Quote:
Originally Posted by nekokami
There is probably no place in the world that offers a perfect solution, but I'd like to hear from some of our non-US members about how public education is handled, and whether you feel that helps or hinders your own people.
|
Well, Germany is surely not the perfect example..
Every child has to go to school until (s)he is 18 - it is compulsory (and actually enforced by law and police, e.g. it is not allowed to tutor your kids at home and it is not possible to disallow them from going to school).
Nearly all schools are governmental, though there are some private schools (they have to adhere to governmental standards and exams). Governmental schools are paid by the federal state (in fact the state is giving money to the city which pays the school, but it results in the same).
Governmental schools are not allowed to charge fees, only some private schools do. (This is true for all kinds of schools).
Until quite recently universities were not allowed to charge fees, nowadays some federal states charge fees (roughly 500€ per semester), others dont.
As federal states pay the educational system (with help from the federal republic), there is not much difference on the "money per children" between different areas - but of course there are many other differences like e.g. social differences.
School itself is splitted into elementary school (4 years), an extending school (Hauptschule, Realschule, Gymnasium, depending on examination results) follows. As the Hauptschule (Realschule) only spans 9(10) years, a "Berufsschule" is visited afterwards parallel to the apprenticeship. (Other possibilities include switching to a Gymnasium (multiple kinds exist), etc). Normally you can only study at a university if you made your completion at a Gymnasium (12/13 years in total). Yes, this means that if you spoiled elementary school and missed the Gymnasium, chances are, that you never will be able to study (there are some excemptions. It is possible to get the "Abitur" (completion of the Gymnasium) in evening school, it is possible to study certain topics after you finished an apprenticeship, etc)