Education in Gabrielland

Education in Gabrielland

Gabrielt and Arsyan People's National Board for the Purposes of the People's Enlightenment
Coordinator	Prof. Knīez Thnakhmā
National education budget (2020-2021)
Budget	ɢ2.82 Trillion
General details
Primary languages	Gabrielt languages, Arsyan languages
System type	Curriculum
Literacy (2019)
Total	97.9%
Male	98.2%
Female	96.6%
Primary	99.4%
Secondary	95.7%
Post secondary	52.8%
Attainment (2020)
Secondary diploma	74%
Post-secondary diploma	21%

Education in Gabrielland falls under the jurisdiction of each individual province's educational board or department, however are coordinated at a regional level with the regional education advisory board, at a realm level, and at the national level with the Gabrielt and Arsyan People's National Board for the Purposes of the People's Enlightenment through a system of educational decentralization and deconcentration. Since 2002, it has been mandatory for all citizens to undertake twelve years of compulsory education, which consist of elementary school, middle school, and high school. Each province or region sets their own periodization of such schools, although the national curriculum offers three guidelines for the stratifications of the school grades with various categories or types of schools within each stage. Jurisdiction over religious-based schools have been transferred from the National Board for Religious Affairs since 2005. Students are able to pick between government-run non-sectarian public schools, government-run religiously affiliated schools, or private schools.

Collectively, the government spends around 4% of GDP, roughly equal to more than 2.8 Trillion Gabrielt Gabiros for the academic year of 2020-2021, subsidising the majority of public-funded schools as well as some programs and facilities in private schools. This is done through a complex system of educational decentralization and deconcentation wherein each individual province possesses the powers to allocate the regional budget however one sees fit, although with constraints and mandatory obligations from either the regional, realm, or national level through series of legislation. Subsequently, education in Gabrielland as a whole is more unequal than in various other countries. As an example, in the entirety of the Arsyan realms, education is free and mandatory for all until at least an associate's degree since 2014, however, in the Gabrielt Kingdom or in the New Frontier, only some regions or provinces provide free educational services and facilities. The confederate nature of the nation as a whole prevents national legislation which would burden one party by a wide margin, as the poorer yet more populated Gabrielt provinces and regions would suffer massive budget deficits if education were to be made free.

The system as a whole is conducted using a curriculum system with set goals and objectives agreed at a national level, with very much leeway and flexibility for individual provinces or regions to contribute, modify, or suit to their personal needs. Some regions even have a standardized curriculum for that region agreed upon by all the provincial educational authorities responsible, with the first region to do so being the East Arsya Region in 2010 when the 2010 East Arsyan curriculum was revealed and first implemented. The current "national curriculum" of 2016 only facilitates the bare minimums and standardizations in respect to how long each phase should be, mandatory subjects, as well as the types of schools available to parents and students. Although differing in set standards and objectives measured in each different curriculum, diplomas from all accredited institutions must be accepted or be valid throughout the entire nation.

The language of instruction used in schools in Gabrielland differs according to the curriculum used, and consequently according to where a school or institution is located in. While the teaching and use of Standard Gabrielt is mandated and even encouraged, individual regions or schools have the freedom to teach in whatever language is proper or appropriate, with the vast majority of curriculums and subsequently schools mandating that teachers teach using the local language, with Standard Gabrielt reserved only for lessons regarding the language itself, or other mandated subjects. As an example, all schools in the capital Vailhims use Standard Gabrielt as a medium of instruction, while all schools in Sangur use standard Arsyan. This policy has led to the revival of some local languages and a surge in active and fluent speakers.

History

There have been many institutes for education which have catered towards the pursuit of knowledge throughout Gabrielt history. During the ancient and classical periods of Gabrielt history, study halls and public libraries served as the primary institutions of education, though no set standards or curriculum was present. Private tutoring and mentoring also occured, especially for those in nobility or with strong connections. Subjects ranging from arithmetic, ancient Gabrielt poetry, philosophy, history and linguistics were popular subjects as in order to become a government minister or to be employed by a well-respected employer, knowledge in the classics was emphasized. The first universities were thus opened around the 9th and 10th century under the name "grand study" after a series of educational reforms in order to easily identify which candidates possessed the skills and knowledge necessary for a selct field of occupation. The oldest university still operating in Gabrielland, the Andzaka University, was founded in 1189 CE at the behest of King Nadzari III.

Within the Arsyan realms, education was solely reserved for the elites, with many travelling to the south into the Kingdoms of the Gabrielt states in order to pursue an education, as the education system in the individual Gabrielt Kingdoms was tuaght to have fared better and was more sophisticated than existing educational institutions back home. However, by the late 16th century, prominent thinkers and scholars began to create the first universities and study halls catering specifically towards the renaissance of the Arsyan peoples and cultures, and focused not on Gabrielt philosophy and linguistics, but in Arsyan history and poetry, thus creating a golden age for Arsyan poetry and culture.

