History
Every one of these schools was founded as the result of an initiative taken by Swiss citizens residing locally. The oldest schools are in Italy. In the late 19th and early 20th century, protestant German-speaking Swiss felt the need to establish their own non-denominational schools with German as the teaching language.
The subsequent founding of schools during and shortly after the 2nd world war is explained by the fact that German schools abroad were closed at some sites.
The third wave of foundations is attributable to parents who lived abroad with children of school age for just a few years and wanted to have access to a school which would guarantee their return to education in Switzerland without language and syllabus problems, e.g. Accra, Bangkok and Singapore.
The 18 Swiss schools acknowledged by the Confederation are private establishments of the individual communities of Swiss citizens abroad. The schools benefit from assistance, advice and other services from three different quarters in Switzerland: the Federal Department of Culture, the sponsor cantons and eduationsuisse.
