Education in Zacapican
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| Secretariat of Education | |
|---|---|
| Secretary | Moctezuma Cosijoeza |
| National education budget (2023) | |
| Budget | 267 billion Amatl ($200 billion solidus) |
| General details | |
| Primary languages | Nahuatl |
| System type | National |
| Literacy (2022) | |
| Total | 99.8 % |
| Male | 99.7 % |
| Female | 99.9 % |
| Enrollment | |
| Total | 18.7 million |
| Primary | 8.2 million |
| Secondary | 7.6 million |
| Post secondary | 2.9 million |
Education in Zacapican is a centralized institution governed by the Secretariat of Education with a high degree of system-wide standardization. The three tiered structure of the Zacapine education system is pyramidal in nature, with primary education taking place on a highly local level, many primary schools sending their graduates to a handful of major secondary schools, and a single centralized post-secondary institution in each altepetl across the United Republics. Education is one of the most important institutions of the Zacapine government and has often been a major focus of the state, particularly during the Xolotecate Era and the period of industrialization in the first half of the 20th century. Establishing a standardized system of public education was seen as a vital measure to shore up the social unity of the multi-ethnic, multi-lingual Zacapine population as well as a necessary prerequisite for the development of an advanced economy that would require skilled workers and educated academics in order to function. This attitude towards education as a vital institution of the state has been pervasive thorough modern Zacapine history and remains in place in the modern day.
Nationalized education was a product of the Revolution, resulting in a large system of public education with private education being nearly unheard-of. There is no private education in primary and secondary schooling, where they are banned by law, while some private institutes of higher education offer the only alternative to the public Altepetl University system. Standardization in the public education system is significant, particularly in secondary and post-secondary education. All secondary school students must pass a standard universal baccalaureate exam to receive their certificate of graduation, which is accepted at all post-secondary institutions. In the Altepetl University system, the centralized public post-secondary education system, not only certificates but individual courses are standardized so as to be fully transferrable from institution to instruction and enable a frictionless transference process for students moving from one university to another. Homogeneity in the institutions of public education have also served an important role in smoothing over regional divisions within the country, facilitating the internal movement of people, and solidifying the prevalence of the Nahuatl as the language of science, commerce and public life among the diverse and multi-lingual population.
Zacapine educational institutions are known for their focus on vocational education with curricula being designed primarily to train the next generation of skilled workers needed in the Zacapine industries. Many institutions within the education system, particularly in the post-secondary University system, are specialized to prepare their students to work in the industries of that particular region by offering a vocational curriculum linked to those local industries. Vocational specialization to suit the needs of local industry is the main source of deviation from standard curricula, in the form of tailored courses and certifications offered only in certain schools. Two year vocational certificates, five year undergraduate certificates and a variety of graduate programs are all offered within the Altepetl University system, which is centralized at the altepetl level, administered by the national Secretariat of Education and funded at the Republic level with federal financial support in some cases.
Structure
Nemachtilcalli
The calpolli schoolhouses, known as Nemachtilcalli, are the main institution of public primary education in Zacapican. They are organized at the calpolli level, with roughly one Nemachtilcalli corresponding to roughly 2,000 - 6,000 citizens and are therefore designed to handle a typical student population between 100 and 600. The student body of the Nemachtilcalli are divided according to their graduation year, with six year divisions within a school at any one time. Because of the relatively small student body, the teaching faculty of the Nemachtilcalli is used in a more flexible system than that of other schools, as certain classes can be over or underpopulated purely off the basis of a statistical variation in the ages of local children, requiring the faculty to be assigned more flexibly. Uniform policy is not universally enforced, but the vast majority of Nemachtilcalli schools mandate the use of a distinctive white school uniform which is today a widely recognized attire of primary and secondary school students and a symbol of education in Zacapican.
Nemachtiloyan
The Nemachtiloyan system for public secondary schooling is significantly more centralized, with students from several Nemachtilcalli schools in a region all entering in one Nemachtiloyan. Nemachtiloyan uniform policies tend to be less stringent than those of the Nemachtilcalli schools, with most schools exhibiting a more permissive policy on attire and a greater proportion of schools eschewing the uniform policy altogether. It is notable that, as in the Nemachtilcalli, the uniform mainly consists of a distinctive white coat similar to a lab coat which is the same across all schools and is unisex, being issued to both genders in Nemachtiloyan with a uniform policy. Nemachtiloyan classes and curricula are subject to a greater degree of standardization, which the classes and content of those classes being subject to guidelines set by school administrators at higher levels. These guidelines are not uniform across the nation, but are typically standardized at the level of the Republic.
Caltlamachtihquetl
The Altepetlcaltlamachtihquetl, or Altepetl University system, is the public post-secondary education system of Zacapican. Under this system, each altepetl across the country maintains a single centralized state university for that jurisdiction, which serves the needs for vocational and academic education for its population. Altepetl may play host to hundreds of thousands or even millions of people, and the altepetl universities are open to all adult citizens with a universal baccalaureate certificate or comparable secondary schooling graduation document, creating a huge pool of potential students for these institutions. Standardization is most prevalent at this level of education, penetrating to the level of individual courses to ensure that all public universities across the entire country are meeting the same standards of content taught in these courses such that any given course offered at any public university should be compatible with the same course taught at any other public university. This greatly facilitates the movement of students between institutions, ensuring that transferring students are neither underprepared for later courses nor have to retake the same material again at a different institution.