International education: a view from Switzerland
We continue our international education debate with a view from Switzerland by Christian Wölfle, Vice Principal at KV Zürich Business School, the biggest commercial vocational school in Switzerland.
We want to foster cultural awareness and openness in our future citizens."
Christian Wölfle, Vice Principal at KV Zürich Business School
The majority of Christian's students spend two days per week at school and three with their employers as part of a vocational course. Christian says, "Our key challenges are to provide our students with a focused education so that they can compete in an increasingly global and competitive world, and yet at the same time, providing them with a solid general education that leaves all their opportunities open in a market that demands an increasingly flexible and versatile workforce."
Students at KV Zürich Business School are mainly local but many with multicultural backgrounds and Christian is keen for the school to make the most of this diversity - "This internationalism reflects the current world. The workplace is increasingly competitive on a global scale and cultural awareness as well as language skills are becoming more and more important... Switzerland is a multilingual country and we must make sure we draw on this strength. We want to foster cultural awareness and openness in our future citizens."
For Christian, international education means, not only having international students or clients, but also making the opportunities for his local students to go abroad after their apprenticeship and that this apprenticeship is internationally recognised. He also believes that "countries need to continue working together on an international level to ensure that qualifications from different countries are recognised for what they are worth so that students have access to the same opportunities abroad as they would at home."
Christian Wölfle
Vice Principal at KV Zürich Business School
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