Education in Azmara
| Department of Education and Research | |
|---|---|
| Department of Education and Research | Jorśena Hanksdohter |
| National education budget (2019) | |
| Budget | €35 billion |
| General details | |
| Primary languages | Azmaran |
| System type | National |
| Literacy (2019) | |
| Total | 99.9% |
| Male | 99.8% |
| Female | 99.9% |
| Enrollment | |
| Total | Not available |
| Primary | 100% |
| Secondary | 100% |
| Attainment | |
| Secondary diploma | 93% |
Education in Azmara is free and compulsory for all children between the ages of 6 and 18. It follows a two-stage model, featuring primary (ândeskul) and secondary (twiideskul) education. Under almost all cases, primary education takes eight years to complete and is attended between 6 and 14, while secondary education takes four years to complete and is attended between 14 and 18. Secondary education is often divided into two types: the gymnasium, which offers a more traditional academic curriculum focused around humanities, social sciences and sciences, and vocational schools (arbeiderskulen), which offer a more vocational curriculum focused on future careers. After secondary education, many students go on to tertiary education (þriideskulen), which is offered at a range of institutions with a range of different focuses.
School years begin on the second Monday of September and finish on the second-to-last Friday of July. The year is divided into four quarters, with each quarter consisting of ten weeks. There is a holiday of one to two weeks between each quarter, and in addition there is a week's holiday in the week of Christmas and an extended weekend off during Easter.
Most schools are operated by the state, with all primary schools and tertiary educational institutions being operated by the state and the establishment of a private primary or tertiary educational institution being illegal. However, private secondary schools exist and it is thought that 3% of secondary school students attend a private school, yet these are required to follow government regulations over educational curriculums and teaching standards. Homeschooling is only allowed in specific circumstances, largely when a student's individual educational needs cannot be addressed in traditional schooling or when the lifestyle of the parent or child requires it.
Background
The creation of a universal education system in Azmara is dated to 1852-8, where the first republican government passed laws guaranteeing every child between 6 and 14 in Azmara education, creating the folksskulen, a series of government-owned primary schools which taught children basic arithmetic, spelling, reading, natural sciences and civics, as well as some vocational education to prepare students for the workplace. The nature and funding of these schools was a matter of contention in the early days of the republic, as the ruling Forþgaaner faction supported a centralised, state-run, secular education system, while the Jorśite faction advocated for the creation of a universal education system through the creation of church schools, which would feature a Sotirian curriculum, be funded by both the Church of Azmara and the state and feature greater decentralisation. Ultimately, the Forþgaaner faction won out and created the folksskulen, which were largely free from religious instruction.
However, for a long period of time this was to be the only state-funded education; while in theory further education at a gymnasium, or tertiary education after that, was open to all, all of these schools would charge fees for entry and thus they were not open to the lower classes and further education was thus de facto restricted to the affluent sectors of Azmaran society. The Education Act of 1938 established universal secondary education, where at the end of primary education the student would be tested to see whether they qualified for a gymnasium or an arbeiderskul; the traditional gymnasiums were made open to all through this system and focused on academic studies such as the natural sciences, humanities and arts, while a new type of school in the arbeiderskul was created to provide education for those planning to enter the workforce by training students to enter skilled labour positions through offering specific job-focused qualifications.
In the 1970s, a new type of school, the gâlykskul, was created, combining both a gymnasium and arbeiderskul education and allowing for students to take a mixture of vocational and academic qualifications. The creations of these were intended to integrate students from different abilities and to address an imbalance in social backgrounds towards those of middle-class origins in the gymnasia and towards those of working-class backgrounds in the arbeiderskulen. While their intended purpose of replacing both schools across the nation from their proponents has not come to fruition as only 15% of secondary school students attend them, they have become the dominant form of schooling in the Province of Aalmsted. Other reforms taken in the 1970s include the Opportunities in Education Act 1978, which greatly expanded the provision of special education in Azmara by setting up primary schools, gymnasia and arbeiderskulen aimed at students with speficic educational needs and disabilities.
Control of the education system in the modern day largely rests in the Department for Education and Research, yet individual provinces and districts have some influence on the curriculum and structure of schooling in their prefecture.