Education in Barrayar
The education in the Empire of Barrayar is provided predominantly by the public authorities, being regulated by the Ministry of Culture, Media and Sport. Local authorities regulate education within their jurisdictions within the prevailing framework of Imperial laws. In 2999 state spending for education amounted to 5.6% of GDP, or 17.9% of consolidated state budget. Private institutions account for 5% of pre-school enrolment, 2.5% of elementary school enrolment and 10% of university-level students. Komarr has a significantly higher quota of private institutions than both Barrayar and Sergyar; the general organization of the education levels and classes is regulated by the Ministry of Culture, Science, Media and Sport, while relevant authorities on Komarr and Sergyar can regulate secondary matters; Northern Districts, however, do retain significant autonomy ranges in this matter.
The course of school training is 11-years. Education in state-owned secondary schools is free; university level education is free with reservations: a substantial number of students are enrolled for full pay. Male and female students have equal shares in all stages of education, while on Barrayar the university education is still male-predominant. The literacy rate in the Empire of Barrayar is 97.6%. According to a 2998 statistic 45% of the Barrayaran labour force has attained an university education, giving Barrayar a medium-low attainment of college-level education in the Nexus. 52% have completed secondary education.
Imperial School Inspectorate
In the education system, the Imperial School Inspectorate is the ministry agency tasked with the technical management. It reports to the Ministry of Culture, and carries out the inspection and audit tasks in relation to the school and (civilian) academic bodies. The School Inspectorate also produces analytical, research and technical advice to the ministry. The basic function of the School Inspector is to ensure the proper functioning of the purposes of education and training assigned to schools and universities.
The Inspectorate is organized on District (Sector/Chancery) Delegations, on a Central Office and on the Central Inspectorate, who audits and inspects peripheral bodies such as Local Education Authorities.
Local Education Authority
The Local Education Authority is the main organ of peripheral administration under the Ministry of Culture for educational purposes. The District Education Authority is a complex organ, consisting of the Director of Education and of the Office of Education dependent upon the Director. The jurisdiction of the Local Education Authority coincides with the upper territorial subdivisions: Southern Continent Districts, Komarran Sectors (although Solstice Dome City constitutes a separate Local Education Authority) and Sergyaran Chanceries. Each Local School Authority is further subdivided into functional jurisdiction, which have some degree of autonomy only on Komarr (where they are Dome City-based), while on both Barrayar and Sergyar they are only decentralized sub-agencies. On both Komarr and Sergyar, the Local Education Authorities are grouped into Planetary Education Authorities, under the vigilance and supervision of the Imperial Representative and of the Viceroy of Sergyar.
Northern Districts only have to ensure the compliance of their school policies with the very basic framework guidelines issued by the Ministry of Culture.
Director of Education
The Director of Education is the governing official who is responsible for the local bureaucratic administration of the primary and secondary education; the Office of Education, Deans and Professors of secondary schools, the local School Inspectors, the elementary school teachers and headmasters or headmistress, hierarchically depend all on the Director of Education. The Director of Education is the supreme authority of the District in primary and secondary education matters, and has on his/her direct dependencies secondary education schools, while elementary schools depend on a separate subordinate body: however, the Director of Education, chairing the Council School District, has a pervasive check on the elementary schools. The Director is also the authority whom the District Delegation of the Imperial School Inspectorate reports to. Among the powers of the Director of Education in the field of primary school, the most important are those related to the supervision on both public and private primary teaching, those related to the appointments and transfers of teachers and closing - in urgent and serious cases - of the schools.
As regards to secondary education, in particular the Director of Education is responsible for the provision of teaching assignments, the keeping of professional registers of secondary school teachers and the imposition of disciplinary sanctions to them. The Director of Education is also responsible for all matters related to the periodic increases in salaries of subordinate personnel, to the appointment of Deans, to their exemption and to the granting of special leave.
The Deputy Director of Education may be delegated to carry out the Director of Education's functions and replace him or her. The Education Office assists the administrator in his work, but can not perform legally relevant acts: this is sole responsibility of the Director of Education. The Education Office is made up of officials and employees of the Ministry of Culture posted in the District; usually there is a special quota of employees hired directly in their District.
The Director of Education work, however, under the supervision and control of the District Governor.
