Education System

[fairmaiden]

Hi!

I was just wondering what the school/education system is like where you live. By school system, I mean the grades/years and stuff like that. For example, here in Britain it works like this;

Nursery; ages 2/3-5

Then primary/prep/elementary school:
Reception (kindergarten??); ages 4-5
Year 1; ages 5-6
Year 2; ages 6-7
Year 3; ages 7-8
Year 4; ages 8-9
Year 5; ages 9-10
Year 6; ages 10-11

Then secondary/high school:
Year 7; ages 11-12
Year 8; ages 12-13
Year 9; ages 13-14
Year 10; ages 14-15
Year 11; ages 15-16

Sixth Form/College:
Year 12; 16-17
Year 13; 17-18

And then University is 18+.

Of course there are exceptions if someone is held back a year or prematurely moved up a year, etc.

How does it work where you live?

[Cognizant]

Preschool is an optional program for children under let's say, 5 years old. Then you start primary school, informally known as Elementary School.
In California at least, many of the Elementary Schools serve grades K-5, but some may serve K-6:
Kindergarten: Ages 4-6 (4 year olds may not be mature enough to graduate from this level. My sister had to take Kindergarten twice)
Grade 1; Ages 6-7
Grade 2; Ages 7-8
Grade 3; Ages 8-9
Grade 4; Ages 9-10
Grade 5; Ages 10-11

Then Middle School, also known as Junior High School and the awkwardest of the bunch, starts:
Grade 6; 11-12
Grade 7; 12-13
Grade 8; 13-14

After Junior High School, Senior High School starts -- which is arguably the most important four years of K-12 education:
Grade 9 "Freshman"; 14-15
Grade 10 "Sophomores"; 15-16 ---- can drop out of school at this point, when you turn 16
Grade 11 "Juniors"; 16-17
Grade 12 "Seniors"; 17-18

After that, you're free to do whatever you please. Lots of students go on to a 4-year university, or a two-year junior college. But after 12th grade, you are by no means obligated to go and pay for further education if you can't or don't want to... my mom never went to college and she's doing alright.

[fairmaiden]

Preschool is an optional program for children under let's say, 5 years old. Then you start primary school, informally known as Elementary School.
In California at least, many of the Elementary Schools serve grades K-5, but some may serve K-6:
Kindergarten: Ages 4-6 (4 year olds may not be mature enough to graduate from this level. My sister had to take Kindergarten twice)
Grade 1; Ages 6-7
Grade 2; Ages 7-8
Grade 3; Ages 8-9
Grade 4; Ages 9-10
Grade 5; Ages 10-11

Then Middle School, also known as Junior High School and the awkwardest of the bunch, starts:
Grade 6; 11-12
Grade 7; 12-13
Grade 8; 13-14

After Junior High School, Senior High School starts -- which is arguably the most important four years of K-12 education:
Grade 9 "Freshman"; 14-15
Grade 10 "Sophomores"; 15-16 ---- can drop out of school at this point, when you turn 16
Grade 11 "Juniors"; 16-17
Grade 12 "Seniors"; 17-18

After that, you're free to do whatever you please. Lots of students go on to a 4-year university, or a two-year junior college. But after 12th grade, you are by no means obligated to go and pay for further education if you can't or don't want to... my mom never went to college and she's doing alright.
Ah, so you guys start school a year later. Lucky asf; I know I would have preferred to start school at the age of 5 instead of 4.

[CharlieHorse]

Ah, so you guys start school a year later. Lucky asf; I know I would have preferred to start school at the age of 5 instead of 4.

kindergarten is before grade 1
it's like 1 or 2 years... can't remember

[fairmaiden]

kindergarten is before grade 1
it's like 1 or 2 years... can't remember
So kindergarten is like nursery?

