| A strategic outlook
By Dr Charles Kleiber,
State Secretary for Education and Research Swiss Government, Bern
From the 1980s onwards, framework conditions have progressed faster than ever and this overwhelming process of change and development goes on. The emergence of new economies, demographic pressures, dynamic R&D processes, as well as the ever-growing demands of industry boost the need for education and training worldwide.
New and flexible business strategies, the necessity to improve cooperation among nations, and last but not least, the search for security and better understanding among different cultures continue to place new challenges and open new pathways before the education sector.
Switzerland's uniqueness of its kind
Under these circumstances, our world today is confronted with different but complementary tendencies:
An overall strong pressure from civil societies and markets aimed at improving basic standards of living, education and professional training worldwide.
A steady development of information and communication technologies which spread out globally and expose almost all societies and national economies, shaking or even unsettling those which resist or cannot cope with this new “transparency challenge” while fostering those which are ready to “surf” on the new waves of dialogue and cooperation.
A merciless process of selecting locations — whether countries or universities — offering the best educational facilities and opportunities for future professional activities. And it follows that the best centers for excellence in education (in particular, in scientific fields) normally are directly linked to the best R&D achievements, so that the benefit for those successful locations is double.
The emergence of privileged locations for safe and successful education, in particular, universities and institutes enjoying a peaceful climate away from ideological, cultural and religious antagonisms and violence — Switzerland belongs to this category of privileged locations. In no other place, for example, are high school students better placed to benefit from productive interaction in a multicultural, multilingual environment, preparing them for both global competitiveness and success.
The emergence of niche markets in specific sectors (essentially in the service sector) and disciplines placing strong emphasis on human relations, intercultural dialogue, communication techniques and psychology, and intergovernmental cooperation. Hospitality and hotel management schools obviously belong to these prosperous markets, an important advantage for such Swiss centers of expertise.
While facing these new and strong tendencies in the world’s educational needs and demands, Switzerland’s position in the global marketplace enjoys specific comparative advantages, such as:
Switzerland is a safe, quiet and stable country where cultures, religions and individuals enjoy respect and recognition.
Switzerland, located in the heart of Europe, is connected to the whole world thanks to a dense network of international flights, highways and excellent telecommunications. Both Geneva and Zürich host representatives of the world’s foremost companies, banks and financial institutions — indeed, more than 5’000 multinational companies have moved their headquarters to Switzerland.
Swiss education and professional training have been well-known worldwide for more than a century : primary and secondary education, science education (life science, medical science, biotechnology), training in business, trade, investment and financial administration, insurance, as well as in hospitality, enjoy an excellent international reputation. The global concentration of industrial production, the steady development of technologies and the emergence of new dependencies and relationships all reinforce the central role of Switzerland as a key platform for appropriate, global and inter-culturally sustained professional training.
The proximity of, and the possibility to get training from, important international organizations such as the World Trade Organization (WTO), the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the International Trade Centre (ITC), among others, reinforces Switzerland’s position for training par excellence.
We appreciate the initiative Swiss Learning, as it looks to promote the best of Swiss education and training, offering to interested scholars and students, as well as to public administrators and business communities worldwide, a comprehensive guide for entering the complex world of higher education in Switzerland.
Charles Kleiber | State Secretary |
