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I know there is a sub-forum for education, but I want to focus on how education system is around the world, so I write this here in the "world forum"
I am a teacher and I am very interested in this topic, so let's share our opinions and describe how education is where you live or where you studied, for example:
Spain
Years of education: From 0 to 6:Pre-School education: Not mandatory, from 0 to 3 is private you pay it, from 3 to 6 it can be public and children start writting, knowing colours, etc. They start studying English. From 6 to 12: Primary School, not different from other places, mandatory and public. From 12 to 16:Secondary School: students can choose the subjets they want depending what do they want to study after, a second language is included. Mandatory. From 16 to 18: Bach. Not mandatory and can be public or private, you study subjets depending on your future.
OR
You can access to other kind of education to work in fields that university is not needed.
Schedules: Generally students go to school 6-7 hours per day from, sometimes until 14h or until 17h if they stop for lunch.
Languages: English mandatory, French/German too (in some areas) you can choose other like German, Chinese, etc depending on the school.
Sport: 3 or 4 hours of sport per week in the school area, swimming, ski or other sports not included.
Homework: Teachers loooove to make students do homework, I personally dislike it.
University access: You make a general written exam Selectividad, you need to pass it and depending your mark you can study one degree or another.
That is all, could you explain how is it in your country?? It can be interesting and appreciated I always wondered where is the ideal education system.
6 years: Part-time pre-school, often in kindergarten. Basics of behavior in a classroom and some reading and mathematics. Voluntary, but probably 99% of kids attend it.
7-15 years: Elementary school. Mandatory. Divided into two sections, upper and lower. 1-6th grades and 7-9th grades separately. Very limited choices in choosing subjects.
16-18 years: Secondary education. Gymnasium (college) or Career School. Voluntary, but is being considered changing to mandatory in the coming years. Around 50% are mandatory classes and 50% free of choice in the Gymnasium, somewhat less in Career School depending on your future profession.
Schedules (minimum amount),
grades 1-2: 19 hours a week
grades 3-4: 23 hours
grades 5-6: 24 hours
grades 7-9: 30 hours
second level education: very variable, everything from 20 to 40 hours a week.
Classes start at 8-10 and continues to 12-15, depending on the weekday, time of the year and curriculum. Lower grades often starts at 8 and end earlier in the afternoon. Classes until 16 or 17 on the afternoon are usually implemented only in universities.
Unlike in many other countries, kids below the 7th grade are not allowed to leave the school premises for example to have lunch at their grandparents etc. And there's no need for that, as the school is legally obliged to serve a hot lunch to all pupils.
Languages,
The second domestic language (Finnish or Swedish depending on which your teaching one is) is mandatory. Mandatory Finnish from 5th grade, mandatory Swedish from the 7th.
One foreign language mandatory, starting at 3rd grade. Most usually English.
A second foreign language becomes usually available on the 7th grade. Usually German, French or Spanish. Voluntary.
(Not always this rigid. Varies from school to school and year to year.)
Homework and sport: Probably a lot less than in many other countries.
University access: Diploma from a Gymnasium required. Some programs in Universities of Applied Sciences require a Gymnasium diploma, some only Career School.
Private schools: Very rare, extremely regulated. Mostly language schools (English, French, German, Russian), or special pedagogical schools (Steiner, Montessori). Some religious schools exists, but there's only around 20 of them in the whole country.
I grew up in a few different countries. First of all in the USA. one goes to pre-school under the age of 5 and is not mandatory. At age 5 one goes to kindergarten. At approx. age 6 one starts elementary school. Elementary school can be grades 1-5 or grades 1-6 depending on what part of the USA one lives. After that is middle school grades 6-8 or grades 7-8. Then comes high school grades 9-12. Usually one finishes high school school at approx. age 18. All this is mandatory education (except pre-school). One can go to either a public, a private or a charter school. Afterwards one can choose to go to a 2 year college for associate degree or do a 4 year B.A. at university. Both can be either private or public.
I also lived in England. There children went to infant school from ages 5-7. After that primary school was for ages 7-11. At age 11, one goes to secondary school.
I also did my 6th grade year in France at a private French school. That school had grades 1-12 in the same location. Starting in the 5th grade children took English as a second language as part of their studies.
