Present despite social distancing

When the new management duo, SFIVET Board Chairman Adrian Wüthrich and Director-General Barbara Fontanellaz, were chosen, they had no idea that their first year would have been of such historical importance. They both started two weeks before the first national lockdown and had to steer SFIVET through tumultuous times.

Indeed, 2020 was a historical year for SFIVET not only in terms of the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, but especially on a political level: by adopting the new Federal Act on the Swiss Federal University for Vocational Education and Training, the Swiss Parliament has made a strong, cross-party commitment to ensuring that vocational education and training remains sustainable. As a future higher education institution, the new entity SFUVET will be even more effectively positioned as a centre of excellence for the Swiss VPET system.

The tremendous commitment shown by its staff enabled SFIVET to build on the successes of previous years, particularly in the area of digitalisation. In this way, students, staff and external clients were able to benefit from SFIVET’s expertise, which has grown and developed steadily over time, for example by attending webinars on digital tools and skills. As a result, they were able to stay on the ball even during the weeks of distance learning, distance teaching and teleworking.