Sober Thought education

Education is a priority for the people and governments of Sober Thought, and it is a jurisdiction shared by the federal and provincial governments. An educated and interested citizenry makes the continued existence of a democratic, communitarian society like Sober Thought possible.

However, there are no gradiose claims that education should be free, since an economist will tell you even a free lunch is not free because you could be doing something else with your time instead of scarfing stale sandwiches and cold coffee. "Free" in the context of this article means at no direct cost to the student or guardian. And because societies and governments don't get free lunches either, payment for public education comes through taxation or other government revenues. Good citizens cost a lot, but not nearly as much as bad ones.

The federal government has a Vice Ministry of Education within the Ministry of Community Wellbeing. It is charged with setting national standards for educational institutions and compelling attendance at primary and intermediate school (roughly between the ages of 6 and 15). Furthermore, because education is a shared jurisdiction, the federal government also has a Chief Directorate of Educational Cooperation within the Ministry of Community Connections which acts like an intranational embassy of sorts.

The pseudo-diplomatic missions of the Chief Directorate are focused on the provincial counterparts of the Vice Ministry. Provincial education departments, bearing various names in each of the ten provinces, are responsible for actually providing at least the primary and intermediary education. Some have their own requirements for secondary or tertiary education which are more stringent than that of the federal government.

To add yet more confusion to an already complex situation, the field of education itself is most sensibly broken down into categories of primary, intermediate, secondary and tertiary education. This, in fact, is how the two federal agencies responsible for this portfolio are internally organised. Because the focus of this article is on the subject rather than the level of government, this is how it will be organised as well.

Primary Education

Education is compulsory from age 6, but at the request of guardians and with the permission of school authorities, it may begin earlier. Primary education consists of six levels (grades) and is normally completed by age 12. The Vice Ministry of Education, through the Primary Education Directorate of the Compulsory Education Chief Directorate, sets the standards for primary schools and their pupils.

The overt goals of primary education are basic literacy and numeracy. Children shoud be able to communcate orally and textually with their peers and with adults, perform simple mathematics (four basic operations, fractions, percentages), understand the underpinnings of observational science, and appreciate some of the things which make humans and their societies distinct.

Its subtexual goal is to socialise children, so homeschooling and attendance only at private schools are rarely permitted. Full-time attendence at uregulated private schools is banned entirely. Parents and some provinces chafe at restrictions, but the federal government stands firm. It believes that exposing children to one another is the best way to ensure that these future adults learn for themselves about the panoply of life and the infinite variety of humanity.

While familiarity may breed contempt, lack of familiarity is likely to breed unrealistic attitudes (and probably more contempt). It is very difficult to maintain unreasonable and prejudicial beliefs about different races, cultures, religions, socio-economic backgrounds, traditions, intellectual abilities and physical abilities if one has had first-hand experience with a sufficiently large number from each group.

However, in keeping with the extreme moderation guiding Sober Thought, parents are free and, to a certain extent and in certain circumstances, encouraged to sent their children to afterschool or weekend educational activities. Educationalists here believe that a unified approach to informal home and formal school education is the best way to ensure academic success and social integration.

Full-time private schools are a tricky matter, and some provinces have allowed alternative attendance at private schools under stringent conditions. For instance, private schools must the meet the educational requirements of the federal government, maintain a strictly secular outlook and provide free education like any other school. In practice, only schools with very large endowments from humanitarian philanthropists, corporations or large and well-funded voluntary associations can afford to meet such goals, so total enrollment is very low.

Part-time private schools are consistent with the national social and educational goals, so children often attend an afternoon class sponsored by a religious, cultural, ethnic or linguistic group. Academically and athletically specialised afterschool schools are also common. Educationalists feel that exposing children to a wider world and a narrower one will allow them to make informed choices as adults on issues where a private school and a public school might disagree.

Intermediate education

Education remains compulsory until the normal end of intermediate education, the three levels (grades) normally started at age 12. The Vice Ministry still sets the goals, whether "soft" -- to imbue civic and social rights and responsibilities -- or "hard" -- build on literacy and numeracy achieved in primary education and prepare for secondary education. The Vice Ministry's directorate issues guidelines that provinces must follow when they establish or regulate schools. National inspectors ensure that these guidelines are respected.

Although lasting only three years, this branch of education is often disproportionately important because boys and girls are in some of their most awkward physical and social stages. By combining the three most likely years of onset of puberty into one group of grades, the social impact on late and early bloomers is lessened. And by postponing channelled or streamed education until secondary school, pupils are free to spend more time with their less tangible but often more real social challenges than their more tangible but often less important academic ones.

Compulsory education ends with intermediate education, but it is a rare pupil indeed who does not go onto some sort of further education, be it secondary school or an apprenticeship. In fact, even hardcore school-leavers often return within a year or several years to resume their education, sometimes as part of the adult basic education programmes sponsored by many provincial education departments.

Secondary education

Voluntary education begins at age 15, approximately in grade 10, when students normally chafe at the schooling routine and yearn for something else and their own independence. But again true to form, first-time secondary students' education is free, or rather paid by the provinces in which they reside.

Rather than try to enforce school attendence, Sober Thought educationalists perfer to let students leave and discover for themselves either a route that does not require secondary education (such as apprenticeships, which require only successful completion of a junior GED-type test, or entrepreneurialism) or the value of further education. So while many students finish grade 12 and hence their secondary education at 18, a significant minority do so at 19, 20 or even 21. Recognising and accounting for differences goes a long way toward reducing frustration on the part of students, teachers and guardians alike.

