Education in Namor
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Education in Namor covers the current education system of Namor. Education is considered a right, and it is compulsory for all Namorese to complete at least their primary and secondary education (tertiary education is encouraged but not required). Latest statistics provided by the Ministry of Education, 144,580,645 students attend public elementary and secondary schools. About 85% of students who graduate secondary school go on to complete four years in universities. Education is regarded as extremely important in Namor, and most citizens believe the government should reserve a fixed amount of money for it. Most people attend public schools, although some attend private schools.
Overview
When the People's Republic was first founded, one of the main goals of the Liberationist Party of Namor was to achieve universal primary education for all Namorese children, so to erode the practice of sending children back home after completing a few years of schooling to the point that children are literate, and making them do farm-work - a popular practice in the rural areas. Most leaders agreed at the time that liberal education must be implemented to "prepare the youth for revolutionary cultivation," in the words of Yunglang Antelope. Public schools were built throughout the country; because there was a lack of educators, the government gave incentives for ordinary, literate people to volunteer and become teachers in public schools. Intellectuals were also encouraged to get themselves involved in educating the population. By NMR 2300 the literacy rate skyrocketed. The education system fell into disorder in the Green Fever when many schools were shut down because they were seen as harboring reactionary thought, but as the movement grew less radical some reopened. The education system recovered from the negative impact from the Fever in the NMR 2320s, and by the NMR 2330s it was in good shape.
The Namorese system of public education is uniform nationwide - an "adequate education" lasts for 13 years while a "full education" is considered 17 years long (added with the four years from college). At around age three, children enter preschool. 60% of children enter preschool (Ерян) although it is not considered part of either adequate or full education. At age five, children complete preschool and enter kindergarten (Суйеченбан), beginning the first year of required education. Kindergarten is followed by five years of primary school (Униден Hодонг), three years of intermediate school or "middle school (Джунгден Hодонг)," and four years of the final stage, secondary school (Демиден Hодонг) or "high school (Годен Hодонг)."
In primary and intermediate school, there is standardized testing but they are not the same throughout the country; rather, they are regulated by the individual districts or autonomous republics. Then in secondary school, students begin taking the "High Test (HIT)," which is standard nationwide. A "passing grade" in the HIT is considered 70% or over - a student who gets a grade above 70 percent are considered qualified to graduate. The unofficial "excellence grade" is 85% or over. A student who gets over an 85 percent in the HIT has a chance of entering a top Namorese university. Scholarships are granted to the top 1-3% scorers in the HIT. Because the HIT is regulated by the government, students take it free of charge.
After graduating secondary school, a student has legally completed the required 13 years of "full education," and is technically allowed to stop there; however, most go on to tertiary schools (Санден Hотонг) - which consist of universities. All universities are private and are optional. The district government subsidizes two year-public institutions known as "community colleges." Students can go to community college at extremely low costs, sometimes almost for free, but they are of lower quality than other tertiary schools and thus highly shunned by families.
Grading
The grading system in Namor ranges from the highest grade (A+) to the lowest grade, F. Technically, a grade that is below 60% is considered a failure, but most students see anything under a B- (<80%) as an unsatisfactory grade.
| Grade | Average marks |
|---|---|
| A (Excellent) | 90%-100% (97% or higher for A+, 93% and lower for A-) |
| B (Good) | 80%-89% (87% and higher for B+, 83% and lower for B-) |
| C (Satisfactory) | 70%-79% (77% and higher for C+, 73% and lower for C-) |
| D (Pass) | 60%-69% (67% and higher for D+, 63% and lower for D-) |
| F (Failure) | 0-59% |
| T | Special circumstance (modification or long absence) |
Academic Year
The academic year nationwide starts at the first Monday of September and ends in the third Friday of June. There are a number of breaks, mainly winter break (Hанджа) that lasts from the fourth Monday of December to after New Years' Day, Festival Break (Джеджа) that lasts during the week of the Namorese New Year, and a spring break that lasts during mid-April. In some cases, when the Festival Break is no more than one month after the last week of December when winter break is supposed to occur (e.g. mid or late January), Festival Break prevails, meaning that there will not be a winter break because the two breaks will have technically merged into one.
Besides these long breaks, schools close on public holidays like Liberation Day (March 28), the national holiday.
The duration of a school day depends on the type of school it is. Primary and intermediate schools begin at 8:30 am and end at 3:00 pm, while secondary schools start at 7:30 am and end at 2:30 pm.
The school year for secondary schools and universities is divided into two semesters, with each semester consisting of two marking periods (MPs), meaning that there is a total of 4 marking periods per school year. Midterms are taken towards the end of the second semester, and finals are taken during the end of the second semester. In some secondary schools, students are allowed to leave school for the remainder of the academic year if they finished their finals.
