Education in Castadilla
| Ministry of National Education | |
|---|---|
| Minister | Kabris Autelau |
| General details | |
| Primary languages | Cartadanian Insuo Loa Pelaxian Reform Tainean |
| System type | Central |
| Literacy (2008) | |
| Total | 99 |
| Male | 99 |
| Female | 99 |
| Enrollment | |
| Total | 21.0 million |
| Primary | 9.8 million |
| Secondary | 8.4 million |
| Post secondary | 2.8 million |
| Attainment | |
| Secondary diploma | 86.9% |
| Post-secondary diploma | 36% |
Education in Castadilla is organised in a highly centralised manner, with many subdivisions. It is the three stages of primary education (primaria educatione; educación primaria; edoukasiau primari), secondary education (secundaria educatione; educación secundaria; edoukasiau segaundari), and higher education (superius educatio; educación más alta; ensenhamens soupiriau). The main age that a child starts school in Castadilla is age two, which as of 2004 is also when education is obligatory. Two-year-olds do not start directly in primary school, but rather they start at nursery school. It is when the child is six years old that they may start primary school and soon, assuming acceptable academic performance, moves onto higher and higher grade levels until they graduate.
In Castadillaan higher education, the following degrees are internationally recognised and accredited: General Competency and Professional General Competency (equivalent to bachelor's degrees), and the Greater Competency and Highest Competency degrees, which are equivalent to master's and doctoral degrees.
History
The modern Castadillaan educational systems has their roots in the 18th Century when, following the widespread reforms of 1732, the university and secondary educational systems were established, with the elementary system being established in 1750. Intense battles took place over whether the Catholic Church should play a dominant role. The modern era of Castadillaan education begins after the end of the Viceroyalty of Los Rumas in 1852. During the chaotic and short-lived existence of the Delepasian Kingdom, Julio Marin, a Minister of Public Instruction, is widely credited for creating the modern school (escuela delepasiana) by requiring all children between the ages of 6 and 12, both boys and girls, to attend. He also made public instruction mandatory, free of charge, and secular. After the collapse of the Delepasian Kingdom three months later, the Delepasian polities began to make use of Marin's new education system, albeit giving an important role to the clergy by passing the Anti-disestablishment Laws. These laws would not be repealed until after the Velvet Revolution of 1994 which put an end to the Catholic Church as the state religion.
The new Delepasian curriculum predominantly emphasised the works of ethnic Delepasian writers. Marin and others considered literature an important pillar of Delepasian identity. The ethnic and cultural demographics of the student body did not factor in to the quest to transmit a "common culture" to the students.
Like literature, history education is seen as critical to shaping the identity of young people and the integration of white immigrants into the Delepasian identity. Marin's views continue to exert influence today. Ministry reports have confirmed that the rule of schools in promoting "common culture" is only made more critical by the rising levels of student diversity. According to the ministry, history education in Delepasia and its preceding polities has, over the course of one century made possible "the integration of children of Cartadanians, Latins, Taineans and the remaining indigenous Vallosi".
Governance
All educational programmes in Castadilla are regulated by the Ministry of National Education (officially called Ministerio Nationalis Educationis). The head of the ministry is the Minister of National Education.
All teachers in public primary and secondary schools are state civil servants, making the ministerio the largest employer in the country. Professors and researchers in Castadilla's universities are also employed by the state. At the primary and secondary levels, the curriculum is the same for all Castadillaan students in any given grade, which includes public, semi-public and subsidised institutions. However, there exist specialised sections and a variety of options that students can choose. The reference for all Castadillaan educators is the "Official Bulletin of National Education, Higher Education and Research", which lists all current programmes and teaching directives. It is amended many times every year.
Schooling in Castadilla is not mandatory (although instruction is). Since Castadillaan law mandates only education, and not necessarily attendance at a school, families may provide teaching themselves, provided that they comply with the educational standards laid down in law and monitored by the State.
