Swiss education
The school starts when the kids are 4 years old. They've 2 years in the kinder garden. When the kids are 6 years old they go to the infant school during 2 years. They learn the alphabet, the numbers and they draw, they cook and so one. After this, they go to the Primary School. The first and the second year is with the same teacher and they begin to learn how to write sentences and how to read. The third and the fourth year is with a another teacher and they start to learn our second language: German. The fifth and sixth is with another teacher. At the end of the sixth year, we have a big test called PPO. We have 4 different test: Maths, French, German and environment. This test is a preparation for the secondary school. If you get your average between 6 and 5, you can go to the PG level (I'm going to explain these levels later), if your grades are between 5 and 4,5 you go to the G level and if you have between 4,5 and 4 you go to EB. 6 is the best, 1 is the worse grade that you can get.
After the Primary School, the kids are going to the Secondary School during three years. Every year we have an another class, but during the school year, we stay with the same class for every classes and people from the same grade than us. What is new from the Primary School is that we haven't the same teachers for every classes. We have a lot of different teachers. And then, we start to learn English, Biology, Geography and so one.The three levels: 1.PG: It's for the smarter kids and the kids they haven't any big difficulties at school. When you're in this level, then you can go to the High School after these three years. The teachers go faster and the test are more difficult and we have to study more than the other levels.They call this the "Before High School". 2. G: "General" it's the people who are good at school but they need more time or they have sometimes difficulties with some classes. If you're in this level, you can't go to High School. If someone wants to go to High School, he has to do a 4th year in the PG level! 3. EB: it's for the basics requirement, for the people who are not really good at School but it doesn't mean that they're not smart it means that they have more difficulties than the other and that they need more help from the teachers. You can't either go to High School when you're in this section.At the end of the 3 years, we have a big final test called "Diplome" or "Certif' ". We have during one week every morning and afternoon an another test in a different section. Example, we can stem later... The PG people have a lot of choices because every thing that the G and EB level can do, they can also do this and they have even more chance to get a place than the other level.The G level people can go to another school called Ecole Culture Generale, it's more specific in the social and health studies. They can also make an apprenticeship in every section of job that they want, they just need to take contact and trying to get a place in a business or in a factory which accept apprentice. They can go to an art school, or a technical school to learn mechanic and so on. The EB people they can only do an apprenticeship or some internship in companies. The kids can also do nothing after the secondary School but not a lot of people do this because they need to study or to learn something to get a job later.Some kids just take a break one year and go to learn German in the German side of the Switzerland. They go at School and are hosted by a local Family. It's like a little exchange year.Or some kids take a break to only play sport because the sport opportunities are really bad in Switzerland. We don't have any Sport programming after School. We need to go in a club out of school. For example, my sister just finished the obligatory school in June. She plays a lot of tennis and she decide to take a break to concentrate herself only on the tennis. So she plays every day tennis, in the morning and in the afternoon. I'm going to explain the High School because it's what I chose after my obligatory school.At first High School is called "College" in Switzerland. But here college means University.We have four college years. The first year we have a lot of Branch School but we can't choose we just have all of them during the week: Maths, French, German, English, History, Biology, Chemistry, geography, Arts, PE and swimming, economic and right. We are one class, with always the same people. The second year is the same thing but the classes (the people) change, we are with other people but it's the same, we stay the all year with the same people. We don't have economic and right anymore. We still have the other branches and we can just choose ONE option between: economic and right (if we want to continue what we did in the first year), music, italian, spanish, biology and physical. The third year, we don't have any biology, chemistry and geography anymore. We can choose a second option between: Sport, Psychology, Religions study, Greece History, Egyptian History and Human Biology. It's the hardest year and more complicated of college. The averages of the grades isn't the same system than the two first years, it's called "La double compensation". If we have an average under 4, that means that we multiply by 2 the difference between our average and 4. For example if we have 3,5 in English it means that we have "-1"because: (3,5-4)*2= -1. If we have an average over than 4, we don't multiply it.So if we have 5 in Math, it means that we have "+1".
6=+2
5.5=+1,5
5=+1
4,5=+0,5
4=0
3,5= -1
3 = -2
2,5= -3
2= -4
1,5= -5
1= -5
And we should have at least 0 of " double compensation" at the end of the year.So for example if we have 3,5 in English at the end of the year, we should have either one 5 in another class ( "+1" cancel the "-1"), or two 4,5 in two other branch ( +0,5+0,5=+1 cancel the "-1") at least but it's better if we have more than 0. If we have less than 0, we repeat the year.Beside, we have to do a big search-written project during the all year, bigger than the Capstone project (about 60 pages and a 45 minutes presentation) and it influence a lot our end average of the college. This project takes a lot of time and the teachers and experts who correct it are really strict and requiring. During these three years, we have only one chance, if we repeat once and we don't pass a another year, we can't continue the college, we're out.The fourth year is more repetition for the big exam called "BAC". The "double compensation" still used and we just continue the program with the same branches and the both options that we chose. One month before the big exam, we don't have any classes, it's only free time to study what we need to study. In mid June, we have the "BAC", written and oral.
That's a big exam, in some branches i last 5 hours.It takes about one and half week to do every exams.If we don't pass it, we have a second chance to repeat the fourth year and pass the BAC again.After that, we get a paper which prove that we got our BAC and that we can go in University. If we don't have this paper it's really difficult to go to University because there a lot of exams to get accepted. There are a lot of other specific school, but they aren't University's: Psychology school (HEP: to become teacher, psychologist and so on.), Health School (HES: to become nurse, assistant in a Hospital), Medizin school ( To become doctor, but it needs a supplementary exams to go in this school), Tourism School, Restauration School, and so on...
Ultimately, I want to know more about the School system in US, if it's the same system in the entire US. I want to know more about the possibilities the US kids have after upper school, I want to know how the US kids in Upper School would find our school system in Switzerland. Maybe can try to mixing the both system with the good things to find the best way of education that we can have.To help me better understand the differences between our two systems, I will have the help of people in Switzerland (the director of my secondary school, my father's good friend is a teacher in my Upper School "college", my father is a teacher in a technical school) and in America (my mother Terie is a teacher for the little kids, Miss Long who's an assistant for the middle school, Mister McKinney, etc.).My first research “move,” then, will be to the US school system in general (video).
Here are some pictures of my primary school ( first picture), my secondary school ( second picture) and my high school-college (picture on the bottom).