Schools
Preschool
Preschool (Ерян or Eryan) is the school that children go to before they go on to primary school. Children go to preschool starting age three. Preschools are public and are subsidized by the local government. Preschool isn't part of the 13 years of "adequate education" and is technically not required, but most children are still enrolled in it.
In preschool, basic academic skills are taught, including letters in the Namorese alphabet, basic vocabulary and basic mathematics. Social norms are also taught.
Primary School
After being in preschool for two years, children move on to Primary School, sometimes known as elementary school (Униден Hодонг or Uniden Hodong, literally "first-level school"), beginning the first few years of compulsory adequate education. Between preschool and primary school there is kindergarten, although that is mostly included within primary school.
In primary school, students are taught about Namorese (known as Language Arts at this point), Mathematics and Basic Science. For all three subjects there is one teacher who the students are stuck with for most, if not the entire, school day. At noon, there is a lunch break as well as recess. Report cards are distributed, with students being graded on their participation, academic progress as well as behavior.
Excluding kindergarten, Primary School consists of Grades 1 to 5. In each and every academic year, there is a period when students must take an annual district/autonomous republic-sponsored standardized test. The test does not count towards their grade, but meant to tract a student's overall progress.
A day in Primary School starts at 8:30 am and ends at 3:00 pm.
Intermediate School
Intermediate school (Джунгден Hодонг or Jungjen Hodong) is considered to be the transitional period from primary school to secondary school. This is part of the secondary school in some places, but in others it is independent from secondary schools because of the belief that it is necessary to provide a smooth transition from life in primary school to life in secondary school, hence the alternate name "middle school." Intermediate school consists of three years (Grades 6, 7 and 8).
The school day begins at 8:30 am and ends at 3:00 pm. Recess is no longer existent in Intermediate School; instead, there is a lunch break. There are extracurricular activities, including sports teams. In some intermediate schools there is a student government (whose purpose is to engage students in learning about democracy and leadership), but in some schools they do not exist because of fears that they will cause divisions in the student population and become merely a platform for popularity contests.
Students continue to take the annual district/autonomous republic standardized tests up until Grade 8, the last year these tests are taken.
Secondary School
Secondary school (Годен Hодонг or Goden Hodong) lasts through Grades 9, 10, 11 and 12. Grade 9 is known as "freshman year," Grade 10 as "sophomore year," Grade 11 as "junior year" and Grade 12 as "senior year" or "graduate year." The four years of secondary school are considered the last four years of compulsory adequate education before students can choose to seek employment or move on to tertiary schools. Because universities look at students' grades from secondary school, it is considered the most rigorous and determinative part of a student's academic performance in his/her 13 years of compulsory education.
A school day in secondary schools begins at 7:30 am and ends at 2:30 pm, totaling seven hours. A student takes classes at different periods in the day, the order of these periods usually altering day after day. Besides taking required "core subject classes" such as Namorese, Maths (Geometry, Algebra, Functions, Pre-Calculus or Calculus depending on student's abilities), Science (Chemistry, Biology or Physics depending on student's abilities/choice), History (Namorese History and World History) and Foreign Languages (English, French or Chorean depending on student's choice), students also take "elective courses" such as journalism, art (2D or 3D), political studies, music and others. In most secondary schools, physical education is a required course for graduation but isn't significant so that it is considered a "core subject class;" the same goes for financial literacy, which in some secondary schools students must take for at least one semester or one year in order to graduate.
Starting junior year, secondary school students begin considering which university they want to go to, beginning the application process. An integral component of this process is the taking of the HIT (High Test), the national standardized test all secondary school students must take before graduating secondary school. A grade of over 70 percent in the HIT is considered passing, and a student who gets a score above 70 is considered ready to graduate and go to tertiary school. The HIT tests students on Namorese and Math; in addition, students must write an essay about a given topic that makes up 1/5 of the entire HIT grade. Some have proposed that the HIT also test "basic life skills," but so far this has not been implemented yet.
Tertiary Schools
Tertiary education takes place in tertiary-level schools. This lasts at least 2 to 4 years, and is not considered part of the adequate education and is therefore non-compulsory.
Universities
There are around 100 institutions in Namor that are considered universities. Every single city in Namor has an university, although their level of prestige varies. Notable prestigious universities include Namo University and Nozama University, the oldest universities in Namor having been built in the NMR 2240s.
All universities in Namor are privately-owned, and it costs people money to enter. Scholarships (which can be obtained through excellence in extracurricular activities or high excellence in the HIT) may make tuition fees more affordable; in addition, ethnic minorities are entitled to getting the government to cover tuition costs if they enroll in an university.
A bachelor's degree takes four years to acquire, while a master's degree takes six years to acquire. A Doctorate is attainable after studying for four more years.