5. Arts and cultural education
Switzerland
Last update: July, 2021
The cantons are the main bodies responsible for schools and education in general. Language-regional curricula are used in compulsory schooling (Lehrplan 21, Plan d'études romand, Piano di studio), while cantonal curricula are used for teaching at the gymnasium-based Matura schools and the "Fachmittelschulen".
In the last years specifically, the Federal Constitution began to allow the State to promote art and music, especially in the education sector. The 2021-2024 Culture Dispatch mentions two important points regarding education: the importance of supporting new generations of artists; the importance of arts –and particularly music- in the frame of schooling. It can be said that both points also contribute to two central pivots in contemporary cultural policies: cultural participation and social cohesion.
As the complex mosaic that Switzerland composes, art education is a way of promoting cultural exchange between linguistic regions, reinforcing local talents and region-specific traditions.
Last update: July, 2021
Various endeavours of cantonal offices of culture exist to better anchor art in society, as well as a range of new training courses and programmes. Offerings include certificate courses designed to train culture officers, or programmes dedicated to the subject of the teaching artist and designed to enable practising artists to independently undertake, evaluate, and critically reflect on cultural education projects at schools based on stringent criteria.
At the gymnasium level, students choose between different specialisation profiles (MAR 95). In each profile, the nine Matura subjects are made up of seven predefined basic subjects, one optional specialisation subject and one optional supplementary subject. According to the Swiss Education Report 2018, the teaching time for art amounts to 5-10% of the curriculum. (Art. 11 MAR 95 incl. amendments 2007).
In September 2012, both cantons and the population approved a new constitutional disposition to encourage music education for children and young people (Art. 67a of the Constitution). In 2016, the Culture Dispatch set the programme Youth+Music (Y+M) as an important part of future policies. Since then, the programme has grown exponentially. The goal of Y+M is to support extracurricular music education (from 6 to 20-year olds) through close collaboration with music organisations, entailing training for instructors. According to the results given in the Culture Dispatch, in 2018, 20 000 children and teenagers participated in Y+M camps and classes, 593 Y+M camps and classes were organised, and no less than 710 Y+M instructors were trained. From 2019, the Principality of Lichtenstein has joined the programme after an interstate agreement.
A specific measure to promote young music talents is planned, looking to support around a thousand young people around Switzerland.
Last update: July, 2021
With few exceptions, all Swiss universities of applied sciences currently have training courses in the arts disciplines. The Zurich University of the Arts ZHdK (Zürcher Fachhochschule ZFH) and the Bern University of the Arts HKB (Berner Fachhochschule BFH) offer BA and MA programmes covering several art disciplines. Other art colleges are organisational units of a university of applied sciences with a specific offer in the disciplines of the arts (University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland FHNW (FHNW Academy of Art and Design), Haute École Specialisée de Suisse Occidentale HES-SO (Haute École d'Arts Appliqués, HEAD), Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts (HSLU), and Scuola Universitaria Professionale Svizzera Italiana SUPSI).
Higher education in the arts in Switzerland has a good international reputation and, according to the Swiss Education Report 2018, a high proportion of foreign degrees in Master's programmes at Swiss universities of applied sciences are in the field of the arts.
A great emphasis is placed on the important step from education to practice; professional experiences are intertwined with artistic production. On the national level, the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia is the main organism that sets the tools to encourage, promote, connect and coach artists.
On the long-term agenda of the Federal Office of Culture is the promotion of professional arts education, the formal recognition of artistic professions, and the re-training of artists who are no longer able to practice their art or trade.
According to the Statistics on Culture for the year 2019, Switzerland operates 396 music schools (the large majority being in the German-speaking part of the country). The Zürich Conservatory is the largest one with more than 20 000 inscriptions.
Last update: July, 2021
The Association for Cultural Education in Switzerland (Kulturvermittlung Schweiz, KVS) acts as an umbrella organisation: it networks and supports organisations, institutions and individuals who are active in cultural education in and out of school.
The Federal Office of Culture (FOC) supports the musical education of children and young people outside the classroom. Art. 12a of the Cultural Promotion Act (KFG) stipulates that state-supported music schools offer tariffs that are significantly lower than adult tariffs and take into account the economic situation of the parents of musically gifted students.
Last update: July, 2021
Vocational education and professional education and training are regulated by the corresponding Act (VPETA) of the 13th December 2002. It is regulated at the federal level and is based mainly on a dual system. This model offers training shared between the company providing training (practical) and the vocational school (theory).
A defining feature of the Swiss VPETA system is its close correlation with the labour market. Indeed, the training echoes the actual market demand and available jobs. This close relation to the labour market is essential, as it allows a very high employment rate.
Two thirds of young people in Switzerland opt for a VET programme. The statistics on VET 2020 show that of a total of 74 208 qualifications (Federal Certificate of Proficiency (FVC) and with Federal Vocational Certificate (VETC)), 2024 qualifications, i.e. around 2.73%, could be attributed to a culture-related field in 2020. The three most common occupational groups based on these figures are audiovisual techniques and media production (1 273 qualifications), arts and crafts (333 qualifications) and fashion, interior design and industrial design (289 qualifications).