Immigrant Pupils with Special Educational Needs: Cultural Diversity and Special Needs Education An initiative of the European Agency for Development in Special Needs Education COUNTRY REPORT Switzerland October 2008 Christiane Perregaux, University of Geneva Priska Sieber, Institute for International Cooperation in Education (IZB) of the University of Teacher Education Central Switzerland (PHZ) Switzerland Immigrant Pupils with Special Educational Needs i Contents Introduction ............................................................................................................................1 The Report .........................................................................................................................2 Short Characterisation of the Swiss Education System .....................................................2 ◊ A Federalised and Decentralised System................................................................2 ◊ Special Needs Education.........................................................................................3 ◊ Immigrant Pupils with SEN.......................................................................................4 Part I: National Situation........................................................................................................6 1. Population ......................................................................................................................6 2. Data Related to Pupils in Compulsory Education.........................................................11 ◊ General Data..........................................................................................................12 ◊ Specific Data..........................................................................................................13 3. Provisions.....................................................................................................................17 4. Support measures ........................................................................................................23 5. Assessment..................................................................................................................25 Part II: Situation at local level Case A: Canton of Geneva; Case B: Canton of Zurich..28 1. Population ....................................................................................................................30 2. Data Related to Pupils in Compulsory Education.........................................................32 ◊ General Data..........................................................................................................32 ◊ Specific Data..........................................................................................................33 3. Provisions.....................................................................................................................36 4. Support Measures ........................................................................................................41 5. Assessment..................................................................................................................45 Conclusions and Recommendations .................................................................................47 1. Population ....................................................................................................................47 2. Data..............................................................................................................................48 3. Provisions.....................................................................................................................49 4. Support Measures ........................................................................................................50 5. Assessment..................................................................................................................51 References ............................................................................................................................53 Sources Used for this Report ...........................................................................................53 Some Links to Selected Legislations, Regulations, and Institutions.................................56 Publications of the EDK on “Education and Migration”.....................................................56 Annexes ................................................................................................................................58 Annex I: Questionnaire for Information Collection............................................................58 Annex II: Structure of the Population in Switzerland, 1900-2000 .....................................61 Annex III: Structure of the Population in Switzerland, 1999-2006 ....................................62 Annex IV: Resident Population in Switzerland by Nationality, 1850-2006........................63 Annex V: Simplified Diagram of the Swiss Education System .........................................65 Annex VI: Number of Immigrant Pupils, 1980-2005 .........................................................66 Annex VII: Pupils on Different School Levels, 2006 .........................................................67 Annex VIII: Pupils in Special Schools and Special Classes According to Nationality, 1980-2006................................................................................................67 Annex IX: Pupils in Special Classes and Schools according to Canton and Nationality, 2006.........................................................................................................68 Annex X: Special Education Provisions on Primary School Level in the 26 Cantons of Switzerland..........................................................................................69 Annex XI: Laws and Regulations in the Canton of Geneva..............................................71 Annex XII: Procedures for Assessing Special Needs in the Canton of Zurich .................73 Annex XIII: Social Index in the Canton of Zurich..............................................................74 Christiane Perregaux & Priska Sieber Country Report Switzerland Immigrant Pupils with Special Educational Needs ii Lists of Figures Figure 1: Map of Switzerland with its 26 cantons................................................................2 Figure 2: Resident population of Switzerland, by nationality, 1900-2007 ...........................7 Figure 3: Reasons for immigration to Switzerland, Sept. 2006-Aug. 2007 .........................8 Figure 4: Countries of origin of the foreign population in Switzerland, 2007.......................9 Figure 5: Percentage of foreigners in each Swiss canton, 2006.........................................9 Figure 6: Duration of residence of foreign population in Switzerland, 2006......................10 Figure 7: Foreigners according to their legal status in Switzerland, 2007 (*4- 12 month) ..........................................................................................................11 Figure 8: Percentage of widely heterogeneous classes on the cultural and linguistic levels, 1980-2006 ..............................................................................................12 Figure 9: Pupils in special schools and special classes according to nationality, 1980-2006 .........................................................................................................13 Figure 10: Pupils in special classes according to canton and nationality, 2006 .................14 Figure 11: Influences of external debates on the Swiss education systems.......................15 Figure 12: Percentage of pupils in special classes in each municipality in the canton of Aargau/Argovia in relation to the percentage of pupils of a foreign language background and to the local services of special classes, school year 2000/2001 (Source: Sieber, 2006) ............................................................16 Figure 13: Percentage of foreign population in the canton of Zurich according to continent of origin, 2006 ....................................................................................31 Figure 14 Distribution of pupils with SEN according to institutions and nationalities, end of 2006 (Service de la recherche en education SRED, 2008)....................33 Figure 15 Special measures for the school years of 1996-2006 (Bildungsdirektion Kanton Zürich, 2007).........................................................................................33 Figure 16 Percentage of pupils benefiting from special measures, school year of 2005/06 (Bildungsdirektion Kanton Zürich, 2007) .............................................34 Figure 17: Percentage of the total number of pupils in special classes in the canton of Zurich, 1995-2005 .........................................................................................35 Lists of Tables Table 1: Percentages of pupils in special schools according to a selection of nationalities, 2006 (Source: SFOS) ...................................................................16 Table 2: Pupils in compulsory education: number of students in Switzerland, the cantons of Geneva and Zurich, 2006 ................................................................32 Table 3: Pupils in special classes and schools in the cantons of Geneva and Zurich as well as the average in Switzerland, according to their nationality, 2006 (see also annex IX) ................................................................35