School systems of different countries

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

Another September 1st. To whom the holiday, and to whom and the sadness - the holidays would drag on forever! You get so used to your school system that when you learn something about others you are very surprised.

Look …

France: four-day academic week

• Duration of the academic year: 11 months / 4 days a week
• Duration of study: 11 years
• Age of study: 3 (6) - 15 (17) years
• Homework: writing is prohibited
• School uniform: no
• Rating system: 20-point
• Knowledge test: tests, exams

They take turns on vacation

The academic year begins in September and ends in July. To avoid pre-release traffic congestion, France is divided into three zones, and each goes on summer holidays in its own time.

The length of the school week has changed twice over the past ten years. In 2008, former President Nicolas Sarkozy ordered children to study for six hours on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. The rest of the days were considered days off. After the reform of another president, François Hollande, the children began to study for three and a half hours on Wednesday and five and a half hours on other days. The days off were Saturday and Sunday. Another educational reform has recently been outlined. Until 2018, the communes have to choose for themselves whether Wednesday is a day off or half a school day. The main thing is that the school week does not exceed 24 hours of classes. In addition to the usual changes at school, there is a one and a half to two hour lunch break.

“We had a four-day school week, my kids and I loved it,” writes one Facebook user in a comment on the reform news. “Returning to class on Monday, the children were ready for school and went to school with pleasure.”

To school at three years old

Children start primary school at the age of 6, but in front of it they still attend the Ecole Maternel for three years, a school that looks more like a kindergarten. At the end of school, students take the LHC, the French equivalent of the Unified State Exam. An average grade higher than or equal to ten guarantees admission to the university. Testing works are carried out starting from elementary school.

They jump over the classes

Repeaters and children jumping over the class are common. Many parents of the inFrance forum are suspicious of this. A ParmaKom user confesses: “I am afraid of the large percentage of 'jump' to the next level. This indicates the weakness of the school curriculum. We have this exception, but there is one repeater in each class. Mixed classes are not good for older people."

Vadim Mikhailov, in a commentary to the article "The main differences between the French school and ours," published in the online publication about education "Mel", writes: "… schools are constantly in a state of reform. This applies to both subjects and teaching methods. Often the proposed reforms do not suit professors. Here strikes begin - both for teachers and schoolchildren. On the one hand, children grow up free and able to defend their rights, on the other hand, their fragile minds lead them in an ultra-left direction. They are all revolutionaries, and I don’t know what to do with that.”

Japan: study = work

• Duration of the academic year: 11 months / 6 days a week
• Duration of study: 10 (12) years
• Education age: 6-15 (17) years
• Homework: yes
• School uniform: yes
• Rating system: 100-point
• Knowledge test: exams several times a year

The first bell is in the spring

If in Russia the beginning of the school year is associated with yellow-red leaves of trees, then in Japan - with cherry blossoms. The first bell rings here at the beginning of April, and the last at the end of March. Each school sets the exact start and end dates for the school year itself. But before sitting down at their desks again, Japanese students have only a week to rest!

Queen Victoria name form

In elementary school, everything is more or less simple, even a uniform is optional. In secondary, elective courses appear so that you can decide on a specialization, large homework assignments, exams and uniforms.

The uniform differs not only by prefecture and city, but also by school. Usually it is dominated by the marine theme. It was based on the uniform of the British Royal Navy. With the light hand of Queen Victoria, who dressed her son in a sailor's suit, this style became widespread in children's fashion in the second half of the 19th - early 20th centuries. He also reached Japan, where he stayed due to national conservatism.

Learn, learn, learn

The Japanese are workaholics. Lessons start at 8:30 am and continue into the evening. Most of the children also go to additional educational institutions for juku, where they improve their knowledge in various subjects. With a six-day school week, it is considered normal to study additionally on Sundays. The child must know the lessons by 100 points.

“The ratings are very important here,” admits The Escapist user FireAza. “Parents and society are convinced that good grades are necessary to enter a good university, and it is required in order to get a good job in the future.”

In Japan, it is believed that simply attending school and completing homework does not guarantee successful exams. Exams begin in high school and take place not only at the end of each academic year, but also in the middle of the first and second trimesters. It turns out that in the morning the child leaves for school, from there most often goes to some kind of circle, and then to juku. He returns home late in the evening and only has time to do his homework before bed.

“My son went to Japanese elementary school for several years,” wrote a Scrote user on Japan Today. - He studied well, but was too tired. Now he goes to a foreign school, happy and independent. He has two months of summer vacation and no juku."

