WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  TN/S/W/39 
4 April 2005 
 (05-1349) 
Council for Trade in Services  
Special Session Original:   English 
 
 
 
COMMUNICATION FROM SWITZERLAND 
 
Education services and the GATS: the Experience of Switzerland  
 
 
 The following communication, dated 18 March 2005, from the delegation of Switzerland, is 
being circulated to the Members of the Council for Trade in Services. 
_______________ 
  
I. BACKGROUND 
1. Switzerland is a multicultural country, with four  national languages within a relatively small 
territory. Federalism and direct democracy mark its political system, devolving substantial political 
power to the 26 Cantons and the nearly 3000 municipaliti es. Therefore, jurisdictions at all levels play 
a significant role in the Swiss education system: ne arly one quarter of the Cantons' and municipalities' 
budget is spent on education.  In the year 2000, publ ic spending on education reached 22 billion Swiss 
francs or 5.4 per cent of Switzerland's GDP (gross domestic product).  Due to a lack of significant natural resources, Switzerland's economy has traditio nally focused on knowledge-based industries and 
services.  Given the need for qualified personnel in  these sectors and the multicultural environment, 
Switzerland has recognised, since its constitution as a fe deral state, the importance of a strong public 
education system for equitable and increasing ec onomic welfare, cultural development, mutual 
understanding and the functioning of democracy. 
2. Compulsory schooling lasts nine years, normally with six years in primary and three years in 
lower secondary school.  Post-compulsory educati on in upper secondary schools comprises programs 
for professional and general diplomas. Both programs underwent reform in recent years.  Nine out of 
ten young people in Switzerland graduate with such  a diploma at the upper secondary level.  Higher 
or tertiary educational institutions are divided into two types: the more academically-oriented 
universities, and the studies in applied sciences.  The latter are provided by seven universities of applied sciences,
1 (Fachhochschule/Haute Ecole Spécialisée) which developed in the late 1990s from 
a number of advanced training schools.  There are te n cantonal universities, many having more than a 
century long tradition and offering a wide spectrum of instruction.2 In addition, there are the two 
                                                      
1 Berner Fachhochschule (BFH), Fachhochschule Nordwestschweiz  (FHNW), Fachhochschule 
Ostschweiz  (FHO), Fachhochschule Zentralschweiz (FHZ), Haute Ecole Spécialisée de Suisse occidentale 
(HES-SO), Scuola universitaria professionale della Svizzera italiana (SUPSI), Zürcher Fachhochschule (ZFH), 
www.cshes.ch. 
2 Basel, Bern, Fribourg, Genève, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel, St. Gallen, Svizzera italiana, Zürich, 
www.crus.ch, www.swissuni.ch. TN/S/W/39 
Page 2  
 
 federal institutes of technology.
3  More than a third of young residents achieve an academic or 
professional diploma at the tertiary level. 
3. Switzerland wants to improve public education further.  Reforms are taking place at all 
education levels.  At tertiary level, for example,  Switzerland is seeking to increase the number of 
graduates, especially in universities of applied sciences.  
4. About 17 per cent of students at Swiss universities are foreigners – one of the highest 
percentages amongst OECD-countries4.  And the trend is growing.  Seventy-six per cent of foreign 
students obtained earlier qualifications outside Swit zerland.  The share of foreign students at the 
Universities of Applied Sciences has reached 15 per cent. 
5. By international comparison, Switzerland has one of the highest percentages of foreign 
students at university level, as shown in the diagram below. 
Share of foreign students (ISCED 5 and 6), 2002
0.0% 2.0% 4.0% 6.0% 8.0% 10.0% 12.0% 14.0% 16.0% 18.0% 20.0%
Australia
Switzerland
Austria
Belgium
United Kingdom
Germany
France
New Zealand
Sweden
Danemark
Average
Ireland
Norway
Iceland
United States
Netherlands
Czech Republic
Hungary
Spain
Finland
Japan
Italy
 
