Primary Education

Education is accorded a high degree of importance in the social fabric of Romania. Respect for the educated and the intellectual has been a tradition down the ages. Even the tiniest village in every remote corner of Romania kept important positions like the priest, the teacher and the mayor reserved for the educated. This tradition of holding the educated ones in high esteem continues to the present day as well. And the current education system is quite competitive for students and demanding for teachers.

Nursery school in Romania starts at the age of three. It can continue up to the age of six or seven, depending on the aptitude of the student. School time is usually from 8 a.m. till 12 noon. The children are taught to draw and to colour, are told a lot of stories and the teachers make sure that the little students comprehend what they are being taught.

Apart from all these things, the children are taught how to sing and dance, and how to be useful with their hands. They learn crafts like making paper boats and snowflakes and other things related to their immediate environment. Depending upon the profile of the school, they are also taught a foreign language like English, French or German apart from their mother tongue.

Once the students finish nursery education, they are tested by the primary schools they are going to go to. Primary education begins at the age of six or seven and continues till the students are ten or eleven years old. In primary schools too, school hours range from 8 in the morning till 12 noon. Children are not required to lunch at school, but are allowed to bring some light snacks like a sandwich from home. They are also fed a roll and a small carton of milk at school.

The curriculum in primary school consists of the Romanian language, Mathematics, Biology, History, Geography, Religion, Art and Craft, Physical Education, and a foreign language like English. In all it is a comprehensive curriculum, making the young Romanian aware of a lot of things about the world. Students are evaluated with grades like "not satisfactory", "satisfactory", "good", "very good", etc.

From the primary school, students move on to the lower secondary school. This too continues for four years. New subjects such as Physics, Chemistry and a second foreign language like French, German or Spanish are introduced into the curriculum at this stage. In the 7th grade the students have to take two national level tests in Mathematics and Romanian at the end of each term. Incidentally, the academic year consists of two terms, one on either side of Christmas holidays. There are holidays for Easter and the summer vacation is a longish affair from June 15th till September 15th.

At the end of the 8th grade, the last and the most vital in lower secondary school, the students have to pass a final examination in Romanian, Mathematics and History or Geography. Their results in this test are graded in a scale of 1 to 10. Depending on how they fare in this test, they can go on to high school.

At this stage the students have to fill in a form listing high schools and make a few choices in order of their preference. Whether they can get admitted to the high school of their choice depends, however, on the grades they score in the test.

Students, who have not fared well in the exam, can get admitted to schools offering vocational training, where they are taught different skills. On finishing these schools, such students, who are not academically oriented, can acquire a qualification.

After four years in high school, on the other hand, students have to take the baccalaureate examination and then they are able to enter a university for further studies. School education till the age of 16 is compulsory in Romania.

Education is one of the most valuable gifts that has been given to society. It is more than just a passing on, or teaching, of what we know to others. Education also passes on the culture of a society. Patterns of behavior, ideas, and values that distinguish unique groups from one another are also passed on. Education is designed to make use of the knowledge, ideas, and values that are passed on to make wise decisions through one's life. New thoughts and ideas can then arise by combining the existing information in a new way, continuing the cycle of education.

Education of children is extremely important to the continued health of a society. Knowing this, many governments have set up a schooling system in which a standardized series of instruction can be presented to students. Teaching is the primary form of instructing students, using lectures, work sessions, and reading material. Specific skills and knowledge are passed on to students at certain ages, allowing students to understand and gain deeper meaning from the knowledge they are receiving.

There are multiple levels within the public education system. Primary education deals with fundamental topics, such as reading and writing, with mathematics, science, and history mixed in. Once a solid foundation has been obtained, Secondary education begins and the student learns more specialized skills. The years in between Primary and Secondary education may involve a separate school called a Middle school. This is still considered Primary education, but students are separated more from younger students in order to prepare them for the move to Secondary education. In the United States, Primary and Secondary education are required of all citizens in order to be a functioning member of society.

Rochester, Minnesota is home to a vast number of schools contained in the public education system that are dedicated to providing a solid foundation to students. Primary, Secondary, and Middle schools are spread throughout the city, offering the chance of an education to virtually anyone.