With the establishment of both the Gabrielt Confederation and the Arsyan Union in the late 19th century, the standardization and modernization of education was deemed necessary. Accross the unions, systems of education mimicking what is present in modern-day Gabrielland took root, with a set framework in the type of schools, materials taught, as well as grade levels being offered. However, education was still not mandatory, and by 1900, only 15% of the Gabrielt and Arsyan population knew how to write. Grammar schools, normal schools, and other types of schools were constructed in both Gabrielland and the Arsyan realms, whose graduates would in turn fill in the seats of the prestigious universities established prior to the confederalization of the Gabrielt states. It is important to note that both the Gabrielt and Arsyan Confederations at this point were two indepdenent entities from one another, and possessed vastly different standardizations of education.

After unification and centralization in 1926, the first national curriculum for a modern Gabrielland was promulgated and passed by the newly-formed ministry of education. The main goal of the new education system was to support the unification progress in terms of culture, customs, and language, and veheminently proposed to enrich the status of the Standard Gabrielt Language within the populace, as the artificial language created by linguists shortly before unification was highly unintelligible and foreign for the vast majority of the population. In conjunction with the formal education system aimed at students, most of which were young, a non-formal illiteracy eradication program was set up by the ministry of education, primarily in rural areas. Illiteracy eradication programs were deemed very successful in eradicating adult illiteracy, with the amount of people being able to read and write in any of the national scripts surging from 23% in 1926 to nearly 75% in 1940. As the population of the new frontiers were still largely nomadic, those populations suffered the most from inadequate government resource allocation as nearly no centers in the far south of Gabrielland was established or conducted.

In the early days of unification, Standard Gabrielt was the medium of instruction in all schools with the exception of the Arsyan Realms, in which the status of Standard Gabrielt was made equal to that of Standard Arsyan. Privately owned schools usually run by foreign institutions may keep their original language of instruction, although with the stipulation that Standard Gabrielt be used for the subjects of math and history. Minority schools, such as within the Arasatian community, also got to keep teaching in the Arasatian language, although with more stipulations and regulations than both the Arsyan-run schools and the internationally-run ones. Local language lessons were eventually introduced in 1932 due to mounting regional pressures and fears of seccesionism.

The system remained in place throughout the first iteration of the Gabrielt Republic, until a civil war broke out in 1976 which split the country into Dzakwanist Gabrielland to the south and the Arsyan Republic to the north. In Dzakwanist Gabrielland, all forms of education and enlightenment were banned and destroyed, with intellectuals and other educated persons being targeted and killed for their supposed counter-revolutionary subplot. In the Arsyan Republic, the previous curriculum remained the standard, although with minor revisions and modifications to cater radical changes in the nation.

After a ceasefire was reached in 1980, and the eventual reunification of the two sides, the education system was completely rehauled and strongly emphasized a 'regional identity within a national framework'. The use of local languages to support a national agenda was strongly encouraged and used, and with the addition of mandatory 'patriotism and civics' class taught in the local language, it was hoped that the pains of the civil war would never have to be endured by any future Gabrielt generation. The federalization of the country in 1985 gave more powers towards hte provinces to control the curriculum, although with strong guidelines and boundary conditions set up by the former federal ministry for education. Financial responsibility was burdened onto the regional governments to create and promulgate, with the federal government only allotting a lump sum towards the provinces to do as they wish. The federal education system in 1985 would be the embryo of what is now the confederal system of education, which is arguably more deceentralized than the federal system.

In 2000, a confederal system of government was agreed upon by the three main geographic and cultural elements of Gabrielland, namely the Gabrielt Realm, the Arsyan Realm, and the New Frontiers. The confederal system would give individual provinces even more power to control their curriculum and budgeting, as well as to create legislation regarding the well-being and standards of schools. At the national level the Gabrielt and Arsyan People's National Board for the Purposes of the People's Enlightenment was created to coordinate education at the national level, and to legislate the most fundamental subjects regarding the education system, such as a baseline for the curriculum, national testing standards, and international cooperation. All realm representatives must agree on the issue at hand before any legislation takes effect. As such, there was no longer a need for all shcools to teach in Standard Gabirelt, though it was agreed upon that Standard Gabrielt would be a mandatory subject for all. The use of local languages surged greatly from this, as most provinces required all schools to teach in the local language, with Standard Gabrielt only used for select classes.

School Grades

The 2016 curriculum provides three different recommendations for the categorization of school grades. Provinces and regions are free to choose between the available options, modify them, or disregard them completely as long as the mandated 12 years are fulfilled one way or another. Below is a list of school grades for the national curriculum of 2016.

School Grades

Below are the school grade suggestions according to the 2016 curriculum.

