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Stephanie Cheah of Swiss Learning in Singapore shares why Swiss boarding schools are getting more attention
Switzerland is well-known to Asian families for its amazing mountain scenery, chocolates and luxury watches. In recent years, Malaysian parents interested in an overseas education for the children are also discovering the exclusive world of Swiss private boarding schools. For decades, these schools have provided an internationally recognised education that attract students from all over the world, and they now rank among the best in the world.
Read more: My life at boarding school in the UK, according to Kayden Chua
As a small, land-locked country with few natural resources and a population of just 8.5 million people, Switzerland punches way above its weight. It has an advanced and highly-developed free market economy, and one of the highest GDP per capita in the world. This is no accident; the country's philosophy of education is influenced by famous Swiss thinkers like Jean-Jacques Rousseau who was a great advocate of practical learning over a theoretical education. “The best we can offer our children is an upbringing full of freedom, possibilities to follow their curiosity and make their own experiences”, is one of his famous quotes.
More recently, the thought leadership of psychologist and philosopher Jean Piaget has influenced the mission statement of many Swiss schools: the goal of education is to create men and women who are capable of doing new things, and not simply repeating what other generations have done. So, in practice, how do Swiss boarding schools achieve this goal?
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First and foremost, there is an emphasis on close, individualised attention. Swiss boarding schools have smaller student bodies compared to those in the UK or the US. Staff to student ratios are often as low as 3:1, and small class sizes mean that academics can be tailored to specific needs. If a student is struggling in a particular area, teachers can pick it up straight away and provide help or other support before it becomes a bigger issue.
See also: Datin Sri Mary Lourdes-Chandran on boarding school life and raising independent kids
A unique feature of a private Swiss education is the very wide range of different academic programmes on offer that cater and prepare their students for higher education in any part of the world—the International Baccalaureate, A Levels, Advanced Placement tests and US High School Diploma, Swiss Maturité and French Baccalaureate—to name a few. The majority of school leavers head on to top-ranked universities in the UK, the US, Canada, and within Europe.
Another unique feature of Swiss boarding schools is the incredibly diverse demographic. With its long history of hosting international students, Swiss schools have had the benefit of implementing nationality quotas. Being able to control the number of students from any particular country is very valuable as it allows the maximum amount of diversity in each class. There are currently over 130 nationalities represented in Swiss boarding schools, and this enriches the experience of every student with friendships across borders that will last a lifetime. Having strong connections is the backbone of the active and close-knit alumni networks of Swiss boarding schools. It is common for classmates to stay in touch, help each other professionally and provide mentorship or work opportunities.
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With globalisation and businesses that often transcend borders, giving a child an educational foundation with exposure to other cultures, customs and languages is very appealing to the modern parent. Being multilingual is said to develop critical thinking skills, engender a more open perspective, and correlates with a high level of emotional intelligence. Living in Switzerland with French, German, English and Italian widely spoken is a natural backdrop for children to grow-up hearing and speaking different languages. In the boarding house, the policy is to pair with a student from another country. When a child is a living way from home, it is important that they have a sense of family, and the schools emulate being a “home-away-from-home”. Ensuite bathrooms are the norm, and facilities are typically very modern.
Providing this level of personalisation and attention to detail does not come cheap. Swiss boarding schools are among the most expensive in the world, averaging over US$100,000 per year for tuition and board. With this eye-watering price tag, a Swiss boarding school education may be out of reach for all but the wealthiest parents. There is one way to get a look into this rarefied world without having to mortgage the home—all the schools run their own residential camps. Whether it’s for one week or the whole summer, this is a great way to get a taster for the exclusivity of these schools and the value of a Swiss education at a fraction of the cost.
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