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Most international residents who set up a new life in Switzerland will testify to the fact that integrating in the country can be problematic, but the duo behind the podcast As Swiss as Possible have some key advice for how to overcome the inevitable obstacles.
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This figure has been stable for several years. In 2016, it stood at 91.5%, the Swiss federal government and the Swiss Conference of Cantonal Ministers of Education (EDK) said on Monday.
The number is important with regard to the employability of 25-year-olds. In Switzerland, upper secondary level encompasses post-compulsory education programmes such as grammar schools, which lead to the Matura [or A-level] qualification, specialised schools and vocational training programmes.
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The Swiss Coordination Centre for Research in Education (SKBF) has produced the Swiss Education Report every four years since 2010. It does so on behalf of the federal authorities and EDK.
On Monday, Swiss President Guy Parmelin and Christophe Darbellay, the education minister of canton Valais, presented the most recent report to journalists in Bern. Parmelin is also Swiss education minister, while Darbellay chairs the EDK.
Darbellay explained the declining graduation rate by the fact that vocational training is less attractive in French-speaking Switzerland. In French-speaking cantons, the rate is between 85% and 92%, while in German-speaking regions it is higher: 92-96%.
The different value placed on vocational training is evident in canton Valais, Darbellay said. In French-speaking Monthey, 82% of 25-year-olds have an upper secondary diploma, while in Visp in the Upper Valais region is it 98%. There, vocational training is strong.
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“We still have a lot of persuasion to do to make parents understand that vocational training may be the better path,” said Parmelin.
The federal authorities and cantons are also not happy about the number of students dropping out. “Currently, the rate remains at a consistently high level,” they say. “Around 24% of students starting their studies do not achieve a bachelor’s degree at a university within eight years of starting.”
The number of apprenticeship contract terminations is also high. According to a statement by the Swiss Trade Union Federation (SGB), a quarter of apprentices terminate their apprenticeship contract prematurely. After termination, 20% do not re-enter training. This reveals a “massive quality problem” in SGB’s view, and the myth of “perfect vocational training” in Switzerland does not match reality.
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On Monday, the union called for specific improvements to be made for apprentices. These include more holidays and better health protection. In addition, the salaries of trainees should not be less than CHF5,000 ($6,350), according to SGB. It wants to hold training companies more accountable. The union says binding minimum standards and controls are needed, as well as measures to ensure sufficient apprenticeship places are offered.
In their initial assessment of the new education report, Parmelin and Darbellay stressed that the joint education objectives are long-term. They will now examine whether additional measures or new objectives are required.
The 400-page report consolidates current knowledge about the Swiss education system across all education levels. The federal authorities and cantons share responsibility for the Swiss education system. While compulsory schooling falls under cantonal jurisdiction, responsibilities in the post-compulsory sector are divided between the federal government and the cantons.
Adapted from German by AI/sb
We select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools to translate them into English. A journalist then reviews the translation for clarity and accuracy before publication.
Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles. The news stories we select have been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team from news agencies such as Bloomberg or Keystone.
If you have any questions about how we work, write to us at english@swissinfo.ch
The Swiss broadcaster Radio Television Suisse said it had pulled from its website the commentary of an Olympic bobsleigh run in which one reporter questioned at length the presence of an Israeli athlete at the Games because of his alleged support for Israel’s actions in the Gaza war.
The commentary on RTS was aired throughout one of the runs of the Israelis Adam Edelman and Chen Menachem in the two-man bobsleigh event on Monday.
The commentator, Stefan Renna, said Edelman had supported the actions of the Israeli military in the Gaza conflict and he suggested that this breached the International Olympic Committee’s rules on political statements by athletes at the Games.
“Our journalist wished to question the IOC’s policy regarding the statements made by the athlete concerned,” RTS said in a statement. “However, although factual, such information may have appeared inappropriate due to its length within the context of a sports commentary. For this reason, we removed the segment from our website last night.”
The IOC said on Tuesday that questions about individual comments made by commentators must be directed to broadcasters. The International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
Renna said in his commentary that Edelman defined himself as a Zionist, posted messages on social media in favour of what Renna referred to as the “genocide” in Gaza and had mocked a “Free Palestine” inscription he had seen on a wall on the sidelines of a World Cup race, among other things.
“One can therefore question his presence in Cortina during these Games,” he said, citing IOC rules on athletes’ military connections and active support of war, including through their activities on social media.
The American-born Edelman, who the Times of Israel said is the first Orthodox Jew to represent Israel at the Winter Olympics, posted on social media that he was aware of Renna’s commentary, which he described as a “diatribe”.
“[We are] a team of six proud Israelis who’ve made it to the Olympic stage. No coach with us. No big program. Just a dream, grit, and an unyielding pride in who we represent,” he wrote. “I don’t think it’s possible to witness that and give any credence to the commentary.”
IOC rules on active support of war relate only to Russian and Belarusian athletes who are allowed to compete at the Olympics as neutrals despite the ban on their countries, following Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Renna, who has been forbidden by RTS from discussing his commentary, also cited the case of Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych, who was disqualified from the Olympics last week for wearing a helmet depicting compatriot athletes killed since the Russian invasion.
Edelman and Menachem are due to complete their third and fourth runs on Tuesday. They were in last place after their first two runs.
