SFUVET on track

On 27 April 2022, the Federal Council approved the 2021 annual report of the Swiss Federal University for Vocational Education and Training. During the reporting year, the change in status from a federal institute to a university of teacher education was given top priority.

On 1 August 2021, the Swiss Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training SFIVET became the Swiss Federal University for Vocational Education and Training SFUVET. The Swiss Parliament laid the legal foundation for this transition in 2020. It is SFUVET’s goal for 2022 to obtain accreditation as a university of teacher education from the Swiss Accreditation Council, thus putting the finishing touches to the change in status.

In 2021, the SFUVET Board adopted its strategic guidelines for 2021–2028 on the basis of its new status. These strategic guidelines will enable SFUVET to clearly position itself in the national and international education landscape while at the same time continuing to respond to the needs of both the VPET professionals and the requirements of the higher education sector. SFUVET also worked hard on the process of restructuring.

With its new status as a higher education institution, SFUVET must provide the highest level of quality. With this goal in mind, the SFUVET Executive Committee adopted a quality strategy for 2021–2024 and commissioned measures to encourage a quality mindset. SFUVET bases its quality assurance system on the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM). The first certification 'Committed to Excellence' was obtained in 2008 and renewed in 2018. The next higher level 'Qualified by EFQM' was reached in 2021.

During the reporting year, over 14,000 people completed SFUVET’s basic or continuing training courses. SFUVET was involved in 58 research projects and pursued 297 projects to create, review or revise the training content for both the VET and professional education sector. At an international level, SFUVET supported a large number of projects and received several foreign delegations. In addition, it took part in the Education Week of the World Expo in Dubai.

The 2021 financial statement closed with a year-end loss of CHF 1,325,000, with operating expenses of CHF 49,529,000 and operating income of CHF 48,204,000. This negative outcome came about because the federal subsidy allocated in 2020 for the Digitalisation Action Plan was used up before the specific measures could be completed in 2021. In the reporting year, SFUVET incurred costs of around CHF 1.8 million as a result of these measures. Equity, which may be used to offset losses and finance projects and investments, thus fell to CHF 2,877,000 at the end of 2021.

SFUVET is Switzerland’s expert organisation for vocational education and training. It offers basic and continuing training to VET professionals, conducts VET research, contributes to the development of occupations and supports international cooperation in vocational and professional education and training. SFUVET has regional campuses in Zollikofen (main campus), Lausanne and Lugano as well as off-campus space in Olten and Zurich.