Primary schools make up the majority of the buildings in the school system. These schools include:

- Bamber Valley Elementary (K-5) - One of the larger elementary schools, with a dedicated staff and motivated students. The result is parental and community support that challenges the school to have high expectations and levels of achievement.

- Bishop Elementary (K-5) - Housing 500 students in Early Childhood Special Education from K-5, Bishop is proud of its dedication to students and the resulting standardized test scores.

- Churchill Elementary and Hoover Elementary (K-5) - A paired set of buildings that serves one student population. Education is focused on maximizing academic and social-emotional growth for all students.

- Elton Hills Elementary (K-5) - Focused on educating for tomorrow's challenges, staff emphasize academic excellence in reading, writing, and math skills. Students are grouped in multi-aged classrooms based on their needs.

- Folwell Elementary (K-5) - Gifted and Talented and English for Speakers of Other Languages programs are strong here, strengthening the academic atmosphere. Active and supportive PTSA and an emphasis on Volunteers in Education are also strong points.

- Franklin Elementary/Montessori at Franklin (K-5) - Offers a K-5 Neighborhood program, and a K-5, District-wide, Public Montessori Choice program. The Franklin school offers quality education with a number of specialized academic support groups. The Montessori option includes three multi-age groups/levels of classes to develop students' skills. Inter-relatedness is one of the main focuses of the curriculum.

- Gage/Gage East Elementary (K-5) - Individuality of each child is respected in the diverse population that makes up Gage Elementary. Strong reading, writing, and math programs are emphasized, and input from parents and volunteers is strongly encouraged.

- Jefferson Elementary (K-5) - The staff focuses on instilling the love of learning in students, helping them to become more prepared for the future as lifelong learners. The Read At Home program is offered as a home/school connection that increases student reading.

- Lincoln Choice (K-8) - The only K-8 school in the public school system, Lincoln supports the success of each student by giving and expecting respect for others and responsibility for themselves. Teaching methods focus on individual learning styles, and multi-age classrooms help accomplish this task.

- Longfellow Elementary (K-5) - While keeping the same academic standards, the calendar is made up of 45 days of concentrated instruction and learning, followed by a 15-day break period.

- Pinewood Elementary (K-5) - A traditional approach to curriculum with self-contained classrooms is used here, offering character development, classroom stability, and a positive atmosphere.

- Riverside Central Elementary (K-5) - Riverside's mission is to have staff, students, families, and community word collaboratively to create a community that values education of all children, promoting the attitude of lifelong learning.

- Sunset Terrace Elementary (K-5) - Offers a wide variety of educational and leadership opportunities while still encouraging the growth of the whole child. A number of academic support programs are available to help those in need.

- Washington Elementary (K-5) - A school with a reputation for educational excellence, Washington, offers a challenging, Core Knowledge® curriculum. Fifty percent of the content involves Core Knowledge content, while the other 50 percent is mastery of reading, writing, math, and other skills.

The Middle schools found in Rochester all offer a strong focus on academics while giving students a chance to explore their own individual interests. A safe and welcoming environment is present at all schools, respecting students as individuals and quality and challenging education. The four Middle schools include:

- Friedell Middle School (6-8)
- John Adams Middle School (6-8)
- Kellogg Middle School (6-8)
- Willow Creek Middle School (6-8)

Secondary schools also offer challenging and quality education to the youth of Rochester. There are three public high schools throughout the city:

- Century High School (9-12) - The staff have created a culture that has high expectations, communication, trust, and caring at its core. The school works hard to effectively prepare students for life after graduation.

- John Marshall High School (9-12) - John Marshall values diversity and has been serving the community for more than forty years. Many proud traditions and accomplishments exist, including a curriculum that meets the needs of students looking at post-secondary schools as well as those planning to go straight to the work force.

- Mayo High School (9-12) - Also in existence for over forty years, Mayo is designed to meet the needs and challenges of every student. Advanced Placement courses are offered in math, science, and English, as well as a number of honors courses in most departments.