School year
In Castadilla, the school year runs from early September to early July. The school calendar is standardised throughout the country and is the sole domain of the ministry.
In May, schools need time to organise exams (most notably, for example, the vehani). There exists no regional or local authority that can set a school calendar.
Major holiday breaks are as follows:
- All Saints (Omnorum), two weeks around the end of October and the beginning of November;
- Christmas (Nativitatis), three weeks around Christmas Eve and New Year's Day;
- Summer (Aestas), two weeks starting in mid-February;
- Autumn (Autumna) or Easter (Paschae), two weeks starting in mid-April;
- Winter (Hiems), two months starting in early July (mid-June for high school students).
Prior to 1994, Castadilla was divided into three school zones which determined the timing of school holidays. However, the zones have been abolished and all Castadillaan schools have school holidays at the exact same time no matter where they are in the nation.
Primary school
Most parents start sending their children to nursery school (materna schola) when they turn 2 in the perexiguum sectionem ("PS"). The first two years of nursery school (PS and haedos sectionem "HS") are introductions to community living; children learn how to become students and are introduced to their first notions of arithmetic, begin to recognize letters, develop oral language, etc. The last two years of preschool, media sectio and magnus sectio, are more school-like; pupils are introduced to reading, writing and more mathematics.
A nursery school can be stand-alone (mostly true in towns and cities) or be affiliated to an elementary school (mostly in villages). As in other educational systems, primary school students in Castadilla usually have a single teacher (or two) who teaches the entire curriculum, without specialist teachers.
After nursery school, the young students move on to the primaria schola (primary school; not to be confused with primary education). In the first 3 years of primary school, they learn to write, develop their reading skills and get some basics in subjects such as Pelaxian (can be swapped with Cartadanian, Insuo Loa, or Reform Tainean depending on the state), mathematics, science, and the arts, to name a few. The most common words for a primary school teacher is maestro/maestra, professor/professora, and mestero.
Children stay in primary school for 5 years until they are 10-11 years old. The grades are named: GP (gradus praeparatorius), PGP (primum gradus primarius), SGP (secundus gradus primarius), PGM (primum gradus medii), and SGM (secundus gradus medii).
The average week for a primary school has classes begin at 9:00am. Students have an hour of class before the 10-minute break at 10:00am. After the break, students have two hours of class before dismissing for lunch at noon. Lunch lasts for half-an-hour, and students have two more hours of class before dismissing at 2:30pm. Wednesdays are half-days, and Saturdays and Sundays have no classes.
Secondary school and tertiary school
The compulsory secondary and tertiary school subjects cover Pelaxian (or Cartadanian, Insuo Loa, and Reform Tainean depending on the state) language and literature, history, geography, foreign languages, Latin, arts and crafts, musical education, civics, mathematics, physics, chemistry, natural sciences, technology, and gymnasium. The curriculum is set by the Ministry of National Education and applies to most secundarium schola in Castadilla and also to AEIR-dependent institutions. Academiae and individual schools have little freedom in the State curriculum.
Class sizes may vary from school to school, but the usual range is about 20 to 35 pupils.
After primary school, two educational stages follow:
- secundarium schola (secondary school), for children during their first four years of secondary education from the age of 11 to 14. The grades are as follows: sextum, quintus, quartus, and tertius. In tertius, there is an exit exam known as the nationalibus directorium nito (NDN; National Directorial Test) which determines which vexillum habilitas nito a student is likely to perform well in.
- tertiariis schola (tertiary school), which provides a three-year course of further secondary education for children between the ages of 15 and 18. Pupils are prepared for the vehani (vexillum habilitas nito, or "Standard Aptitude Test"; colloquially known as the vehani) or the PAC (professio aptitudo certificatorium). The vexillum habilitas nito can lead to higher education studies or directly to professional life (there are three main types of the vexillum habilitas nito: the vexillum habilitas nito generali, the technicae artis vexillum habilitas nito, and the vocationum vexillum habilitas nito). The grades are as follows: secundo, primis, and terminatio followed by the vehani
- VDC (vocationale discendi centrum, or vocational learning centre), which provides vocational degrees: the Professio aptitudo certificatorium. The grades are as follows: primum PAC, secundus PAC, and a selection of five terminal years which all ended in the student receiving their PAC once graduating.