Level/Grade	Typical age	1st Model	2nd Model	3rd Model
Early Children's Education	3-6	Kindergarten
Pre-school	4-6
First grade	6–7	Elementary school	Elementary school	Elementary school
Second grade	7–8
Third grade	8–9
Fourth grade	9–10
Fifth grade	10–11
Sixth grade	11–12	Middle School
Seventh grade	12-13		Middle School	High School / Vocational School
Eighth grade	13-14
Ninth grade	14-15	High School / Vocational School
Tenth grade	15–16		High School / Vocational School
Eleventh grade	16–17
Twelfth grade	17–18
High 5 (Only in Preparatory schools and in some vocational schools)	18–19	Some Preparatory Schools and Vocational Schools
Tertiary education (College or University)	Ages vary	Universities and other Institutes
Graduate education
Adult education		Institutions

A majority of schools, provinces, and regions in the Arsyan Realms operate the first model, whilst in the Kingdom of Gabrielland, the second model is preferred. Schools in the New Frontier are split between second and third options.

Curriculum

The national curriculum announced and passed by the Gabrielt and Arsyan People's National Board for the Purposes of the People's Enlightenment in 2016 serves as the sole curriculum in 99.7% of schools as of 2021. The 2016 curriculum serves as the major framework in the conduct of educationary standards throughout the nation whilst not forfeiting the individual independences deconcentrated back in 2000, and as a result, is more loosely bound and concrete than other national curriculums. Each individual province possesses its own curriculums based on the 2016 curriculum, and may modify it to suit each province's standards and budget. Even with the educational deconcentration and decentralization, some aspects of education are still highly regulated by the national curriculum, such as the inclusion of lessons regarding the Standard Gabrielt language as well as the nomenclature of schools in order to ease identification at the national level.

Entities above the province, which are namely regions and realms, may coordinate to make a standardized curriculum for their respective jurisdiction, although to date no realm has standardized the curriculum at the realm level. At the regional level, three regions have successfully standardized the curriculum with the consent of the provincial departments of education. As an example, in the Vantari region, where the curriculum has been standardized at the regional level, provincial departments of education serve as an extension of the regional board of education rather than acting as independent bodies.

International curricula have been historically banned from being implemented in Gabrielland, though with the decentralization of education, it has become the jurisdiction of each individual province to grant approval towards international curricula. The department to do so was the Vailhims Department of Education, legalizing foreign curricula since the year 2005. As of 2020, there were 18 schools in Vailhims, mostly international schools, who did not use the framework that is the 2016 curriculum. Diplomas from such schools are guaranteed by the provincial department of education, though outside of their jurisdiction, different regulations might apply, and graduates might need to take standardization tests in order for their diplomas to be considered valid.

Periodization

The periodization of the school year is, by default, differs from province to province, with the most common one being the trimester system, with one year having three trimesters in it. In the trimester system, each trimester lasts 3 months long with 1 week reserved for examination, and interrupted by holidays. In most regions, the summer break is twice as long as the two other inter-trimester breaks. In some provinces, most notably in Vailhims, the semestrial system is used, lasting for five months each semester interrupted by holidays and breaks. Unique to the Uyi Province, a quarter system is used, wherein one year consists of four quarters. Each quarter lasts 9 weeks with breaks between each quarter.

Even though the nation has differing periodization systems, the start of the school year is almost always synchronous in early March, meaning the school year spans two years.

Material

The 2016 curriculum provides base guidelines for provinces to follow when it comes to materials being taught from a first grade level up until the twelfth grade in virtually all subjects. The curriculum also provides a general list of concepts and ideas which pupils need to master before graduating in 12th grade. It is up to the individual provinces and subsequently the school to divide up when to teach the materials, even though the 2016 curriculum has provided a road map as to when certain materials and subjects need to be taught. An exception is made for two subjects, namely the Standard Gabrielt language and religious studies, in which all schools must adhere to the timeline and road map provided. Certain subjects which are not included in the national curriculum are free to be added at the discretion of the provincial department of education granted that other subjects which the national curriculum narrate should be mastered by all pupils do not get abandoned.

Private schools

Private schools in Gabrielland have been allowed since 1952, though still with massive government oversight to ensure the standard and quality of graduates according to each jurisdiction's standards and regulations. A majority of private schools are owned by organziations and religious institutions with a very small but growing minority of foreign and international schools. Private schools initially did not recieve any government funding, though with the crowding of public schools beginning in the late 1990s, the government has given some schools funds to help accomodate students which did not get into public schools. Overall, there are more private schools than public schools, though there are more students enrolled in public schools than private schoools, suggesting that the average size of a private school is far less than that of a public one.