Education is a tool and gift that every person in society should have access to. The presence of a public education system provides a chance to receive that gift. Those that have received it have an obligation to pass on the gift to others, continuing the growth and health of a community and a culture. Education starts from the moment we are born, and with proper teaching and training, can continue with excitement and wonder until this life is over. Become a lifelong learner, while instilling the drive and motivation into others to do the same. Education is a gift that should not be wasted.

Education in Pakistan

Education in Pakistan is divided into five levels: primary (grades one through five); middle (grades six through eight); high (grades nine and ten, leading to the Secondary School Certificate); intermediate (grades eleven and twelve, leading to a Higher Secondary School Certificate); and university programs leading to graduate (undergraduate) and advanced (post-graduate) degrees.

All academic education institutions are the responsibility of the provincial governments. The federal government mostly assists in curriculum development, accreditation and some financing of research.

Pre-school

A child may begin his/her schooling at a pre-school at the age of 3. Over the last few years, many new kindergarten (sometimes called montessori) schools have sprung up in Pakistan.

Primary Education

Formal education in Pakistan starts from around age 5. The first 5 years of school are referred to as Primary. Thereafter, the next 3 are referred to as Middle and the 2 after as Highschool.

Secondary Education

At the completion of Highschool or 10 years of schooling, students are required to sit for board examinations referred to as Secondary School Certificate examinations or more commonly as 'Matric'. These are administered by area boards. Those that receive passing marks (normally 33%) on this examination are awarded a Secondary School Certificate or SSC. Students may then choose to undergo 2 years of additional schooling (offered both a school and some colleges) after which they sit for the Higher Secondary School Certificate (HSSC), more commonly referred to as 'Intermediate' exams. There is a wide choice of subjects that students can choose from during their 'intermediate' years many of which are technical subjects. Students normally read about 5 subjects in a chosen stream such as pre-medical, science, humanities, pre-engineering etc. and then sit for the Higher Secondary School Certificate exam in those subjects which are also administered by area boards. Those that receive passing marks (normally 33% of all subjects cummulative) are awarded a Higher Secondary School Certificate or HSSC.

Technical Education

Students can enter a plethora of technical institutes for technical certificates and degrees. The entrance requirements for these courses vary greatly with some such as carpentry requiring the applicant to be literate whereas others such as B.Tech in automation require HSSC.

Post-Secondary

Pakistani education system

Students can then precede to a College or University for Bachelor of Arts (BA) or Science (BSc) or Commerce/Business Administration (BCom/BBA) degree courses. There are two types of Bachelor courses in Pakistan namely Pass or Honours. Pass constitutes two years of study and students normally read three optional subjects (such as Chemistry, Mathematics, Economics, Statistics) in addition to almost equal number of compulsory subjects (such as English, Pakistan Studies and Islamic Studies) whereas Honours are three or four years and students normally specialize in a chosen field of study such as Biochemistry (BSc Hons. Biochemistry). It is important to note that Pass Bachelors is now slowly being phased out for Honours throughout the country. Students may also after earning their HSSC may study for professional Bachelor degree courses such as engineering (B Engg), medicine (MBBS), vetrinary medicine(DVM) law (LLB), agriculture (B Agri), architecture (B Arch), nursing (B Nurs) etc. which are of four or five years duration depending on the degree

Some Masters Degrees also consist of 1.5 years. Then there are PHD Education as well in selected areas. One has to choose specific field and the suitable university doing research work in that field. PhD in Pakistan consists of minimum 3-5 years.

Pakistani universities churn out almost 1.2 million skilled graduates annually. The government has announced a $1 billion spending plan over the next decade to build 6 state-of-the-art science and engineering universities. The scheme would be overseen by the Higher Education Commission.

Owing to the failure of public schools to provide quality education to the children of Pakistan, many parents have enrolled their children in private schools. Although traditionally, private schools have been a luxury only the rich can afford, this is not necessarily the case in the current reemergence of the private sector in Pakistan's education system.

Nationally, overall private school primary enrolment (as a percentage of total primary enrolment) is 13 percent in Pakistan.