I also lived in Israel. First there is preschool for under the age 5 which is not mandatory. At age 5 it is mandatory to go to kindergarten. Then at age 6 one starts elementary school. Elementary school is grades 1-6. Then there is middle school grades 7-9 and high school are grades 10-12. In Israel it is mandatory to finish the 10th grade. But most students finish high school at the end of the 12th grade (even though it is not mandatory). English as a second language is taught from the 4th grade up. In Israel, there are secular public schools, religious public schools and private schools. At age 18 most Israelis (men & women) do mandatory military service and only after completing that some go to university which takes 3 years to complete a B.A. In order to get into an Israeli university one must have a Bagrut certificate/diploma which is a series of state exams in different subjects usually done in high school but can also be done a private adult night schools later on.
Years of education:
From 0 to 6: Junior Kindergarten to senior Kindergarten starts from age 4-5. Then primary school starts at grade 1. That is when you start to learn reading and writing seriously.
From 6 to 12: More primary school. Students go 5 days/week and just build on stuff they started learning in grade 1.
From 12 to 14/15: Last stretch before high school. In my neck of the woods, you have to take french for the two final years of primary/elementary school.
From 14 to 18: Highschool: The biggest joke of all time. Waste double digit numbers of hours of your life while losers and morons hold up lessons for being clowns and disrupting classes, etc. Last two years are super important because your grades and courses need to meet a standard for you to qualify to the universities and programs you want. I go to uni, so I don't know the process for poising yourself to college so well. I know you take college-level courses which are different from the uni ones.
Then university and/or college. Probably the same as any other country, roughly. You could also go straight in to a trade apprenticeship and ironically make more money than anyone else straight out of high school.
Schedules: Probably about 25 hours/week at school in primary. I spend about 15-18 in uni.
Languages: None are required (other than english) except for french for the last two years of elementary and first year of high school. You can take spanish, italian, french, sometimes german in high school and uni at your own will.
Sport: Never got in to them, but physical-ed is mandatory until grade 10. Sports are big though.
This is for Western Australia, it varies by state. Also things might've changed slightly since I was at school.
There are government (state-run and funded) schools and private schools here. I'm mainly referring here to the public school system.
Grades are called 'years' here.
Kindergarten: Usually age 4, non-compulsory and, I believe, private.
Pre-school: Usually the year the student turns 5. Often part of the school, non-compulsory. Typical activities include arts and crafts, playing with toys that develop various skills (e.g. duplo or wooden blocks), some physical activity, basic learning, basic reading sometimes. Usually no basic arithmetic. Important for socialisation. Pre-school or pre-primary was for half a day when I went, typically 8am-lunchtime or in the afternoon.
Primary School: From 8:45 to 3:10 pm 5 days a week (when I went). Morning recess about 10:15 for 10 minutes or so, one hour of lunch about 12:30 and afternoon recess about 2ish. Unlike in the US, most Australian primary schools are a more open-plan campus with buildings spread over school grounds, with an oval, often with an outdoor canteen/tuckshop under shelter. School uniforms are compulsory in all public and private primary schools, typically consisting of a polo shirt for both boys and girls, and shorts/skirts/pants depending on season, as well as a jumper.
Year 1: Children usually begin the year of their sixth birthday. First year of school and compulsory. Learning basic English - speaking, reading and writing, very basic mathematical concepts introduced, more emphasis on interactive rather than book learning.
Years 2-4: Focus on these core skills. In later years more complex practical maths like times tables, doing sums. More science subjects and critical/abstract thinking. Read emphasised, especially out of school. Students are given books to read as home. That was really the main homework we got. Music and 'library' were subjects. Introduction to academic world.
Years 5-7: More advanced, more science, social studies (history, geography) introduced. more extra-curricular activities, sport.etc, music, going on school camps.
Main subjects in primary school were English, Maths, Science, Social Studies, Physical Education/Swimming. I forgot how often each subject was taught, I don't think all were taught everyday. One teacher taught all the subjects except for PE/sport. In my school two teacher classes were common, where one teacher would teach on certain days (say Tuesday and Thursday) while another teacher would teach the other days.
