Continuing education for school staff
Teachers, school principals, and other members of school staff can attend continuing education programmes abroad, e.g. courses and symposiums. They can also invite experts from abroad to offer continuing education for the staff at their school in Switzerland.
Overview
For whom
- Teachers, school principals, and other school staff
- Schools in Switzerland
Duration
- 2 to 30 days
Where
- Worldwide for persons from Switzerland (outgoing)
- In Switzerland for persons from abroad (invited experts)
What we fund
- Financial support for organisation, travel, accommodation, and course costs.
What to do
- Institutions look for a suitable continuing education programme or suitable experts to invite to their school, jointly plan the continuing education and submit a funding application. Teachers and other staff members can propose a course they would like to attend to their school management.
Deadlines
- Application deadline: 5 March and 1 October
- Project start: 1 June or 1 December
In detail
Be it individualised instruction, the challenges of diverse, heterogeneous classes, bilingual teaching, or another pressing topic: Teachers, school principals, and other school staff, such as special needs teachers or school psychologists, or social workers can take part in school-related continuing education programmes abroad. Schools may also invite experts from abroad to their school where they can pass on their knowledge and experience.
This activity is funded by the Swiss Programme for Erasmus+ [link to Erasmus+ advisory page]. This allows Swiss institutions to carry out similar activities as offered by the European education programme Erasmus+, in which Switzerland currently cannot participate as it is not a programme country.
Added value
For participants:
- Participants expand their professional skills.
- Continuing education abroad brings new impulses to everyday school culture.
- You make international contacts.
- You gain valuable insights into school practice abroad.
For schools:
- Schools benefit from the newly acquired skills of their collaborators.
- The exchange contributes to the quality development of the school.
- The collaborators’ motivation gets a boost from the continuing education and the new impressions.
- Schools can establish an international network and cultivate valuable contacts.
Requirements
For participants:
- You are a teacher, school principal, or a member of the school staff at a public or private school at primary, lower secondary, or upper secondary level (general-education) based in Switzerland.
- We also support specialists from abroad who offer continuing education for school staff in Switzerland.
Continuing education:
- Continuing education as well as the stay of invited experts may last between 2 to 30 days..
- The continuing education course, conference or symposium is relevant to your professional activity in Switzerland.
- Continuing education courses must meet quality standards and pursue clearly defined learning objectives.
- At least one partner organisation abroad is is substantially involved in the conception and implementation of the training activities.
Evaluation criteria
The quality standards and content-related funding criteria can be found in chapters 1.4 and 2.6 of the guide linked below.
The annual budget available for grants is limited. We cannot guarantee funding. The following priorities are decisive for the financial support of projects:
- The quality of the project (relevance, design, and impact) and of the application (in terms of content and form).
- Maximum 20% of the budget is allocated to projects with partner institutions outside of Europe.
Funding amounts
- Organisation fee for the institution: 125 CHF per person or invited expert
- For the journey: 400 CHF - 1’000 CHF per person (depending on the country of destination)
- Stay: 72 CHF - 192 CHF per person per day (depending on country of destination and duration)
- Course costs: 84 CHF per day (max. 840 CHF)
- For the specific needs of individuals with disabilities or those suffering from physical, mental, or chronic illnesses: Max. 12,000 CHF (actual costs based on the note of requirements) Insurance and any visa fees are at your expense.
The guidelines contain all the funding amounts and the calculation in detail:
Procedure
Essentially, all members of staff at an educational institution can initiate a project and plan it jointly with the partner school(s). The funding application has to be officially submitted by the management of the educational institution in Switzerland.
Continuing education abroad is funded by the Swiss Programme for Erasmus+. In addition to these activities in the field of school education, this programme also supports job shadowing and teaching abroad as well as individual and class exchanges abroad. Several activities (individual, group, and staff mobilities) can be combined in one application if all activities are thematically linked and pursue the same objectives.
The guidelines contain all the information you need to apply for and implement your project. These include, for example, the funding table, the eligible programme countries and the funding criteria:
Follow the following steps to carry out your project:
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1. Finding a continuing education offer
- Think ahead of time about the topics you and your colleagues want to focus on when envisaging completing a continuing education course abroad.
- Take into account personal recommendations or conduct an internet search to find a suitable course or specialist conference from providers abroad. Look for a qualified partner organisation or expert abroad who offers the continuing education you are looking for.
- If you have any questions, we will be happy to advise you.
- Continuing education in school education is generally possible worldwide, with a few exceptions. Make sure that the envisaged continuing education course or programme takes place in an eligible programme country.