Councils, Committees and Boards
Each Education Authority has a number of committees and councils which support the action of the Director of Education and of the School Office. These are:
- District (Sector/Chancery) School Council:
- District (Sector/Chancery) Primary School Commission
- District (Sector/Chancery) Commission of First Instance for Teachers without tenure
- District (Sector/Chancery) Commission of the Second Instance for Teachers without tenure
- District (Sector/Chancery) Commission for Litigation.
District School Council
The District School Council is the single advisory body for the Primary School and for Lower Secondary School. Within the Council, it is established the District (Sector/Chancery) Primary School Commission: it exerts advisory functions in Primary School matters and it is composed of the Director of Education, who chairs and presides, a subject resident in the province who has particular skills in primary education (usually an university professor), a Dean or a Secondary School teacher, a primary school teacher elected by colleagues, a representative of the District Governor administration, a representative of the District capital, a representative of other Municipalities and of Regions and one representative of Arrondissements in the District. The main responsibilities of the Commission office are mainly determining the plan for the establishment of new primary schools and expression of opinions on the construction projects of new school buildings.
Administrative Commissions
The Administrative Commissions are those commissions empowered to hear litigations and to carry out the preparation of rankings of the school District personnel. There are thee Commissions: after these commissions, a judicial remedy may be tried.
The Commission of First Instance for Secondary teachers without tenure has the task of compiling the rankings of teachers aspiring to the assignment and of substitute teachers in Secondary schools. The Commission is composed of the Deans, school teachers and officials from the Office of Education.
The Commission of Second Instance for Secondary teachers without tenure is responsible for decisions on appeals against the decisions rankings compiled by the Commission of First Instance and against the nominations, appointments and dismissals of the substitute teachers. It is composed of the Director of Education, of Deans and school teachers.
The Provincial Commission for permanent litigation - composed by the Director of Education (who presides), a school Dean, two school teachers and an official of the Local Education Authority - decides on appeals against the Commission of Second Instance, expresses binding opinions to the imposition of disciplinary sanctions for non-tenured professors and, optionally and without binding power, expresses opinions on any other matter relating to the management of non-tenured teaching staff.
Pre-school education
48% of children (56% urban and 40% rural) aged 5 are enrolled in kindergartens. Kindergartens, unlike schools, are regulated by local authorities. The Ministry of Culture, Media and Sports regulates only a brief pre-school preparation programme for the 5–6 year old children. Local authorities can legally charge the parents no more than 25% of costs. Twins, children of university students or military personnel and other protected social groups such as children member of great families are entitled to free service.
The kindergarten system provides for quite spread early school (nursery, age 1 to 3 and kindergarten, age 3 to 5) service in urban areas, aiding to relieve working mothers from daytime childcare needs.
Primary education
The Primary School lasts five years. Until secondary, the educational curriculum is the same for all pupils: although one can attend a private or state-funded school, the subjects studied are the same (with the exception of special schools for the blind or the hearing-impaired). The students are given a basic education in the local language, mathematics, natural sciences, history, geography, political and civic education, physical education and visual and musical arts.
Pupils have to pass an exam to access Lower Secondary School, comprising the composition of a short essay in their local language, a written maths test, and an oral test on the other subjects.
Secondary education
Secondary education is divided in two stages: Lower Secondary School and Upper Secondary School, which corresponds to the high-school level.
The Lower Secondary School lasts three years (roughly from age 11 to 13), and provides further education on the subjects studied at the Primary School, with the addition of Technology and a language spoken within the Barrayaran Empire other than English or, if the mother tongue of the area is English, another language spoken within the Empire of Barrayar. The remaining curriculum is the same for all schools. At the end of the third year students sit an exam which enables them to continue their education.
The Upper Secondary School lasts five years (even though some Work Training Institutes might offer a diploma after only three years). All tiers involve an exam at the end of the final year, required to gain a diploma and have access to further education.
The secondary school situation varies, since there are several types of schools differentiated by subjects and activities. The main division is between the High School, the Technical School the Work Training Institute. Any kind of secondary school that lasts 5 years grants access to the final exam, called Secondary Diploma Exam. This exam takes place every year around the middle of the year and grants access to University.
While the education received in a High School, which involves a broad and specifically academic curriculum, is necessary to enter University, Technical School and Work Training Institute students have access to it, provided they pass the specific tests which are mandatory in all faculties.
