Swiss Review 4/2021

37 Swiss Review / August 2021 / No.4 Responsible for the FDFA official communications: Consular Directorate Innovation and Partnerships Effingerstrasse 27, 3003 Berne, Switzerland www.eda.admin.ch, email: kdip@eda.admin.ch offering the Swiss high-school di- ploma and International Baccalaureat (IB) qualifications that open the way to further education in Switzerland or the relevant host country. In addition, each school has a “home canton” that provides educational advice and su- pervision. © Marina Kopp © Didier Boschung Consular services anywhere, conveniently on your mobile devices www.fdfa.admin.ch Sydney (2021) Federal votes The Federal Council determines voting proposals at least four months before the voting date. Everything you need to know about voting propos- als (voting pamphlets, committees, recommendations by Parliament and the Federal Council etc.) is available at www.admin.ch/votes or via the Federal Chancellery’s VoteInfo app. The Federal Council decided that there will be two federal proposals submitted to the people on 26 Septem- ber 2021: ■ ■ Federal Popular Initiative “Reduce tax on salaries, tax capital fairly” ■ ■ Amendment of the Swiss Civil Code (Marriage for all) Popular initiatives The following federal popular initiatives have already been launched at the time of going to press (deadline for the collection of signatures in brackets): ■ ■ No new popular initiatives have been launched. The list of pending popular initiatives is available inGer- man, French and Italian at www.bk.admin.ch > Politische Rechte > Volksinitiativen > Hängige Volksinitiativen Multilingualism (German, English, French, and the local language) is con- sideredan important asset. The schools in Bogotá and Singapore also offer French in addition to German teach- ing. A dedicated French stream was introduced at the Swiss School in Sin- gapore (SSiS) at the beginning of the 2019–20 school year. The school’s suc- cessful mixed-age-group learning approach also applies to this new stream, which now covers the entire primary school curriculum. Teaching in the German stream follows the “Lehrplan 21” curriculum that applies in Switzerland’s German-speaking cantons, while the French stream is based on the “PER” (Plan d’études ro- mand) syllabus in the French-speak- ing cantons, albeit adapted to local conditions. The Swiss schools are highly re- nowned in their respective host coun- tries. Their graduates, of whommany are local, maintain a lifelong associa- tion with Switzerland. RUTH VON GUNTEN, EDUCAT IONSUISSE From Brazil to Thailand Swiss schools are located in the following countries and cities: Brazil – Colegio Suiço-Brasileiro, Curitiba – Escola Suiço-Brasileira, São Paulo Chile – Colegio Suizo de Santiago, Santiago de Chile China – Swiss School Beijing Italy – Scuola Svizzera Bergamo – Scuola Svizzera Catania – Scuola Svizzera di Milano – Scuola Svizzera di Milano in Cadorago/Como – Scuola Svizzera di Roma Colombia – Colegio Helvetia, Bogotá Mexico – Colegio Suizo de México, Mexico City – Colegio Suizo de México A.C., Cuernavaca – Colegio Suizo de México A.C., Querétaro Peru – Colegio Pestalozzi, Lima Singapore – Swiss School in Singapore Spain – Colegio Suizo de Madrid – Escuela Suiza de Barcelona Thailand – RIS Swiss Section in Bangkok (RG)