Source : Swiss Federal Statistical Office, www.bfs.admin.ch  
                                                      
3 Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Z), www.ethz.ch. Ecole po lytechnique fédérale de 
Lausanne (EPFL), www.epfl.ch. 
4 Source: Swiss Federal Statistical Office, www.bfs. admin.ch; data for students ISCED 5 and 6 (2002). 
If not indicated otherwise, all quoted  figures are collected and published by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office.  TN/S/W/39 
 Page 3 
 
 
 6. The following chart shows the number of forei gn students in Swiss universities between 1890 
and 2003. 
Foreign students in Swiss Universities
05,00010,00015,00020,00025,000
1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000
YearStudents
 
Source : Swiss Federal Statistical Office, www.bfs.admin.ch 
 
 
II. THE COEXISTENCE OF PUBLIC AND PRIVATE EDUCATION SERVICES 
7. Switzerland has a long pedagogical tradition, and at the same time a tradition of economic 
freedom.  This allowed private schools to flouris h many decades ago, offering education services on 
all levels of compulsory and non-compulsory educati on and adding to the diversity of the educational 
system.  Today, the legal regime for private schools is still very open.  Eight and  half per cent of 
pupils and students from preschool to university level attend private educational institutions.  Private 
institutions are especially strong in higher professi onal schooling, with a share of 23 per cent.  
Approximately 260 institutions are members of th e Swiss Federation of Private Schools, assuring also 
quality control.5  In addition to the education services pr ovided by typical edu cational institutions, 
such services are also provided to the general publ ic by other types of institutions, eg.  professional 
business associations or other private entities. 
8. Thus, private and public education exist side by side in Switzerland. In some cases, private 
education services are publicly financed if they fulfil  certain specified criteria, just as public education 
services may be financed by students or other priv ate sources to varying degr ees.  Private education 
services and public education services may be deliver ed by the same institution, regardless of the 
form, status or constitution of such an educationa l institution, just as non-education services may be 
supplied by an educational ins titution (e.g. consulting services). 
9. Given the described diversity of supply of education services in Switzerland, the following 
criteria were established in order to determine whether a service provided by an educational 
institution is of a public or private nature.  These three cumulative  criteria indicate in which case a 
                                                      
5 Swiss Federation of Private Schools (SFPS), www.swiss-schools.ch. TN/S/W/39 
Page 4  
 
 specific education service at primary, secondary or  tertiary level is to be regarded as a public 
education service: 
First , there is a title or a curriculum or another fo rm of specification of the education service 
issued either by the Government or by an agency mandated by governmental authorities to 
issue such specifications, which indicate that this  education service forms an integral part of 
the greater system of public education. 
 Second , there is a public mandate that corresponds  to the overall education policy of the 
Canton or the Confederation and is enshrined in  a legal act. The provision of a subsidy the or 
permission by governmental authorities to deliver a certain type of education service are not 
sufficient in themselves to determine that a mandate exists. 
 
Third , public education services correspond to a pub lic need for the supply of the service.  
This need is to be understood in the sense that there is a political will to achieve certain goals 
by means of particular education services. This  may or may not be reflected by any laws.  
The decisive question here is whether public action to provide such a service would be 
required if it did not already exist.  The third criteria is entirely unrelated to market access. 
 10. As noted above, these three crite ria are the current characteristics of public education services 
in Switzerland at federal and cantonal levels.  A ll other education services would be deemed to be 
private education services. 
III. ACCREDITATION AND QUALITY ASSURANCE FOR UNIVERSITIES 
11. Universities have the obligation to assure the qua lity of their education services. Further, the 
federal Government and the Cantons decided to es tablish an academically independent center of 
accreditation and quality assurance (OAQ) that s hould develop guidelines and quality standards for 
academic accreditation in Switzerland, prepare decisions on accreditation of public and private 
institutions as well as programs at university level and draw up recommendations for quality 
assurance at universities and offer corresponding services.
6 
IV. THE GATS AND EDUCATION SERVICES 
12. Switzerland has taken specific commitments for parts of education services listed in the 
Services Sectoral Classification List (MTN.GNS/W/ 120 of 10 July 1991).  The specific commitments 
undertaken cover private education services at diffe rent levels, from primary to higher education 
services (see annex). By taking these commitments, Switzerland wanted to signal its openness to 
foreign private education services coexisting with public education services, without undertaking 
obligations with regard to the latter.  While Sw itzerland continues to attach great importance to a 
strong, competitive, accessible, high-quality and e volving system of public education, there are 
opportunities for private education services at all leve ls from primary to higher education services.  
The three criteria outlined above help to enhance the clarity and transparency of the respective 
commitments undertaken and apply only to the sector of education services.  They are in line with the fact that commitments apply to a specified service sector  rather than to a particular type of institution.  
It is not, however, Switzerland's in tention to propose the application of the presented criteria by other 
countries. 
                                                     