High School
The Barrayaran High School concept refers to a class of secondary schools oriented towards the study of the arts and sciences. All of the High Schools have many subjects in common, such as Galactic and All-Barrayaran Literature, or Mathematics, while other subjects are peculiar to a particular type of High School.
Types of High School include:
- High Classic School, which features Ancient Greek, Galactic English, Barrayaran Languages (only on Barrayar), history, military education and philosophy as its most important subjects.
- High Sciences School, whose programme reminds in part that of High Classic School in teaching Four Barrayaran Languages and Galactic English, history and philosophy, but is more oriented towards mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, geologic science and computer science and is also focused on drawing and art history.
- High Arts School, which is oriented toward arts teaching – both in a theoretical (i.e. art history) and practical (i.e. drawing sessions) way. Its subjects are painting, sculpture, decoration, graphics, design, audiovisual, multimedia, set design and architecture.
Technical School
The Technical School, divided into Technical-Technological School and Technical-Economic School, is more oriented toward practical subjects, such as jurisdiction, accountancy, tourism, metalworking, electronics, chemical industry, biotechnology, visual communication, fashion and food industry, construction management and geo-technics.
Work Training Institute
The Work Training Institute offers a form of secondary education oriented towards practical subjects and enables the students to start searching for a job as soon as they have completed their studies (sometimes sooner, as some schools offer a diploma after 3 years) and is even more specific in terms of vocational course offerings than the Technical School: however, in Work Training Institute a student is not provided of a Diploma, but of a Licence (5 years) or a mere Qualification.
Imperial Cadet Academies
Imperial Cadet Academies are comprehensive education institutions whose purpose is to prepare young people for loyal public service aimed at top military and civilian careers. Imperial Cadet Academies are run by the Ministry of War in conjunction with the Ministry of Culture and the first of them was established in 2980.
These schools pick on a competitive basis under-age citizens, both boys and girls, and preference is given to children of military and civilian personnel of the Imperial Service, in order to establish a military service tradition also outside the Vor class. In addition, Imperial Cadet Academies admit made orphans and kids left without parental care, all living in the area of responsibility the respective Academy. Only boys and girls considered to be "flawless" are admitted to the boarding schools; no children with poor hearing or vision are accepted. "Above-average intelligence" is also required, so that those looking to be admitted have to complete 8-day entrance exams. The official descriptor is "Cadet". The duration of training and educational programmes in such schools is seven years, from 10 to 17 years of age, comprising both Lower and Upper Secondary School.
Each Imperial Cadet Academy has about 500 students per year. Cadets study all four Barrayaran languages, two foreign languages, history, literature, mathematics, subjects related to modern technology and receive an intensive physical training. Alongside the regular subjects, they are educated to loyalty to the Empire, to Monarchy and to Emperor Vorbarra. In general terms, training is conducted through the canons of severe sports, military, ideological and philosophical training, joined by b training with regular training in the countryside and in the factories. Overall it is a training for life and correct political ordering of life that strengthens the character of the young cadets.
Imperial Cadet Academies are intended to be top-notch education facilities, and their buildings are carefully planned and designed, using the very latest technology, proper modern classrooms, state-of-art recreation and sports facilities, and the most advanced technology. In this way children and boys educated into Academies are able to join the Imperial Service and, after the conscription period, to choose between various careers or college education. The ultimate goal is, therefore, to produce well-trained specialists who will go on to continue their studies at university level or serve their homeland in other ways with patriotic spirit: a new generation for the political, military and administrative leadership of the Empire. Therefore, life at the Imperial Cadet Academies is dominated by military discipline. The social web which is formed during the school and military years helps to strengthen the loyalty towards the Monarchy and towards Emperor Vorbarra.
There are 256 Imperial Cadet Academies across Barrayar, two per District: these are the only educational institutions which are under direct Imperial competence and rule also on Northern Continent, without regard for Counts' suzerainty.
Tertiary education
Barrayar has (in 2998) 19.2 million students enrolled in all forms of university education, including government and military institutions. Of these students, the vast majority is enrolled in 700 public-owned universities. The number of public (Empire or District)-owned institutions is constantly rising: in 2950 there were only 145 public universities. The number of private institutions continues to rise on all three planets.
