Expatriates can avail of the chance to study in Switzerland same as Saudi students as defined by the Swiss education consultants who visited the Kingdom recently with the aim to highlight the learning opportunities in Switzerland and to strengthen the social relationships between Switzerland and Saudi Arabia. “Our aim is to provide parents and students the best learning opportunities, comfortable environment and confidence for their education in Switzerland,” said Claudine Maager, a Swiss private school Educational Consultant. “We met many parents in Riyadh and Dahran before coming to Jeddah and we are very optimistic and had a great experience, though parents had very high,” she explained. Susan Shawwa Khalil, another educational consultant, said that she offers the summer school too ‘where children can learn different things in a unique environment. “Since Switzerland is not an unknown place, I found that parents want their children to spend some time there for great experience as there is a lot of educational scope and opportunities in Switzerland”, said Khalil . Switzerland is a multicultural country. The Swiss education system is very diverse as the constitution of Switzerland delegates the authority for the school system mainly to the 26 cantons. In addition to the public schools, 12 high schools endorsed by the Swiss Learning project lead to a range of examinations renowned throughout the world. These include the IGCSE, Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB), the Swiss Federal Maturity, the French Baccalaureate and the German Abitur. These certificates are accepted for entry into Swiss universities and to universities in other countries according to the specific conditions of each institution. “Higher education in Switzerland comprises academic studies at the 10 cantonal universities and two Federal Institutes of Technology, at the more professionally-oriented universities of applied sciences and at the universities of teacher education,” said Hans Stalder, the Swiss consul general. “Since 2006, all Swiss universities offer their courses in accordance with the Bologna system, undergraduate studies culminate in a Bachelor's degree, which can be further advanced with a Master's degree in compliance with international agreements,” he explained. Hans also informed that a total of 117,000 students attend Switzerland's world-class Bachelor's, Master's and Ph.D. programs, which are based on cutting-edge research and cover a variety of areas. The language of instruction is generally German, French or Italian depending on the location of the institute. However, lately a full series of courses given in English are available, ranging from Architecture to Biomedical Engineering, Graphic Design, Intercultural Conflict Management to Live Sciences, Nano and Micro Technology, Precision Manufacturing to Sustainable Pharmaceutical Operations & Engineering. The country is also well-known for its private educational institutes which use mostly English as language of instruction. A number of world-class universities such as the International Institute for Management Development IMD belong to that category. For those youngsters who do not aspire toward an academic curriculum, a full range of vocational training programs are available. In fact, Switzerland has a “dual system of training and education, one part consists of a on-the-job training in an apprenticeship offered by a company, where the trainee and the company sign a contract; and the other part comprises branch-related theory and general education classes that are offered one day per week at vocational colleges located in all larger cities throughout the country. This vocational programs offer a range of over 500 specific professions,” said Stalder. Switzerland's international recognition as a centre of excellence for education and its attraction for studying and research is well based. The high proportion of foreign university students (21percent), Ph.D. students (53.6percent) and teaching staff (45percent) attests to this. Switzerland's investment in education and research is among the highest of all OECD countries. As a result, Switzerland boasts both the highest number of registered patents in all European countries and one of the highest numbers of Nobel Prizes pro capite in the world. There are more than 500 professions which can be learned in Switzerland in Apprenticeships lasting 3 – 4 years. Turning the attention towards the undergraduate and possibilities of joining a summer camp in Switzerland, Khalil said that they offer different academic courses, locations, atmosphere sports activities with large or small groups in the city and beautiful mountains areas for all the nationalities. “There is another special program for young ladies of age 18 and above, who have finished the school education. These programs are not very lengthy as most of them are 2-3 week programs. These programs can be afforded easily by parents. Languages are the main part of these camps”, she explained.