 
6 Organe d´accréditation et d´assurance qualité de s hautes écoles suisses  (OAQ) (Center of 
Accreditation and Quality Assurance of the Swiss Universities), www.oaq.ch. 
  TN/S/W/39 
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 13. As shown above, accreditation, funding, acknowle dgment as a public institution or as a public 
service are thus all separate matters.  For example, a public institution may be accredited, it may or may not receive public funding for the education se rvice involved and it may deliver private higher 
education services (part of CPC 923) according to the three criteria presented above.  In this case, and 
in accordance with specific commitments undertaken, national treatment applies also in relation to 
certain education services provided by a public educational institution.  
14. With regard to the current DDA negotiations, Switzerland gives due consideration to all 
requests received in all sectors including the educa tion sector.  In its initial offer Switzerland has 
improved its commitments in the subsector of "other (private) education services" (part of CPC 929) and is ready to consider upon request further possi ble improvements in this vein.  That being said, 
Switzerland has not made any requests in the area of education services. 
15. Switzerland deems its coexistence of private a nd public education services to be a successful 
example for offering a strong, competitive, accessible, high-quality and evolving system of public education in parallel with a broa d range of private education services that find a place in an open and 
non-discriminatory environment.  Both types of education services play an important role in 
Switzerland's further development as a prime centre fo r teaching and learning.  In addition to these 
direct benefits, a dynamic education sector suppor ts the economy at large through more intensive 
research activity.  Thanks to the presence of inte rnational and foreign edu cational institutions, the 
attractiveness of the country as a prime locati on for multinational companies and international 
governmental and non-governmental or ganisations is further enhanced. 
V. CONCLUSION 
16. Switzerland's experience shows that strong public  and private education services can co-exist. 
It highlights that GATS commitments in this sector  have not caused any difficulties over the last ten 
years of implementation.  On the contrary, they  contribute to a dynamic environment for education 
services, meet existing demand and enhance the attractiveness of Switzerland as an international location.  Members are encouraged to examine thei r own way of identifying their types of education 
services that would be suitable for specific commitments under the GATS in order to promote 
international exchange of education services.  Th e flexibility of the GATS makes it an appropriate 
framework for a sector such as education.  
 TN/S/W/39 
Page 6 Annex:  Schedule of Commitments of Switzerland in the education sector (excerpt of GATS/SC/83) 
 
Modes of supply: 1)   Cross-border 2)   Consumption abroad 3)   Commercial presence 4)   Presence of natural persons 
Sector or Subsector Limitations on Market Access Limi tations on National Treatment Additional Commitments 
5.  Educational Services    
Private Educational Services:    
- Compulsory education 
services 
(primary & secondary I) (1) Unbound 
(2) Unbound 
(3) None 
(4) Unbound (1) Unbound 
(2) Unbound 
(3) None 
(4) Unbound 
  
-  Non-compulsory secondary 
education services 
(secondary II) (1) None 
(2) None (3) None 
(4) Unbound except as indicated in Part I (1) None 
(2) None (3) None 
(4) Unbound except as indicated in Part I 
  
- Higher Education Services 
(CPC 923) (1) None 
(2) None 
(3) None (4) Unbound except as indicated in Part I (1) None 
(2) None 
(3) None (4) Unbound except as indicated in Part I 
  
- Adult Education Services 
(CPC 924) (1) None 
(2) None 
(3) None (4) Unbound except as indicated in Part I 
 (1) None 
(2) None 
(3) None (4) Unbound except as indicated in Part I  
 
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