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2. optional Form consortium
If several Swiss institutions are pursuing the same goal, they can apply for funding for mobilities as a consortium. Find out whether a consortium project brings additional benefit to your project.
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3. optional Arrange a preparatory visit
Would you like to meet potential project partners on site to get to know each other or jointly develop a project? Get financial support for a preparatory visit.
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4. Plan project
- Define the objectives you wish to pursue by attending the continuing education programme abroad. The continuing education programme should contribute to the quality development at the participating school(s) and help establish an international network.
- Plan the continuing education abroad in alignment with the defined objectives. Make the necessary enquiries with the training providers abroad or make arrangements with the specialists to be invited.
Use the funding criteria as a guide.
- In the project application, you describe the planned activities and provide information on the following points:
- Details of all partner institutions
- Brief project description with objectives and measures
- Overview of planned mobility activities
- Information on the preparation, on-site support, and follow-up of the mobility activities
- Measures for internal and external communication of the project results.
It is important to us to enable people with disabilities or with physical, mental, or chronic illnesses to participate. Therefore, we provide additional funding for special needs. You can apply for additional funding in the login area during the project period. You can find more information under inclusion and equal opportunities.
Consider environmentally friendly means of transport in the planning of your project. Find out more about green mobility.
We will be happy to provide you with individual counselling to answer any questions you may have concerning the planning, submission and implementation of your project. The counselling can take place by phone, online or on site.
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5. Submit funding application
- Submit the funding application online. Meet the deadlines in March and October.
- Open the application form as early as possible to become acquainted with the requirements. We open the application forms once we launch the spring and autumn call for projects, usually in December and June. You can save the application form temporarily and continue filling it in it later. If you are submitting an application for the first time, you need to register once.
- Only one application is required for all persons involved in the continuing education programme. In the same funding application you can also apply for the funding of job shadowing and teaching assignments abroad as well as individual and class exchanges abroad, provided that all activities are thematically linked and pursue the same objectives.
- The application is signed and submitted by the school principal / management in Switzerland. In the case of a consortium an educational institution submits an application on behalf of several schools and acts as coordinator.
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6. Contract and payout
- We will review your application once the deadline has expired.
- You will receive the funding notification at the end of May or the end of November.
- In case of a positive decision we will send you a contract.
- The project starts on 1 June or 1 December. You can choose between a project duration of 12 or 24 months.
- Within 30 days of receiving the signed contract, we will pay out the first part of the funding: 80% of the approved total amount for projects with a duration of 12 months and 40% for projects with a duration of 24 months. As soon as you have used up 70% of this amount, you can claim the next 40%. We will calculate the remaining amount once the final report has been submitted.
- Payments are made exclusively to schools based in Switzerland.
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7. Implement project
- It is important that you thoroughly prepare your continuing education with respect to the pursued objectives and exchange your ideas with the experts to be invited in order to ensure that the continuing education is as fruitful as possible.
- Once projects have officially started, we organise an information meeting. You will receive all the necessary information to successfully carry out and complete your project. The event also providesthe opportunity to get to know your contact persons and other project managers.
During the project period you can apply for additional funds for participants with physical or mental impairments by submitting a request for persons with special needs.
You can use a separate form to notify us of any changes to your project (e.g. duration, project partner, budget). From the 2025 funding period onwards, modifications can be made directly in the login area during the project period.
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8. Submit final report
- At the end of the project duration you submit a short final report within 60 days of the contract’s expiration.
- Depending on the number of mobilities realised, we will pay out any remaining amounts or issue a reclaim.
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9. Spread the word
Implement the planned communication measures. Be sure to mention the funding from Movetia. We provide the logo and text modules.
Share the content widely via your institution's channels, e.g. newsletter, social media, blog, etc. In this way, you present your institution as innovative, open-minded and an attractive school/employer.
Contact us to increase your reach, e.g. by placing a magazine article on our website.
Q & A
What kind of continuing education abroad is funded?
We fund courses or conferences which meet certain quality standards and are characterised by clearly defined learning objectives. We finance the participation in courses and conferences which support your professional development. The course content must be relevant to the participant's current professional activity.
Can I apply for financial support for a study trip abroad?
The participation in study trips abroad offered by educational institutions based in Switzerland can only be funded if partner organisations abroad are responsible for the design and implementation, i.e. instruction of the continuing education activities. In addition, we only support activities which form part of a clearly structured continuing education programme and are not haphazard. The offered continuing education course must be organised by a specialist in the respective field, and the activity needs to be embedded in a structured framework (preparation, implementation, follow-up).
