How pupils of the most expensive Swiss boarding schools live and study

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

One of the most expensive, but also the most prestigious in the world, is Swiss private education. Wealthy parents strive to send their child to study in Switzerland at all costs, where private boarding schools appeared in the 19th century. After all, it is here that students are given not only knowledge, but also develop their mind, body and spirit. True, neither an elite boarding school, nor a society of peers, nor highly professional teachers can give a child the most important thing: the love and care of parents.

Past and present

Initially, Swiss boarding schools were intended for the separate education of representatives of different religions, and also taught boys and girls in different schools. If representatives of the aristocracy were brought up in men's boarding schools, then worthy wives were prepared for them in women's boarding schools. Today, boys and girls who profess different religions can study in one private school together, and accept in boarding schools not only representatives of the aristocracy, but also just children from wealthy families.

Typically, boarding schools in Switzerland are located in scenic locations. There is a mild climate, fresh air, stunning nature and all conditions for study. However, you shouldn't idealize an expensive boarding house. Many children desperately yearn for their relatives, and even feel simply abandoned.

While their peers at home return home from school every day and see their parents, the boarders are in the same confined space around the clock. Often, it is in boarding houses that peculiar epidemics break out: adolescents can get carried away with drugs and alcohol, try to draw attention to themselves, or even commit suicide.

The school program is designed for 12 years, but children from other countries most often come straight to graduation classes. Two years is enough to master the International Baccalaureate program. After the 12th grade, graduates, as a rule, continue their studies at universities in America and Great Britain, but in Switzerland itself there are not so many who want to study further.

The cost of training and maintenance in a Swiss boarding house ranges from 15 to 120 thousand Swiss francs per year. This is quite expensive, considering that in Swiss universities, the cost ranges from a thousand to four per year.

School for life

One of the most prestigious and popular is the private guesthouse in the village of Rolle - Institut Le Rosey. Many heirs to the thrones studied here: Albert II and Baudouin II - kings of Belgium, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi - shah of Iran, Aga Khan IV - imam of the Muslim Shiite community, Juan Carlos I - king of Spain, and many others.

In the middle of the last century, children of businessmen from the USA and Greece began to come to study at Institut Le Rosey, in the 1970s-1980s students from Arab countries and Southeast Asia appeared, and in the 1990s - from Russia. True, already at the beginning of zero, boarding schools were forced to introduce quotas, according to which in one educational institution there should be no more than 10% of students from one country. This allows students not only to learn, but also to get acquainted with different cultures, without creating a kind of "clans" based on ethnicity.

Many former students of Institut Le Rosey admit that the children here are quite spoiled. And teachers not only give them knowledge, but also teach them good manners. In total, 330 students study in this boarding house, and 150 teachers and technical workers work here, who clean, wash and even sew up the clothes of the boarders.

From January to March, the guest house is located in the ski resort of Gstaad. There, students appear on the slopes every day after main classes, and on Wednesday they only go skiing. According to the memoirs of graduates, it was there, in Gstaad, that the strongest friendships are born, which are not interrupted later throughout their lives. And in case of any problems with business, when the issue seems unsolvable, those with whom a businessman or ruler once sat at the same desk or flew on skis from the slope come to the rescue.

Perhaps that is why the motto of Institut Le Rosey is “School for Life”. A graduate can contact a boarding school graduate of any year, and he will certainly help. There is even an International Association of Former Roseans. All those who studied at this boarding house are sure that it was there that they went through a real school of life and learned the most important thing: never give up and find a common language with any people.

Mind, body, spirit

In most Swiss boarding schools, the emphasis is not only on study. The school pays equal attention to the mind, body and spirit. Students spend a lot of time outdoors, skiing and going on mountain expeditions. Schoolchildren receive all the necessary ammunition and a supply of food, a mark is put on the map on the map where the group should go.

In the last century, there were cases when schoolchildren masterly deceived teachers, because they were not always checked on campaigns. Children could go down to Geneva instead of mountains and have a good rest there. However, in the 21st century this possibility is no longer possible: the group can be easily tracked using smartphones.

By the way, Swiss boarding houses do not always look like luxurious palaces. The rooms are often quite ascetic: the most necessary furniture and modest renovations.

Difficulties and problems

Despite the seeming well-being, very often boarders are prone to depression, bulimia, alcohol and drug addiction. As a rule, these are those who considered themselves unnecessary to the family, sent "into exile" in Switzerland.

This is a closed system where schoolchildren see the same faces from day to day and invariably succumb to the influence of their peers. Very often, students living in the same house find themselves "infected" with some problems: then suddenly everyone starts to lose weight en masse and after each meal they try to pull it out of themselves, then they become addicted to vegetarianism and stop eating any animal products. General depression, general view of the world.

And yet, for many, it is Swiss boarding houses that are becoming the launching pad on the path to success. As former students of the most expensive boarding schools admit, they have learned to persevere towards their goal, not paying attention to difficulties and solving problems as they come. True, sometimes, by the time they graduate from an elite educational institution, yesterday's adolescents have time to stale and turn into serious pragmatists. Perhaps this is exactly what is needed to conquer any heights.

Schools with the word “sustainable” in their names are gaining more and more popularity in the world. Here they teach not only to love nature, but pay special attention to taking care of the environment. Getting the title of a world-class eco-school is not easy. Indeed, in construction, as in interior items, eco-materials should be used, and even ordinary paper will have to be spent sparingly.