[CharlieHorse]

So kindergarten is like nursery?

nursury is a place in a hospital where the super young babies are kept to develop in a safe place. XD so no
lol

[NeuroTiger]

Kindergarten age 3-5

Primary school
Year 1 age 6
.
.
.
Year 6 age 11

Secondary school/college
Year 1 age 12
.
.
.
Year 5 age 16
You can either stay in the same institution where you are or move to another
Year 6 age 17
Year 7 age 18

Then university.

[fairmaiden]

nursury is a place in a hospital where the super young babies are kept to develop in a safe place. XD so no
lol
oh I think we have different definitions of nursery lolol
over here nursery is a place where 2-5 year olds go during the day to learn in a non-educational way :) aka baby school lol

[Typhlosion]

Education in Brazil is flawed starting from the basics, school-independent. Isn't that nice?

Ensino fundamental / Elementary + Middle school

1º ano / 1st year: at least* 6 y.o.
2º ano / 1ª série / 2nd year (old first year): 7 y.o.
...
5º ano / 4ª série / 5th year (old fourth year): 10 y.o.
...
9º ano / 8ª série / 9th year (old eigth year): 14 y.o.

Previously there was a separation from the 5th and 6th year, calling the 6th-9th years ginásio. This is no longer done. However, there are still many schools that separate the 1st to 5th years completely from the 6th to 9th years in some form or another, be it different time schedules, different teachers, or the lack of one or another being offered at a school.

*: The legal minimum age to enter school is at the age of six years. Children younger than six can not technically get into school yet. This should change up to 2016 where the minimum will be decreased to the age of four. Brazil has a shaky history of how this works and if it's even applied, so it's very common to see 17 year olds in college.

Ensino Médio/High school

1º ano / 1st year: 15 y.o.
2º ano / 2nd year: 16 y.o.
3º ano / 3rd year: 17 y.o. (graduates with 18, at least)

Unlike the U.S., where you can choose some optional classes or so (like introduction to psychology or whatever) while you course High school, there is absolutely nothing of that here. "Common Core" to the core. This level of education is usually the minimum required for the majority of jobs and eases a lot of legal issues.

Optional: Ensino Técnico / Vocational school (?)
(Usually done alongside Ensino Médio)

These courses offer the student an opportunity to acquire professional skills at a level that (in theory) is diverse enough to enter the job market but is not as demanding or deep as what a university could offer. A course could last 1 to 3 years. Usually, to start coursing, the student must have completed the first year of Ensino Médio.

Optional: Ensino Superior / Higher education

Usually started at 18 or 17 years of age, but rarely younger - in Brazil a student can not skip a grade regardless of their capabilities and to enter any form of education all the previous years must have been taken; so, it is extremely difficult to see anyone 16 or younger at this level.

There are three different degrees one can attain by completing a entry-level course (that is, excluding post-graduation courses): Bacharelato (Bachelor's Degree), Licenciatura (Licentiate), and Tecnólogo (this shit doesn't exist anywhere else).

The first is similar, if not identical, to the the traditional bachelor's degree. The licenciatura is a special graduation where the person takes courses on education to become a teacher. This degree is necessary to teach Ensino Médio classes or lower. The degree is worth less than a Bachelor's degree, and can not be used as one (for, as an example, attempt to acquire a master's degree). The tecnólogo follows the técnico philosophy of being more focused on the job market and at times being much more superficial than a course that would award a bachelor's degree.

Unlike the U.S., there is no idea of first going through a college to then study at a university. Instead, the the student is expected to choose what they want to course from the get-go. This also means that there's no major-minor system, but just a major. You'd think that, since higher education is aimed at adults and such, there would be alternative courses with different schools of thought... but nope, the government also controls what courses have to teach and whether they're recognized as a legitimate course in the gov's eyes. There is most absolutely a "Common Core" applied to Ensino Fundamental and Médio, and there is also quite a bit of regulation on what makes a course valid or not and what it should teach. Crazy, huh?

Oh, and fun thing: undergrad students here are called alunos de graduação (graduation students) and grad students are called alunos de pós-graduação (post-graduation students). Honestly, this is probably the most sensible part about our education I described.