Table 1 Characteristics of the participant countries and their educational system
Countries | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Austria | England | Finland | Germany | Romania | Switzerland | |
Population (MMa) | 9.0 | 56.3 | 5.5 | 84.0 | 19.1 | 8.7 |
Official languages | German | English | Finnish, Swedish | German | Romanian | German, French, Italian, Romansh |
Population born abroad | 15% | 14% | 7.6% | 16.55% | 9.8% | 30.8% |
Student ageb (years) | 6–15 | 4–18 | 6–16 | 6–16 | 6–18 | 4–15 |
Funding | State, federal states, municipalities | Local authorities, not-for-profit academy trusts, foundation bodies | Municipalities | Federal states (staff) & Municipalities (buildings) | State, local authorities, other sources (sponsorships or donations) | Municipalities |
Management of education | Centralized | National curriculum, local authority or independent | Centralized | Decentralized (federal states level) | Partially decentralized | Decentralized |
Legislation of student voice initiatives | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | No |