Curriculum and subject wise, all private schools, including religious ones, must adhere to the standards set and regulated by each jurisdiction's education board. Private schools may offer activities and experiences which are not offered by public schools. A good example of such is religious schools, which emphasize a strong divide and religious background to support a strong education and learning. International and foreign schools are exempt from this rule, though graduates are still required to take the standardization test all students have to take regardless of which school they went to in order for their diploma or certificate to be rendered valid in the entirety of the nation.

Kindergarten

Kindergarten is not mandatory in most provinces, although some schools within those provinces, notably private schools, encourage or even make attending kindergarten mandatory for all applicants. Kindergarten in Gabriellad provide up to three years of pre-elementary education focused on the development of the child's motoric skills and social ability, with less emphasis on concrete and systemized learning than other school grades. Kindergarten in some regions is also synonymous with daycare, though the growing demand for dedicated kindergartens have led to many emphasizing that their institution is not a kindergarten. The grades in Kindergarten are not as rigid as in elementary school or in middle school, though a general scheme of names goes as follows: Nursery, Kindergarten A, and Kindergarten B. It is also not mandatory for parents to enroll their children starting from nursery, and could enter the child at any time prior to kindergarten B based on the skills already present in the child.

Kindergartens are almost always monolingual in nature, following the primary or main language in where the kindergarten is located. This is purposely done to foster strong mother-tongue language skills in the pupils, as in formal schooling the pupils would have to cope and study with many more languages. Activities in kindergartens are mainly entertaining coated with an educational subplot such as brain games, team-based games, and worksheets.

The private sector owns the majority of kindergartens in Gabrielland. According to a release by the Gabrielt and Arsyan People's National Board for the Purposes of the People's Enlightenmen in 2019, a staggering 98.7% of all kindergartens are privately owned. Religious organizations and institutions are famous for running kindergartens throughout the nation.

Elementary school

Elementary school is the first stage in formal education regardless of location or jurisdiction in Gabrielland. Elementary education in Gabrielland aims to provide a conceptual base with the knowledge needed in life to succeed and function as a member of the wider society. While the length of elementary school varies from region to region, it is compulsory for all citizens beginning 2003 and for all foreign residents starting from 2011. Some jurisdictions employ a free schooling policy for elementary school, and beginning in 2020, all regions and jurisdictions in Gabrielland have comitted to providing free elementary education to all. The balance of public and private schools within the scope of elementary education is balanced, with public schools accounting for 47.3% of all elementary institutions. The rest is made up of private schools, schools ran by religious institutions, or foreign schools operating within the country. Upon graduation from any elementary institution, pupils have to take a national standardization test which will then grant a national diploma valid everywhere in addition to their regional certificate which is only applicable in jurisdictions which recognize the said certificate or diploma.

Elementary school in Gabrielland generally lasts 5 or 6 years depending on the jurisdiction, with a rare few opting to have 7 years of elementary education before entering secondary education. The national curriculum does not speak of divisions within the elementary years, though a select few do so. In Vailhims, the elementary period lasts six years, with a distinct phase A and phase B divided between grades 1-3 for the former and grades 4-6 for the latter. A different set of lessons and approach is undertaken within the two phases depending on how the student performs, thus creating an informal 'categorization' based on the needs and specialties of the students. However, in most of the Arsyan Realms, such divisions do not exist, and a singular apparoach and a uniform lesson plan has been adopted for the entirety of the elementary period.

The language used in elementary school is the local language and the Standard Gabrielt Language. The use of each is determined by the school and the provincial boards, though lessons in the Standard Gabrielt Language must be taught in Standard Gabrielt, making all schools virtually bilingual in nature. The script taught in elementary school depends on the script already used by the language, though for standard Gabrielt classes, all three scripts are taught (Prei script, Latin script, Cyrillic Script. Some jurisdictions may increase the number of languages learnt at the elementary level, such as schools in the special region of Grafenland, which also mandates the study and teaching of the Standard Arsyan language in addition to the languages prescribed as a result of being situated within the Arsyan realms. Other languages, including national ones, are generally not given until the secondary period. Some border regions begin offering classes in Standard Arsyan as early as the 3rd grade to facilitate inter-ethnic conversation. Foreign languages are generally given in middle school, with a selection of languages depending on the school.

The requirements for advancement in grade levels are virtually uniform accross the nation even though a multitude of standards apply. Generally, to advance to the next grade level, a pupil has to meet certain grade standards across all subjects and not be absent over a certain amount. To graduate elementary school, the standard is less rigid and left to the jurisdiction and the schools themselves. In a sense, the national body does not oversee what schools set as the standard required for graduation as the national standardized test is the only metric valid in the eyes of the national government, hence, it is possible to pass the school or provincial graduation test (often called elementary-leaving test), while not passing the national test. As a result, the student only graduates within the jurisdiction and not at the national level. Consequently, diplomas are valid only in the jurisdiction which provided the certificate or diploma.