Australia: two compulsory subjects

• Duration of the academic year: 11 months / 5 days a week
• Duration of study: 12 years
• Age of study: 5-17 years old
• Homework: no
• School uniform: yes
• Rating system: 100-point
• Knowledge test: tests, essays and reports; grades are sent by mail twice a year; starting from the third grade, exams are taken every second year

To school in the summer

The new academic year begins not much later than the calendar year, in late January - early February, and ends in early December. Holidays are ten days between quarters. Lessons start at 08:30, run intermittently, and end at 15:00. In Australia, it is quite easy to find work with the same schedule, which is convenient for mothers.

Dress Code - Shorts

Until the age of 13, boys wear shorts, and then move on to trousers. There may be jackets or jumpers on top, but in almost all schools, students wear hats. Leggings are usually welcome for girls in clothes. High school students have a different school uniform (different in each school), and they are not allowed to enter the territory of the younger ones - and vice versa.

Two compulsory subjects

Up to 7th grade, children usually have one or two teachers in all subjects. Learning is informal, children can move around the classroom and almost sit on the floor. There are more teachers from 8th to 10th grade. Children must study mathematics and English, the rest of the subjects are chosen by themselves. In high school, grades 11-12, the division also occurs in terms of the level of learning complexity.

Anna Novodon lives in Sydney with her daughter Nicole: “There is no habitual assessment system. In the lower grades, grades are not given in principle. Of course, in grades 3-6, students have weekly tests, tests and dictations, but grades are given twice a year. Parents are sent home a report by mail, where all disciplines are described and grades are given from "limited knowledge" (this is something like a Russian two, I suppose) to "outstanding knowledge", much higher than the average level (probably, it is something like a Russian fives with plus) ".

Taiwan: morning starts with cleaning

• Duration of the academic year: 10 months / 5 days a week
• Duration of study: 9 (12) years
• Age of study: 6-15 (18) years
• Homework: yes
• School uniform: yes
• Rating system: 100-point
• Knowledge check: testing, exams

Cleanliness credit

Every morning a Taiwanese student starts at 07:30 with gym exercises and cleaning the school. Cleanliness is strictly monitored. Indeed, in the first year of universities, the children will have to clean the university premises for a year, for which they will then be given a test. If they are not cleaned thoroughly enough, the duty will be extended. Lessons begin at 08:30 and run with 10-minute breaks (half an hour only for lunch) until 16:30.

However, in some schools, an experiment is already underway to postpone the start of the school day one hour later. Proponents of the reform believe this will allow children to sleep more. Opponents are sure that this leaves too little time for communication with classmates.

Educational reforms

In 2018, it is planned to complete the educational reform in the upper grades. According to her, children will be able to choose most of the subjects and attend them depending on their abilities, that is, everyone will have their own schedule of classes.

The latest reform banned teachers from doing homework during the holidays. The government decided that the children should get more rest. But the discipline in schools is strict. Each educational institution has its own uniform. Those who do not wear it face punishment, such as additional cleaning of a room. Although, it would seem, how much cleaner! By the way, according to the PISA educational rating, schools in the capital of Taipei province have repeatedly entered the top of the best.

User kaipakati on Forumosa.com writes on a forum dedicated to education in Taiwan: “My daughter was a special child, as she did not know Mandarin, she spent hours studying with a teacher. But she loved school. She was proud of her, happy to clean her and keep the area in order. I will forever remember the kindness of teachers and the Taiwanese educational system!"

Finland: study a subject, not a phenomenon

• Duration of the academic year: 10 months / 5 days a week
• Duration of study: 9 years
• Age of study: 7-16 years old
• Homework: almost none
• School uniform: no
• Rating system: ten-point
• Knowledge test: exams canceled, knowledge assessment - according to the average score of grades starting from the 4th grade

No exams

The school year in Finland is similar to ours. It starts in August and ends at the end of May. In the fall half of the year, there are three to four days of autumn holidays and two weeks of Christmas. Spring includes a week of February holidays and Easter. Weekdays for the five-day school week begin at 8 or 9 am, depending on the school, and continue until lunchtime. The lesson is 45 minutes long, followed by a 15 minute break.

But there is an important difference. Examinations here are replaced by an average grade in subjects, on their basis, admission to college or lyceum is carried out (the second stage of education, after which you can go to work or enter a university).

“There are test scores, but no one knows them except the student. I asked my daughter what her friend's score was, she said: “I don’t know,” and it was clear that she really didn’t care. Children do not attach importance to these assessments,”says Gulnara Ivanova, who has been living in Finland for several years.