Historically, under the reign of Yuri and Ezar Vorbarra, civilian tertiary education was divided between a minority of traditional wide curriculum universities and a larger number of narrow specialisation institutes (including art schools). Many of these institute, are concentrated primarily in Vorbarr Sultana or in other northern cities. Public-owned universities and institutes are undergoing a trend for consolidation and mergers, forming all-encompassing Imperial geographical universities, while their departments retain much of previous traditions. However, some institutions are still being founded as separate institutes, and not as new faculties or departments within existing universities. The merger trend is strongly encouraged by the Government of the Empire, which advocates such a measure in order to counter the devaluation of education standard and to allow students' intervention on their studies.
Medical education originally developed within general universities, but was separated from them in late 2890s, and remains taught in the so-called Clinic Institutes, attached to their university general hospital. This separation is, as of 3001, still kept by the Government.
Barrayaran higher education is traditionally undertaken in a single stage, typically five or six years in duration, which results in a specialist degree. A specialist graduate needs no further academic qualification to pursue a real–world career, with the exception of the branches of medical professions that require a post-graduate residency stage. Military college education lasts four years and is ranked as equivalent to specialist degree. The single stage was imposed also on Komarr early in 2907, in order to obstacle the labour emigration. Student mobility among universities has been traditionally encouraged since early 2920s on Barrayar, and it has become a consolidated tradition, and the five-year specialist training in the public universities is kept at low tax levels, at least in public universities.
Private universities are universities not operated by the Government; many receive tax breaks, public student loans, and grants. Private universities are subject to a general government regulation, but they are quite free. The Government regulates their tuition fees, student funding and student loans and commissions. An institution can only use the titles "University" "University College" or "Imperial School" if it has been granted by the Emperor, on proposal of the Prime Minister. Educational centres which do not have a recognized title operate freely in the country as private for-profit businesses. Their academic degrees, which are not recognised, are directly provided to successful students by recognized universities in the Empire, usually through franchise or validation agreements. Legally, private universities may not discriminate among Barrayaran citizens, but generally have a somewhat free hand in setting admissions policies.
District Universities
District Universities are public universities established on Barrayar at the District level. They managed under different rules whether they are established in Northern or in Southern Continent. A District University is a single legal entity and administration, but may consist of several institutions, although institutions belonging to a single District University are most often based in a single city.
In Northern Continent, all Counts are required by the 2986 District Universities and Institutes Act, issued by the Joint Councils, to establish and maintain at least a District University and a District Clinic Institute. These tertiary education institutions are founded and operated by the relevant Districts themselves, and are often established in the District's capital city.
Richer Districts operate networks of tertiary institutions. District Universities get subsidies from their Districts: the effect is to lower tuition costs below that of private universities.
The governance structure of the District Universities is determined by District law, and therefore can vary greatly. Usually, the relevant Count appoints the Chancellor of the University, who is the chief executive officer, and the Presidents, who are the chief executive officers of their respective Institutes or Departments and report directly to the Chancellor. The position of the Chancellor is declared by statutes. The delegation of authority from the Count (or the relevant government department) to the Chancellor has historically been controlled by a formal Count's edict or decree titled "Statement of General Principles" often issued on the occasion of the accession of the new Count. The Academic Senate, made up of elected representatives of the faculty from each Institute, recommends academic policy to the Chancellor.
In Southern Districts, District Universities are public universities operated directly by the Government of the Empire, through the District government authorities. Like the usual Northern organizational pattern, the southern universities are governed by a Chancellor and a Senate. If there are not particular traditions of autonomy (such as the Keroslav District University, established under Yuri Vorbarra), the Chancellor is appointed by the central Government within a rose approved by the Academic Senate, while Presidents are appointed by the Chancellor, upon consultation with the Minister of Culture.
Imperial Schools
Imperial Schools can be public or private. They operate mainly in engineering studies and business administration. The most prestigious Imperial Schools are public. However, several private Imperial Schools are members of the Imperial Schools Conference. A student may join an Imperial Schools after two additional specific years in high school, following the high school degree. A selective examination after the two additional years is taken to enter one Imperial School.
Academic ranks
Academic ranks are the titles, relative importance and power, of professorships held in academia. For regular faculty (not counting administrative positions such as chairmanships or deanships), the descending hierarchy is:
- Distinguished and Endowed Professor
- Professor
- Research Professor
- Associate Professor
- Assistant Professor
- Lecturer
- Research Associate