The average day in a secondary school starts at 8:30am. Students have two hours of class followed by a 10-minute break. After the first break, students have one-and-a-half hours of class before dismissing for an hour-long lunch at noon. After lunch, students have three hours of class with a half-hour break between the second and third afternoon periods. Classes are dismissed at 3:30pm. Wednesdays are half-days, and Saturdays have one hour of class from 10:00am until 11:00am. Sundays have no classes.
The average day in a tertiary school starts at 8:00am. Students have two hours of class followed by a 10-minute break. After the first break, students have two more hours of classes before being dismissed for lunch at noon for an hour-and-a-half. On Wednesdays, this is when the school day ends, but for the rest of the week, students have two hours of class followed by a 15-minute break. After the second break, the students have two more hours of class until classes are dismissed for the day at 5:30pm. Saturdays have a two-hour day starting from 9:00am before dismissing at 11:15am. Sundays are never designated as a school day.
Private schools
Primary and secondary-level private schools in Castadilla are divided into two categories:
- Private schools which respect the State curriculum (known as "under contract') are private, fee-paying institutions where pupils study the same national curriculum as those in public schools. Teachers in private schools are recruited in the same way and have roughly the same status as their equivalents in public schools. They are also employed directly by the State, but they are not permanently assigned and may not return to a public school position. The great majority of private schools in Castadilla are "under contract".
- Private schools without contract employ their teachers directly and may teach their own curriculum; the State, however, still monitors their educational standards. Most of these schools provide religious instruction in parallel with a broad curriculum.
International education
Castadilla's international school regulator is known as the AEIR (Agencia para la Educación Internacional Rumajoquiana). It is a national public agency under the administration of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Castadilla that assures the quality of schools teaching the Castadillaan national curriculum outside of Castadilla. The AEIR has over 400 schools in its worldwide network, with Pelaxian as the primary language of instruction in most schools.
Higher education
Higher education in Castadilla is organized in three levels, which correspond to those of other countries around the world, facilitating international mobility: the General Competency and Vocational General Competency (equivalent to bachelor's degrees), and the Greater Competency and Highest Competency degrees, which are equivalent to master's and doctoral degrees. The Generals and the Greaters are organised in semesters: 6 for the Generals, and 4 for the Greaters. Those levels of study include various paths based on a set of determined modules, each worth a defined number of credits. A student accumulates those credits, which are generally transferable between paths. A general is awarded once 180 credits have been obtained; a greater is awarded once 120 additional credits have been obtained.
Generals and master's degrees are offered within specific areae and carry a specific mentionem. Propriae, which are either research-oriented or professionally oriented during the second year of the Greater. There are also vocational generals whose objective is immediate job integration. It is possible to return to school later by continuing education or to validate professional experience (through SEA, Sanatio Experientiae Acquisitae).
Higher education in Castadilla is divided into academias coronadas and public universities. The academias coronadas admit the graduates of the level vexillum habilitas nito + 2 years of validated study (or sometimes directly after the vexillum habilitas nito) whereas universities admit all graduates of the vexillum habilitas nito.
Higher education in Castadilla was reshaped by the Velvet Revolution of April 1994. During the 1980s, Delepasian public universities responded to a massive explosion in the number of students by stuffing approximately one-third of their students into hastily developed campus annexes (basically satellite campuses) which lacked decent amenities, resident professors, academic traditions, or the dignity of university status. With so many students ripe for radicalization after being forced to study in such miserable conditions, change was necessary and inevitable. Rather than expand already-overwhelmed parent campuses, it was decided to split off the annexes as new universities.
