Me and my friends were watching the show Skins from the UK, and we were getting confused about whether the kids were in high school or college. I also keep seeing in animes about how there are school entrance exams to seemingly get into high school.So, I wonder how school systems are set up around the world.

I can imagine how you might be confused.

in the uk, we have a thing called college. it is not the same as the thing you call college. the thing you call college, we call university.

The thing we call college, you call high school.

that is generally speaking, but also, my art school was called a college, yet it was a university.

anyhow, a college in the uk is generally a place where people do 'further education'.  people can also do further education in a 6th form after completing their normal studies. this takes place in the same school they went to for their compulsory education. if you have seen the uk show 'the inbetweeners' this is the situation they are in.

There was no 6th form in my school, I took my further education studies in Yale college (incidentally the man named yale who started yale college in america, is buried in wrexham and one of teh towers in yale college in the usa, is modelled after st giles parish church in wrexham. )

 

higher education is studied in university. while my art school was called a college, it was part of the university.

 

compulsory education is a bit different. there are 3 stages. maybe 4. nursery... not really school. infants until age 6, juniors until age 10, high school until age 16.  this might be changing now though... I have heard about reforms.

 

in south Korea the schools use terms that sound unfamiliar to me, more like the terms used in the USA I think. they have kindergarten, elementary, middle school. I've not heard of high school. it's possible they have high school but no english classes. oh yes, they take their english studies in private institutes called 'hakwon's.

Ok, that clears it for me on the UK side of things for me. Side note: So far I find 'The Inbetweeners' to be a better show.

 

Anyway, in the States, we have Preschool which is before Kindergarten. I think that's usually privately paid but I went to a preschool that was in a Elementary School which usually contains Grades K(indergarten) through 5th. Next is Middle School which is 6th through 8th, and High School which is 9th through 12th. For us, College or University is an interchangeable term and is not compulsory. Grades K through 12 is. 

high school is compulsory? I didn't realise. 

so in a sense, your middle and high school is like the same as our high school and college. except yours is all compulsory.

Day care is baby sitting for parents who work.

At age 5, you have Kindergarden, which basically makes sure you know your colors and can play with the other kids.  That's maybe half a day, and gets you used to the schedule system.

Grades 1-6 are basic education, literacy, math, and general world knowledge.  This is Elementary school

Grades 7-9 Are Junior High School/Secendary school.  An inbetween.  Prepubecence.

Grades 10-12 are High School.  It teaches you what you need to know to enter the work force as a common drone, and prepare you for further education

 

College is practical higher education.  It focuses on experience education.  It's great for nurses and engineers, city workers, draftsmen.  Anything that requires actual job training.  Even buisiness managment.

 

University is paperwork higher education.  It focuses on philosophy and book reading, and adding alphabet soups to your name.

Hmm... for us we are currently in a transition period where we will be implementing the K+12 program.  In the old system, there was Pre-school which is nursery, kinder and prep.  Next is elementary, which is from grade 1 to 6, and high school which is from 1st year to 4th year.  After that is college in which years depends on the course you take.  Average college years is around 4 years.

 

Now, with the implementation of the K+12 program, we will be adding a 7th grade in elementary and a 5th year in high school.

 

Also, a lot of people here does not have the luxury to attend basic education.  An average family send their kids to a private school.  Public schools are just scary, where they cram around a hundred kids in one classroom.  Teachers are underpaid, and the majority of children ever finishing high school is very low.  I guess majority of the reason is poverty, not that the family can't afford to pay for the school, but that the children has to work in order for the family to eat.

 

It pains me to read that there are those people overseas who doesn't want to go to school because of a whim, while countless numbers of children over here would give up everything just to attend school.  They would even walk miles just to go to class everyday.

give a man a fish, you can feed him for a day, but try and force it down his throat and he will probably try to knock you out.

 

on a more serious note though, many of the kids who don't want to go usually has a deeper reason. the teacher doesn't recognise their difficulty and puts them under extreme pressure for example.

 

sorry to be off topic. maybe we can talk about it in a new topic if people are interested?

Can I use your version of that fish quote?  I really like it

certainly

I'm glad you enjoyed it!