School: What's It Like in Other Countries?

In the United States

• Children typically attend a pre-school at ages 4 and 5, sometimes age 3.
• At about age 5, children attend a kindergarten, whether as part of their daycare program or in a school.
• The next year, children begin their elementary school years: Grades 1-5
• Middle School is grades 6, 7, 8
• Then High School for grades 9, 10, 11, 12
• Or, Elementary School covers grades up to 6th
• Then, Junior High, grades 7, 8, 9, then
• High School (or Senior High) for grades 10-12.
• After graduation from Grade 12, students can go on to Technical School or College
• Education beyond a 4 year degree (Baccalaureate) is called Grad School (Masters or Doctorate)

What's it like in other countries? Here are three examples:




In Sweden,


Children can be enrolled in a nursery school/preschool from age 1 to age 5. (this is after the maternity leave granted of 480 days, and 420 of those days are paid at 80% of the mother's salary. This is about 1 year and four months of maternity leave).

• For these small children up to age 5, it's about preschool activities.
• Age Age 6 begins a preschool that's more about academics
• Compulsory School is for ages 7 to 16.
• Upper Secondary School is for age 16 to 19.
• University is for 2 to 5 years depending on your area of study
• To do University on a specific topic, or research, takes 4 years.

 There is very limited home-schooling in Sweden, and it's closely regulated.

In Russia, there is

• Nursery School/Preschool for ages 1 to 3
• First year of school is age 6 or 7. The ideal situation is for the child to have the same teacher for his or her first 4 years of school.
• Grades on report cards are levels of 1 to 5 rather than letters (A, B, C, D, F) as we have in the U.S.:  1 is a complete failure, and 5 is a student who's doing excellent work
• After 9 years of school, students can finish at a vocational school or, if they're not choosing to learn a craft at that point, the 'Normal' school.
• Between the ages of 18 and 27, all males must serve in the military for 12 months (count that as lucky, in the 1700s, men were expected to serve for life!)
• Schooling beyond age 18 can be at a University or an 'Institute' depending on the subject

In England, schooling is similar to the United States, with different names:

 

School is determined by the student's age::

• Early Years, ages 3 to 5
• Primary, ages 5-22
• Secondary, ages 11-16
• At Age 16, students take exams to qualify for Level 1 or 2
• Sixth Form is also called College, but it is similar to High School in the U.S.
• After 'A' Level (high school), a student can earn a 3 year Bachelors' degree. The cost will be about $18,000
• Students can go on to earn a Masters or Doctorate, typically a 3 year time period
• "College" in England usually means the same as a Technical College in the U.S. "University" means the same as College in the U.S. (4 year degree). Students say, "I'm going to University now," not 'the university.'

Interesting facts about school lunch in various countries:  

http://feingold.org/school-lunch-how-other-countries-feed-their-children/


A study by UNICEF reports that 40% of children living in the Middle East are not attending school due to the conflict in their area.  http://time.com/4021101/middle-east-children-education-unicef-report/