Responsibilities

The competences in the education system are distributed between the Confederation, cantons and municipalities. The responsibility for legal implementation, execution, supervision and financing varies depending on the type of educational level and the respective educational institution.

The primary responsibility for education lies within the cantons: the cantons are responsible for the education system wherever the Federal Constitution does not stipulate that the Confederation is responsible. Each canton has its own legal regulations for education. Essentially, the cantonal school laws or education laws in all 26 cantons are based on the same foundations and comprise similar objectives. Wherever the Confederation has legislative authority according to the Federal Constitution, the Confederation passes the legal regulations and entrusts the cantons with their implementation. The revision of the education regulations in the Federal Constitution provides a constitutional legal basis for inter-cantonal cooperation and for cooperation between the cantons and the Confederation.

The cantons can transfer various powers to the municipalities. In particular, the municipalities assume various capacities on the pre-school, primary and lower secondary levels.

Responsibilities on the various educational levels

Pre-school and compulsory education

According to the Federal Constitution, the cantons are responsible for school education. "They shall ensure the provision of an adequate primary (and lower secondary) school education that is available to all children. Primary (and lower secondary) school education shall be mandatory and be managed or supervised by the state. At state schools it shall be free of charge." (Federal Constitution Article 62). The cantons and their municipalities bear all responsibility for regulation and implementation in the field of compulsory education and pre-school. The municipalities assume various capacities. In general, the municipalities are responsible for the schools (in some cantons, for schools on the lower secondary level, the canton can also be responsible).

Upper secondary level

On the upper secondary level, the cantons and the Confederation each bear responsibility for parts of the public education system.

Vocational education and training as a whole (basic vocational education and training, higher vocational education and training, and vocationally oriented continuing education) is regulated by federal law and is within the capacity of the Confederation. The Confederation, cantons and professional organisations work together as partners. The cantons are responsible for the implementation of basic vocational education and training, and are responsible for the establishment and maintenance of educational institutions. The professional organisations perform important tasks in the field of basic vocational education and training.

The cantons and the Confederation jointly regulate the recognition of matura certificates. The cantons establish and maintain the matura schools. Inter-cantonal regulations apply to the recognition of specialised middle schools and their certificates. The cantons establish and maintain the specialised middle schools.

Tertiary level

In the university domain, as well as in the rest of the tertiary area, both the Confederation and the cantons act partly in a legislative capacity and partly as the responsible body; they coordinate with each other with regard to the courses offered.

The cantons are responsible for the universities of teacher education, which are also subject to inter-cantonal legislation. The cantons can bear the responsibility individually, or in groups of cantons.

The responsibility for the cantonal universities resides with the individual cantons in which they are based.

Regulation of the universities of applied sciences is within the capacity of the Confederation. The cantons, or groups of cantons, (seldom private bodies) bear responsibility for the universities of applied sciences.

Vocational education and training as a whole (basic vocational education and training, higher vocational education and training, and vocationally oriented continuing education) is within the capacity of the Confederation. The cantons organise the implementation of higher vocational education and training, and are responsible for a multitude of educational institutions. The Confederation authorises professional organisations to regulate various aspects of the federal PET diploma examinations and advanced federal PET diploma examinations and to establish and maintain colleges of higher vocational education and training.

The Confederation governs the so-called "ETH domain" and is responsible for the 2 Federal Institutes of Technology (ETH) as well as 4 Federal Research Institutes – its capacities include supervision and regulation.

Administration and supervision

Cantons and their municipalities

Supervision and administration of education is the responsibility of the respective cantonal government. The cantonal government supervises education and school concerns and is authorised to act in a general decision-making capacity. The member of the cantonal government responsible for education is the minister of education. He or she is the head of the respective cantonal department of education. Tasks in the field of education are undertaken by the cantonal departments of education, which are often subdivided into sub-departments according to school level or educational level (e.g. primary and lower secondary school office, office for general education at upper secondary level, vocational education and training office, office for universities). In individual cantons, an additional council of education acts as an advisory or decision-making body.

Cantonal laws, which apply to the field of education, are within the capacity of the cantonal parliaments.

On the pre-school, primary and lower secondary levels, cantonal school inspectorates undertake the educational supervision and guidance of teaching staff and their teaching. On the local level, a special commission, the local school authority, generally addresses school-related concerns on the pre-school, primary and lower secondary levels. Its capacities vary according to canton and municipality and mainly involve the administrative and organisational aspects of schooling outside the teaching (e.g. formation of classes, acquisition and maintenance of premises, budget issues, but also disciplinary issues involving pupils and teaching staff). Various cantons have reformed the supervision of schooling by replacing school inspectorates with comprehensive quality management, or by converting school inspectorates into specialised centres for school supervision with an external evaluation body.

The supervision of schools on the upper secondary level and of schools for higher vocational education and training is undertaken by cantonal commissions and in some cases also by school inspectors.

The cantonal universities, universities of applied sciences and universities of teacher education are under cantonal supervision.

Confederation

The areas of education for which the Confederation is responsible are addressed by 3 different federal departments and their respective federal offices and authorities:

Additional instruments of cooperation include recommendations and statements issued by the Swiss Conference of Cantonal Ministers of Education, as well as the operation of specialist agencies.

The cantons are also subject to an obligation to coordinate as defined by the Federal Constitution. Where harmonisation of school education is not achieved by means of coordination in the areas of school starting age, compulsory school attendance, duration and objectives of the educational levels and the transition from one level to another, as well as the recognition of qualifications, the Confederation shall issue regulations to achieve such harmonisation (Federal Constitution Article 62). With regard to universities, Federal Constitution Article 63a stipulates that the Confederation and the cantons are to jointly provide for coordination and quality assurance in the higher education system. If coordination efforts fail in defined areas (levels of study and their transitions, continuing education, recognition of institutions and qualifications), regulations are passed by the Confederation. The Swiss University Conference (SUC), as a body which operates for both the Confederation and the university cantons, performs coordination tasks for the cantonal universities and Federal Institutes of Technology. The Swiss Council for Universities of Applied Sciences, as a strategic-political body, is responsible for inter-cantonal cooperation among universities of applied sciences and is also the governing body for universities of teacher education. A shared university conference for all universities is planned for the future.

For the acquisition and processing of information on the Swiss education system, the cantons and the Confederation introduced a national education monitoring system in 2004. This serves as a basis for educational planning, education policy decisions, reporting and public debates. The main instrument of the education monitoring system is a periodically released education report. The Swiss Coordination Centre for Research in Education (SKBF) compiled the first education report as a pilot version in 2006. A new education report for Switzerland will be available in 2010.