Swimming lessons were compulsory every summer. I forgot how long we took them for, 2-4 weeks I think.
High School:
Some high schools were more in the American style, but even the single building ones were usually kind of barracks style with an interior courtyard/quandrangles, or a collection of buildings. Newer high schools tended to be more campus like. School uniforms are compulsory in private and most state high schools. There was usually a school canteen where you could buy food or drinks. My school began at 9am and went to 3pm, with lunch at 1pm.
Year 8 to year 12: usually enter year 8 the year you turn 13. Note some private schools were year 1 to 12 or pre-primary to year 12.
The main difference was in high school one had core subjects, with a few electives. A different teacher taught different subjects. Some subjects, like maths and english, were streamed. E.g. there were 3 levels of maths in say year 10, Foundations of mathematics (most basic), Discrete maths (middle) and a more advanced one, i forget the name.
Sorry going on too long ...
Languages: When i was in school LOTE (Language other than English) was compulsory from years 6 to 8, but now i believe it's compulsory from years 4 to 10. The options at my school were French and Japanese, but it varied with school.
Sport: P.E. was compulsory (unless you had a medical reason not too...if I recall a note from parents was permissable, no doctor's letter required). Since the weather is pretty mild, most of it took place outdoors...typical sporting activities included team games like soccer, basketball, football, netball (yes mixed netball lol), athletics like running, long jump, high jump, games like dodgeball, endurance tests.etc. Funnily enough health was incorporated into P.E. so sometimes we learned about stuff like a healthy diet and later on sex ed lol. In Australia swimming lessons are compulsory from years 1 to 10, during the summer. In primary school we went every day to the local public swimming pool for I think at least 2 weeks but it might've been up to a month I don't remember. You begin at level 1 and working your way up.
There was also the sport's carnival, swimming carnival and 'lightning carnival' as well as inter-school sports. The sports or athletic's carnival was an event held every year. In primary school, it was usually in September just before school holidays. We'd be divided into faction or house (there were 4) and we'd wear T-shirts of the house colour for that day and compete to earn points for the house. At the end of the day the house with the most points 'won.' Everyone participated in the 100 metre sprint, divided into 6 divisions from fastest to slowest. A ribbon was awarded to the top 3 placed. There were also team sports like 'leaderball' and 'passball', as well as long jump.etc. There was also the 200 and 400m sprint and relay. It was all pretty exciting and quite a big deal for us kids.
Swimming carnival was a similar concept but participating wasn't actually compulsory. Actually even attending was option if I remember.
In years 6-7 we had a choose a sport to play, soccer, aussie rules football, netball and volleyball were the options. We'd have matches against each other, and play a 'lightning carnival' where we played different schools, like an inter-school carnival. I think we also played another school each week, don't remember that much.
Homework: Not much homework in primary school, mostly reading, or easy assignments. In high school we had assignments.etc, but I don't recall spending much time on homework at all really.
Also the school year here in WA typically begins at the start of February and ends in mid December. The main summer holiday is about 6 weeks, with three 2-week holidays at regular intervals.
Attendance in school is now compulsory up to year 12 in WA.
University: When I was in school, access to university depended on your 'TER' score, a scaled/weighted average of your 5 best subjects. You took 5 'TEE' subjects: everyone had to take English/English Lit, one maths subject, and one science subject (or more than one). One could also take say a language. Midway in your final year, you select the courses you want to do in university/which university you want to attend - your 'preferences' in order. Each course has a minimum TER to be able to get in.
After your TEE results come in (exams are in November, results usually come in in early Jan I think) if you've reached the score you will probably get offers from unis. I got 3 offers and chose my first preference.
Also, there is a mix of usage and you hear both secondary and high school. The same school board in the same city can have high schools called "high school", "secondary school" or even "collegiate institute" and they're basically all the same with different appelations.
Some high schools in Canada are also called "college".
Years of education:
From 0 to 6: Junior Kindergarten to senior Kindergarten starts from age 4-5. Then primary school starts at grade 1. That is when you start to learn reading and writing seriously.
From 6 to 12: More primary school. Students go 5 days/week and just build on stuff they started learning in grade 1.
From 12 to 14/15: Last stretch before high school. In my neck of the woods, you have to take french for the two final years of primary/elementary school.
