The Swiss national professional team, the SwissSkills team, has held top rankings at international championships for many years and excels with outstanding results. Most recently it was named European Champion in 2016.
This outstanding performance is attributable to Switzerland’s unique dual education system. Thanks to the combination of academic and vocational training, young professionals with average or poor academic performance have the opportunity to succeed and win prizes at international professional championships. This is also confirmed by the new study “The top 200 young professionals” (Die Top 200 des beruflichen Nachwuchses) by the education scientist Prof. Dr. Magrit Stamm, which was presented at the SwissSkills Day 2017 on February 8 in Bern.
The high quality of the vocational training strengthens Switzerland's capacity for innovation
Switzerland’s dual education system combines an internationally highly regarded academic education with direct, practice-oriented vocational training. The vocational training courses last three to four years and focus on specialized vocational qualifications that are actually in demand and on areas where jobs are available. Together, the university degree courses and apprenticeships ensure an ideal mix of talent spanning both theory and practice. The high quality of the vocational training is a central pillar of the Swiss economy’s innovation and performance, which in turn offers interesting jobs and excellent development opportunities for motivated and qualified professionals and executives.
The Swiss education system enjoys an excellent reputation worldwide. In the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report, the Swiss education system has ranked first for many years.
“The study by Professor Dr. Stamm published today once again highlights the uniqueness of our dual vocational training system. In Switzerland, young people from all social backgrounds have excellent career prospects regardless of their academic achievements,” said Federal Councilor Johann Schneider-Ammann at a media conference at the SwissSkills Day 2017 on February 8 in Bern.
New initiative hopes to bring the WorldSkills Competition to Switzerland
The newly launched “SwissSkills Initiative” will help to further strengthen the Swiss vocational training system in future, explained the Federal Councilor. The aim of the initiative is to promote the Swiss vocational training system more intensively and to raise awareness of the advantages and opportunities it offers. In addition, Switzerland is putting in a bid for WorldSkills 2021, with Basle as the proposed venue. The decision will be announced at the WorldSkills 2017 in Abu Dhabi.
The “SwissSkills Initiative” is supported by public figures and private individuals.
Source: SwissSkills media release (available in German, French and Italian)