The overt goal of secondary school is to prepare students for employment or various forms of tertiary education. Because of the diverse goals, greater age and greater evincement of intellectual abilities, secondary education is streamed or channelled. This means, for instance, that youth whose objective is to enter an apprenticeship or attend trade school with still take English (or French in Hochelaga and parts of Braunekuste) like their university-bound counterparts, but that applied students will be exposed primarily to the mechanics of writing rather than literature appreciation. Movement between streams is permitted where academic performance meets entry requirements. The four streams, each with their own regulatory directorates at the vice ministry are: academic, commercial, applied and adult secondary education.

Academic students prepare for university by studying languages, history, humanities and social sciences. While inherently interesting in their own right, many of these avenues of study provide little practical value in the marketplace but do demonstrate a general level of intelligence and ability to think clearly which some employers find useful. Although considered in the same stream, the theoretical sciences and advanced mathematics tend to graduate people who go to somewhat different tertiary institutions.

The commercial stream has courses in economics, business, typing, computers, accounting and similar disciplines which are valued in the business world. Some commercial students will enter the workforce directly after graduation and find satisfactory employment, for instance as secretaries, business assistants, clerical workers, accounting clerks and the like. However, most comm grads will wind up at a professional school or college of some kind.

The applied stream has courses in English and mathematics too, but these are much more practical and limited in scope. They are also combined with courses in subjects like technology, automechanics, hairdressing, woodworking and cooking. Graduation from the applied stream, by defintion, is much more likely to result in immediate employment in a desireable (to both former student and future employer) career. Nonetheless, some will go on to complete apprenticeships or other tertiary programs as well.

Finally, adult education is not so much a stream but a recognition of the added difficulties of high school students in their 20s. These mature students may be parents, full-time employees or otherwise torn by competing priorities. Night classes, weekend classes, short courses, prior learning credits and similar devices are used to cater to the specific social and educational needs of these students. General interest courses may also be offered to the community at large, but on a cost recovery if not profit-making basis.

Tertiary education

The federal Chief Directorate of Tertiary Education is responsible for educational programmes aimed at educated adults. It has separate directorates for trade apprentice ship, college, university and professional education. The vice ministry collaborates closely with the Chief Directorate of Education Coooperation in the Ministry of Community Connections, which has a similar organisational structure on a reduced scale.

The federal government pays the full education cost of the top one percent of applicants for secular tertiary education, half the cost of the next five percent and one quarter the cost of the next ten percent. Recipients of these scholarships may choose to begin a trades apprenticeship, attend a commercial college, attend an academic university or begin a professional programme.

Federal loans are available to students on bases similar to low-interest mortgages. Provincial governments may offer similar incentives but they may also attach such conditions as they see fit, e.g., residency in a province after graduation, attendance at a provincial-owned institution, entry into a specific program, etc.

University education

The federal government establishes the minimum program standards for granting degrees but otherwise is uninvolved in their governance unless it chooses to establish its own universities where it may compel its scholarship winners to attend as a condition of the scholarship. Provincial governments may establish their own universities on a similar basis and in which they may discriminate against out-of-province students.

University provides no explicit occupational training and is purely an intellectually exploratory exercise. University is funded in whole by the students themselves on the basis of the actual costs of learning. Federal loans are available to students on bases similar to low-interest mortgages, and of course the usual tertiary education scholarship programme.

Trades education

Apprenticeship programs for construction, mechanical, and other physical trades are an integral part of tertiary education. Entry requirements are normally completion of secondary school, but completion of intermediate school and a successful entry test are acceptable. Apprenticeship is geared towards immediate employment in a trade and it is funded in equal portions by the trades themselves (by the difference between an apprentice's fractional earnings and the earnings of a qualified tradesperson), the provincial government and the student.

College education

College is similar to apprenticeship but for trades that do not include a large physical component and involve mainly providing services to other people. It is funded in equal measures by the industry and trade associations which have a say in the curriculum of colleges and by the students themselves on the same basis as university students below.

Professional education

Professional education is provided for such fields as law, medicine and accounting which would allow graduates a reasonable prospect to become self-employed. Each professional institution must meet federal government standards but may collect its fees in any way it desires.

Religious education

As one might expect in a secular state, no compulsory education is religious in nature. But as some belivers might fear, nor is mention of religion banned in public schools. Extensive units or courses on comparative religion, the sociology of religion or religion as an aspect of history are incorporated at all levels, streams and tiers. To deny religion a role in government life is definitely not to disparage, igore or distort it.

Those guardians, such as Christian Unity Party members, who wish to enroll their students full-time in religious-based schools will be disappointed. Nevertheless, enrollment in part-time religious-based schools is moderately high for a country with such a large portion of atheists, unbelievers and agnostics, something around 15 per cent. Many of the classes are in fact conducted in the buildings used during the day by secular schools, rented on a cost-recovery or narrow profit-margin basis. Such arrangements must meet with the prior approval of educational officials, so in some provinces, municipalities and districts faith-based schooling is conducted elsewhere.

Religions are naturally free to support such things as Sunday schools, meditation training, Hebrew classes and catechism coaching in their own buildings. The government undertakes no supervison, statistical analysis or registration over these things because they are private matters between congregants and their religious hierarchy.