This is why a striking trait of Castadillaan higher education, compared with other countries, is the small size and multiplicity of establishments, each specialised in a more-or-less broad spectrum of areas. A middle-sized Castadillaan city, such as Las Joquis or Solo Grande, may have 2 or 3 universities (focused on science, sociological studies, engineering, etc.) as well as a number of other establishments specialised in higher education. In Santa Maria and its suburbs, there are currently 13 universities, none of which is specialised in one area or another, plus many smaller institutions that are highly specialised. It is not uncommon for graduate teaching programmes (greater competency degrees, the course part of highest competency programmes, etc.) to be operated in common by several institutions, allowing the institutions to present a larger variety of courses.
In engineering schools and the professional degrees of universities, a large share of the teaching staff is often made up of non-permanent professors; instead, part-time professors are hired to teach one specific subject. Part-time professors are generally hired from neighbouring universities, research institutes or industries.
Another original feature of Castadillaan higher education is that a large share of the scientific research is carried out by research establishments, which are not formally part of the universities. However, in most cases, the research units of those establishments are located inside universities (or other higher education establishments) and jointly operated by the research establishment and the university.
Through higher education, a student may not finally complete their studies until their early 30s in some cases. This situation is generally limited to certain medical students and students who wish to become a civil servant. Both of these kinds of students are a part of a very vigourous process that ensures that the student will not only be among the highest performers in their institutions, but it also serves as a way to weed out the more mediocre students who may not perform as well.
Classes in higher education facilities may start as early as 8:00am, and may end as late as 10:00pm. How long each class lasts depends entirely on the course, but classes last for no less than an hour, and no more than three hours. Saturdays may have classes depending on the course.
Tuition costs
Higher education is mostly funded by the State which leads to very low tuition fees. For citizens of the VEA, Arona, or Pelaxia, the annual fees range from 240 to 450 pesos per year depending on the level. One can therefore get a greater competency degree (in 5 years) for about ₽820-3,570. For other international students, these fees range from 3,000 to 4,000 pesos. Students from low-income families can apply for scholarships, paying nominal sums for tuition or textbooks, and can receive a monthly stipend of up to ₽600 per month.
The tuition in public engineering schools is comparable to universities but a little higher (around ₽800). However, it can reach ₽8,000 a year for private engineering schools. Private business schools typically charge up to ₽13,000 a year for General programmes and up to ₽25,000 for Greater programmes, while some elite institutions may charge ₽50,000 or more.
Health insurance for students is free until the age of 20 and so only the costs of living and books must be added. After the age of 20, health insurance for students costs ₽600 a year and covers most of the medical expenses.
Some public schools have other ways of gaining money. Some do not receive funds for class trips and other extra activities and so those schools may ask for a small entrance fee for new students.
Religion
Religious instruction has not been given by public schools since the disestablishment of the Catholic Church as the nation's state religion after the Velvet Revolution of 1994. Laicity (secularism) is one of the main precepts of Castadilla. Between 1852 and 1994, religious instruction was a major part of the school curriculum, often with schools holding mass.
In a May 2008 ruling, the Castadillaan government banned all "conspicuous religious symbols" from schools and other public institutions with the intent of preventing proselytisation and to foster a sense of tolerance among ethnic groups. Some religious groups howed their opposition, saying the law hindered the freedom of religion as protected by the Castadillaan constitution.
Statistics
Castadilla has 52 million inhabitants, living in the nineteen states. As the population grows (up 1.5% a year), the proportion of young people under 25 is stable. There are now about 21 million young people in Castadilla, or 40% of the total population. Castadilla's population is among the slowest in terms of aging, mostly thanks to a high enough annual number of births.
Nineteen million pupils and students, about 36% of the population, are in the education system, over 3 million of whom are in higher education. In 2002, the Castadillaan Education Minister has reported that only 25 out of 75,000 state schools were "seriously violent", and some 200 were "somewhat violent".