESL rate was 4.8%.
It has been decreasing in the last 7 years and has always been be-
low the Europe 2020 target ESL rate of 10%. However, large discrep-
ancies between the ESL rate among foreign-born and native-born
remain. Even though Switzerland does not have a comprehensive
strategy to tackle ESL, the Swiss Conference of Cantonal Ministers
of Education (EDK) plays a leading role in addressing ESL. Typically,
103
The ESL Situation in Switzerland
Manja Veldin and Maša Vidmar
Synopsis
Switzerland does not provide an official definition of ESLers, al-
though the rate reported by Eurostat is low. The issue of ESL is typ-
ically embedded in the context of national programmes and initia-
tives tackling poverty, risk groups, employability etc. This approach
importantly contributes to success in preventing and tackling ESL.
Multi-agency partnerships at the local/institutional level are well
established.
Summary
Since Switzerland is not an EU member state it officially does not
follow the Europe 2020 targets nor has it set any national quanti-
tative target in this area. However, in one national education doc-
ument the objective is stated as 95% of the population aged below
25 years being an upper secondary graduate (EDI/EVD/EDK, 2011).
According to Eurostat data, in 2016 Switzerland’s ESL rate was 4.8%.
It has been decreasing in the last 7 years and has always been be-
low the Europe 2020 target ESL rate of 10%. However, large discrep-
ancies between the ESL rate among foreign-born and native-born
remain. Even though Switzerland does not have a comprehensive
strategy to tackle ESL, the Swiss Conference of Cantonal Ministers
of Education (EDK) plays a leading role in addressing ESL. Typically,
103
