Blenio (district) - Education

Education

In the district there were a total of 902 students (as of 2009). The Ticino education system provides up to three years of non-mandatory kindergarten and in the district there were 136 children in kindergarten. The primary school program lasts for five years and includes both a standard school and a special school. In the district, 270 students attended the standard primary schools and 13 students attended the special school. In the lower secondary school system, students either attend a two-year middle school followed by a two-year pre-apprenticeship or they attend a four-year program to prepare for higher education. There were 244 students in the two-year middle school and 0 in their pre-apprenticeship, while 58 students were in the four-year advanced program.

The upper secondary school includes several options, but at the end of the upper secondary program, a student will be prepared to enter a trade or to continue on to a university or college. In Ticino, vocational students may either attend school while working on their internship or apprenticeship (which takes three or four years) or may attend school followed by an internship or apprenticeship (which takes one year as a full-time student or one and a half to two years as a part-time student). There were 37 vocational students who were attending school full-time and 128 who attend part-time.

The professional program lasts three years and prepares a student for a job in engineering, nursing, computer science, business, tourism and similar fields. There were 16 students in the professional program.