Maximilian Maertens describes his introduction to the MB&F brand and what it means to be the handpicked successor to its founder, Max Büsser.
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Mitten am exklusiven Suvretta-Hang von St. Moritz plant Pro Juventute eine Luxusvilla. Damit sollen zusätzliche Einnahmen generiert werden. Die Stiftungsaufsicht ist alarmiert.
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If the Swiss voters backed the right-wing proposal to curb the number of foreigners coming into Switzerland it would have a “disastrous” effect on the country’s universities, an expert warns.
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The Federal Statistical Office (FSO) reported on Monday that the total number of offences in 2025 was similar to 2009, the year crime statistics were first published in their current form. But it said the number of offences committed per 1,000 inhabitants in 2009 was 72 compared to 61 in 2025.
Theft (154,041 offences) remains the most common property crime in 2025, down by 5.3% compared to 2024: vehicle break-ins (–18.8%), thefts on/in vehicles (–17.0%) and pickpocketing (–15.5%) decreased sharply. In addition, there was a reduction in vehicle thefts (–4.9%), less property damage (–3.2%) and fewer cases of fraud (–5.1%).
In 2025, Swiss police recorded just under 58,000 offences online, a decrease of 2% compared to the previous year. According to the FSO, the vast majority (54,247) were economic cybercrime.
Most cases (81.2%) involved online fraud. The FSO also notes that men were more often victims of online investment fraud (65.2%), advance fee fraud (57.0%) and sextortion, extorting money using photos and videos; nine out of ten victims were men.
Women were more affected by fake requests for help (60.8%) and romance scams (54.8%). The FSO said the over-60s were most affected by online fraud.
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Unlike other offences, the number of violent crimes (49,915) increased by 2% compared to 2024. As in recent years, the increase is particularly significant for serious violence (8.1%).
The total number of homicides rose to 55 in 2025, above the annual average of 48 since 2009, the FSO says. Among those killed last year, 32 were women. The FSO also notes that over half of all homicides involved a couple, former couple or family.
Nearly three-quarters of all domestic violence victims were women. This corresponds to the average proportion of women killed over the past 17 years, according to FSO. Last year 19 women and 2 men in a relationship (ongoing or former couple) died.
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Over 92,000 people were reported for an offence under the Criminal Code last year. Among them, 42.1% were Swiss citizens, while foreign residents accounted for 32.3% of all cases. The figure for asylum-seekers was 5.8% and 20% for other foreign nationals.
The FSO notes that the percentage of foreign residents and other foreign nationals who were victims of crimes rose by 2.9% and 1.3%, respectively. The share of Swiss victims was stable, while the figure for asylum-seekers was down by 12.4%.
Adapted from French by AI/sb
We select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools to translate them into English. A journalist then reviews the translation for clarity and accuracy before publication.
Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles. The news stories we select have been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team from news agencies such as Bloomberg or Keystone.
If you have any questions about how we work, write to us at english@swissinfo.ch
Glencore is to give $2bn (£1.47bn) to shareholders after a turbulent year in which profits slumped and talks collapsed over a blockbuster $260bn merger with the fellow mining company Rio Tinto.
The FTSE 100 company announced the payout on Wednesday despite reporting that annual profits slipped 6% on the previous year to $13.5bn.
It comes weeks after talks over what would have been the largest deal in mining history collapsed, leaving the Swiss-headquartered commodities company to press ahead with a plan to more than double its copper production over the next decade.
Rising metals prices and an increase in copper output in the second half of the year were not enough to make up for a bruising fall in coal and energy commodity prices, which pulled earnings down. Glencore, which was established in 1974 as a trading company, has operations in more than 30 countries and a workforce of about 140,000.
The idea of combining Rio and Glencore has been repeatedly floated over the past two decades and was raised the first time just before the global financial crisis in 2008. Rio rejected Glencore’s merger approach in 2014, while another round of talks in 2024 also came to nothing.
The most recent attempts followed the $53bn deal between Anglo American and the Canadian rival Teck last September, which brought two of the world’s largest copper producers together.
Despite the failed deal, Gary Nagle, Glencore’s chief executive, said last year brought “significant progress” and pointed to “clear momentum for our copper-led growth strategy”.
Copper has become central to Glencore’s future, with the metal increasingly in demand as the world builds out electric vehicles, renewable energy infrastructure and power grids. The company is targeting production of more than 1m tonnes of copper a year by the end of 2028, rising to 1.6m tonnes by 2035, which would make it one of the world’s largest producers.
Glencore is the world’s sixth-largest copper producer and the largest listed coal producer. Nagle justified the payout to investors by pointing to Glencore’s $4bn stake in Bunge, a US agricultural trader it received when Bunge merged with Glencore’s Viterra grain business last year, which he described as surplus capital being set aside for shareholders.
Glencore has long been one of the world’s biggest coal traders, a business that has attracted criticism from climate campaigners but which the company argues is needed to keep the lights on in developing economies.
In 2024 it scrapped plans to spin off its coal business after shareholders urged the commodities company to hold on to the highly profitable but heavily polluting division.
The Contrôle Officiel Suisse des Chronomètres adds a new chronometer standard, certifying watches accurate to six seconds a day.
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