Study not a subject, but a phenomenon

However, by 2020 there will be no lessons in our usual understanding. A school reform has begun in the country, according to which students will not study individual subjects, but a number of subjects related to one topic. For example, considering climate change, they will study ecology, natural science, economics and politics. One such lesson will last about three hours with short breaks.

Starting from this academic year, public schools, where children from 7 to 16 years old study, must at least once introduce a class according to a thematic method for a time period, the duration of which will be determined by the school itself.

Marina Rinas's daughter graduated from nine grades and entered the gymnasium, the son is still studying: “I like that children grow up, in a sense, free. Expressing your own opinion is encouraged. The child can supplement, develop or see the task in his own way. There is always an opportunity for independent creativity. The child can ask and say what he thinks, and the teacher hears him (as a rule). At school, tasks are often given to be performed in a group or in a pair, initiative and independence are encouraged, the task must be completed and presented to the whole class. The only negative is that this system can relax the child, because why bother if the teacher is already praising”.

Despite this anti-discipline, Finnish schools have repeatedly been included in the top of the best educational PISA ratings.

And here are some unusual lessons around the world:

Japan: Nature Admirement

In Japanese schools, children are taught to admire nature

In some schools in Japan there is a very unusual subject - "Admiring nature". Its goal is to teach schoolchildren to appreciate the beauty of the environment, which, due to global computerization, modern children simply do not notice. During classes, children study the features of the development and interaction of flora and fauna. For these observations, teachers give them grades, and at the end of the year, students even take exams.

Germany: Lessons in Happiness

Special lessons on happiness are held in the German city of Heidelberg

An unusual subject has not yet been introduced in all schools in Germany, but in one of the educational institutions of the city of Heidelberg, the school director himself teaches happiness lessons. The main task of students is to learn to live in harmony with themselves, listen to their hearts and just be happy. There are no exams in this subject, but each student by the end of the year must implement his own project: to shoot a “good” video or do charity work.

Israel: Theory and Practice of Cyberwarfare

In Israeli schools, children attend a special course - cybersecurity

Some schools in Israel have introduced an unusual subject - "Cybersecurity". The reason for the introduction of this lesson was the great cyber-dependence of children, about which not only parents, but also doctors began to talk. In theory and practice lessons, schoolchildren are taught how to behave in social networks, how to react and respond to comments correctly. Also, most of the subject is devoted to addiction to computer games and how to deal with it.

Beekeeping in Bashkiria

There are schools in Bashkiria where they study beekeeping

There are more than a hundred schools in Bashkiria that have their own apiaries. In beekeeping lessons, children are taught how to properly care for insects, collect honey, and more. The fact is that the Republic of Bashkiria is considered one of the best in the world for the production of honey. And in order not to lose this honorary title, such an unusual subject was introduced in some educational institutions.

Surfing Lessons in Australia

Australian schools teach kids to surf

The inhabitants of the green continent can rightfully be called the best surfers on the planet. And to maintain the title of the best wave breakers, surf lessons have been introduced in all schools in Australia. The country's authorities have done everything possible so that a tourist who rides better than the locals does not accidentally appear on the beaches.

Armenia: folk dances

Folk dances are taught in all schools in Armenia

The Armenian authorities are doing everything to ensure that the younger generation does not forget the traditions of their beautiful country. That is why a special course was introduced in all schools - folk dances. In the classroom, schoolchildren are taught not only choreography, but also talk about the history of dancing. Schoolchildren have no opportunity to “skip” this subject: at the end of the school year, children take exams. If you don't get a good mark in this discipline, you can stay in the same class for the second year.

USA: Scientific discoveries

A special course has been introduced in US schools -

All American schools have introduced an unusual subject called Scientific Inventions. Its goal is to unleash the potential of young scientists. After the theoretical course, all students are given one task - to invent something new. Students are given a whole year to complete it. After completing the course, students present their inventions to the whole class, discuss the relevance of the project and give marks.

Russia: Lessons in Financial Literacy

Some Russian schools have introduced a financial literacy course

Some Russian schools have introduced a very interesting subject - "Financial literacy". In the classroom, children are taught how to properly manage money, how to plan a family budget. The lessons also teach a lot about how to avoid becoming a victim of financial fraud. The materials for the lessons were developed within the framework of the project of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation and the World Bank "Assistance in increasing the level of financial literacy of the population and the development of financial education in the Russian Federation." So far, such a subject has been introduced only as an optional, but it is possible that soon such a subject will become mandatory.