From 14 to 18: Highschool: The biggest joke of all time. Waste double digit numbers of hours of your life while losers and morons hold up lessons for being clowns and disrupting classes, etc. Last two years are super important because your grades and courses need to meet a standard for you to qualify to the universities and programs you want. I go to uni, so I don't know the process for poising yourself to college so well. I know you take college-level courses which are different from the uni ones.
Then university and/or college. Probably the same as any other country, roughly. You could also go straight in to a trade apprenticeship and ironically make more money than anyone else straight out of high school.
Schedules: Probably about 25 hours/week at school in primary. I spend about 15-18 in uni.
Languages: None are required (other than english) except for french for the last two years of elementary and first year of high school. You can take spanish, italian, french, sometimes german in high school and uni at your own will.
Sport: Never got in to them, but physical-ed is mandatory until grade 10. Sports are big though.
Homework: Yep.
This is Ontario. Education in Canada is provincially-run with relatively little federal oversight.
I went to school in Ontario for much of my life, and my kids are in school in Quebec at the moment.
I'll do Quebec when I have more time. Predictably, it's the most different of the bunch...
6 years: Part-time pre-school, often in kindergarten. Basics of behavior in a classroom and some reading and mathematics. Voluntary, but probably 99% of kids attend it.
7-15 years: Elementary school. Mandatory. Divided into two sections, upper and lower. 1-6th grades and 7-9th grades separately. Very limited choices in choosing subjects.
16-18 years: Secondary education. Gymnasium (college) or Career School. Voluntary, but is being considered changing to mandatory in the coming years. Around 50% are mandatory classes and 50% free of choice in the Gymnasium, somewhat less in Career School depending on your future profession.
Schedules (minimum amount),
grades 1-2: 19 hours a week
grades 3-4: 23 hours
grades 5-6: 24 hours
grades 7-9: 30 hours
second level education: very variable, everything from 20 to 40 hours a week.
Classes start at 8-10 and continues to 12-15, depending on the weekday, time of the year and curriculum. Lower grades often starts at 8 and end earlier in the afternoon. Classes until 16 or 17 on the afternoon are usually implemented only in universities.
Unlike in many other countries, kids below the 7th grade are not allowed to leave the school premises for example to have lunch at their grandparents etc. And there's no need for that, as the school is legally obliged to serve a hot lunch to all pupils.
Languages,
The second domestic language (Finnish or Swedish depending on which your teaching one is) is mandatory. Mandatory Finnish from 5th grade, mandatory Swedish from the 7th.
One foreign language mandatory, starting at 3rd grade. Most usually English.
A second foreign language becomes usually available on the 7th grade. Usually German, French or Spanish. Voluntary.
(Not always this rigid. Varies from school to school and year to year.)
Homework and sport: Probably a lot less than in many other countries.
University access: Diploma from a Gymnasium required. Some programs in Universities of Applied Sciences require a Gymnasium diploma, some only Career School.
Private schools: Very rare, extremely regulated. Mostly language schools (English, French, German, Russian), or special pedagogical schools (Steiner, Montessori). Some religious schools exists, but there's only around 20 of them in the whole country.
I think I got the most important included there.
I might add that an interesting quirk in the English Canadian school system is French immersion. These schools exist within the English school system and so administratively they are run in English and for example communications with parents are in English. But the kids learn all of their subjects in French (including math, science, phys ed, etc.). Everything except for English itself (grammar, literature). These schools are meant for kids who are not native speakers of French. They exist all across the country and several hundred thousand kids are enrolled in them. (Probably less than 10% of the total number of anglo pupils across the country, though it varies greatly from region to region.) Spaces are limited and generally a kid has to be pretty strong academically to get in. In some regions they are almost like free pseudo-private schools and parents jostle for spaces for their kids in them. Of course not everyone is interested but as I said, it's something that is pretty unique to Canada.
Just wondering after reading a thread in the Canada forum - do students in your country sing the national anthem in school?
Here are the answers for Canada:
English-language schools across Canada (including Quebec): almost always yes
French-language school outside of Quebec: almost always yes
French-language schools in Quebec: almost always no
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I always wondered where is the ideal education system.
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