Today in Switzerland: A roundup of the latest news on Tuesday
Swiss university to limit the number of foreign students; Zurich suffers from shortage of paediatricians; and more news in our roundup on Tuesday.
Top Swiss university wants to limit the number of foreign students
Nearly half of the 10,894 students at the Federal Polytechnic Institute of Lausanne (EPFL) come from abroad, attracted by its international reputation for top-notch research and programmes in engineering and natural sciences.
However, as the number of students more than doubled in the last decade, "this is creating a number of challenges when it comes to maintaining our high educational standards: our lecture halls are saturated, the student-faculty ratio is on the rise, and the workload for our support services has expanded considerably," the EPFL said in a press release on Monday.
The university wants therefore to restrict access to new Bachelor’s students from abroad to 3,000 admissions each year from 2025 to 2029.
The final decision will be announced on March 18th.
'Overwhelmed practices': Zurich pediatricians turn down new patients
New parents looking for a pediatrician for their newborn in the Zurich area, or parents with a sick child, have almost no chance of finding a doctor to take them on.
That’s because pediatric practices are so saturated, they no longer accept new patients.
“The situation is precarious,” said Corina Wilhelm, president of the Association of Zurich Pediatricians. "Practices are so overwhelmed that they no longer have any capacity for new patients."
Desperate parents resort to drastic measures, even sending application letters to paediatric practices, hoping doctors will accept their children.
However, “even applications will not improve the chances of placing the child,” she said. “The pediatrician either has room for new patients or not.”
The only option is to look for a pediatrician farther away from Zurich, consult with the health insurance companies’ telephone hotlines, sign up with pediatric consultations at local hospitals (assuming there is space) or, in serious cases, take the child to an emergency room.
German train drivers are planning to strike — again
After already striking earlier this month, a union representing Germany’s train drivers will stage their longest-ever, six-day walkout from 2 am on Wednesday until 6 pm on Monday, January 29th.
As the strike will affect operations by state-owned Deutsche Bahn, Switzerland national railway company, SBB, warned that the industrial action will also disrupt travel between Switzerland and Germany.
The SBB recommends postponing travel" in the coming days, the company said, adding that it is putting plans in place to minimise train traffic disruptions on the Swiss side of the border.
READ ALSO: How German train strike will disrupt cross-border travel in Switzerland
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Top Swiss university wants to limit the number of foreign students
Nearly half of the 10,894 students at the Federal Polytechnic Institute of Lausanne (EPFL) come from abroad, attracted by its international reputation for top-notch research and programmes in engineering and natural sciences.
However, as the number of students more than doubled in the last decade, "this is creating a number of challenges when it comes to maintaining our high educational standards: our lecture halls are saturated, the student-faculty ratio is on the rise, and the workload for our support services has expanded considerably," the EPFL said in a press release on Monday.
The university wants therefore to restrict access to new Bachelor’s students from abroad to 3,000 admissions each year from 2025 to 2029.
The final decision will be announced on March 18th.
'Overwhelmed practices': Zurich pediatricians turn down new patients
New parents looking for a pediatrician for their newborn in the Zurich area, or parents with a sick child, have almost no chance of finding a doctor to take them on.
That’s because pediatric practices are so saturated, they no longer accept new patients.
“The situation is precarious,” said Corina Wilhelm, president of the Association of Zurich Pediatricians. "Practices are so overwhelmed that they no longer have any capacity for new patients."
Desperate parents resort to drastic measures, even sending application letters to paediatric practices, hoping doctors will accept their children.
However, “even applications will not improve the chances of placing the child,” she said. “The pediatrician either has room for new patients or not.”
The only option is to look for a pediatrician farther away from Zurich, consult with the health insurance companies’ telephone hotlines, sign up with pediatric consultations at local hospitals (assuming there is space) or, in serious cases, take the child to an emergency room.
German train drivers are planning to strike — again
After already striking earlier this month, a union representing Germany’s train drivers will stage their longest-ever, six-day walkout from 2 am on Wednesday until 6 pm on Monday, January 29th.
As the strike will affect operations by state-owned Deutsche Bahn, Switzerland national railway company, SBB, warned that the industrial action will also disrupt travel between Switzerland and Germany.
The SBB recommends postponing travel" in the coming days, the company said, adding that it is putting plans in place to minimise train traffic disruptions on the Swiss side of the border.
READ ALSO: How German train strike will disrupt cross-border travel in Switzerland
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