A recent survey in urban Pakistan found that 59 percent of households earning less than Rs 3,500 had children who were enrolled in private schools in the city of Lahore. Similarly, in the low-income and economically-deprived Orangi district of Karachi, a surprising 60 percent of all enrolled children went to private primary schools.

The findings of this study are given added support by a 1996 study conducted in the urban areas of five districts in the province of Punjab. This study found that even among low-income households, there was a private school enrolment rate of 50 percent.

More than 36,000 private institutions attend to the educational needs of 6.3 million children.

There is a parallel education system in place in some private schools, i.e. the 'O' level and 'A' level system. These curriculums are set by the University of Cambridge of the UK. Students studying in this system do not follow the syllabi set by the Pakistan government, but subjects such as Islamiyat and Pakistan studies are still compulsory for most high school students. The ministry of education also keeps an eye on what is being taught in these private schools. Generally, these schools are accessible to the elite few due to the high fees charged by O/A levels schools. However, during recent years, the phenomenon of appearing for the Cambridge exams "privately" has been rising. Students attend private tutoring sessions, register for the British exams via the British Council, and do no attend any school to prepare for their exams.

Criticism

An issue of National Geographic conveys the adversity poor families must face. Some schools are run so badly that few kids attend.

It's not unusual in Pakistan to hear of public schools that receive no books, no supplies, and no subsidies from the government. Thousands more are 'ghost schools' that exist only on paper, to line the pockets of phantom teachers and administrators.Ever since the start of the War on Terror, the attention of the world's media has been focused on the madrassa's operating in Pakistan which are mainly attended by children living in rural areas. Popular worldwide beliefs are that a significant number of students in Pakistan are a part of these religious schools. This myth was debunked by professor Khwaja of Massachusetts Institute of Technology whose research examined statistical data to determine more precisely the enrollment in madrassas in Pakistan. The findings were that enrollment in Pakistani madrassas is relatively low, with less than 1 percent of all students enrolled in a school attending madrassas. There are as much as 100 times as many children in public schools as there are in madrassas and almost 40 times as many children in private schools as there are in madrassas. For the average Pakistani household, the choice of going to a madrassa is simply not a statistically significant option. Even in areas which surround Afghanistan, which are considered to be hotbeds of madrassa activity, madrassa enrollment is actually less than 7.5 percent.

Outside this region madrassa enrollment is thinly, but evenly, spread across the rest of the country. There was no evidence of a dramatic increase in madrassa enrollment in recent years. Examining time trends it was found that madrassa enrollment actually declined in Pakistan from its creation until the 1980s.It increased somewhat during the religion-based resistance to the invasion of Afghanistan by the Soviets in 1979 and the subsequent rise of the Taliban. However, in the last few years, the data does not suggest that there is any dramatic increase in madrassa enrollment.

Among other criticisms the Pakistani education system faces is the gender disparity in enrollment levels. However, in recent years some progress has been made in trying to fix this problem. In 1990-91, the female to male ratio (F/M ratio) of enrolment was 0.47 for primary level of education. It reached to 0.74 in 1999-2000, so the F/M ratio has improved by 57.44 percent within the decade. For the middle level of education it was 0.42 in the start of decade and increased to 0.68 by the end of decade, so it has improved almost 62 percent. In both cases the gender disparity is decreased but relatively more rapidly at middle level. But for whole of the decade the gender disparity remained relatively high at middle level, despite the fact that for the duration the F/M ratio for teachers and F/M ratio of educational institutions at the middle level remained better than at the primary level.

The gender disparity in enrolment at secondary level of education was 0.4 in 1990-91 was 0.67 percent in 1999-2000, so the disparity has decreased by 67.5 percent in the decade or at the average rate of 6.75 percent annually. At the college level it was 0.50 in 1990-91 and it reached 0.81 in 1999-2000, so gender disparity decreased by 64 percent with an annual rate of 6.4 percent. The gender disparity has decreased comparatively rapidly at secondary school. The gender disparity in educational institutions at the secondary level of education was changed from 0.36 in 1990-91 to 0.52 in 1999-2000 with a 44 percent change. The same type of disparity at the college level was 0.56 in 1990-91 and reached at 0.64 in 1999-2000 with 14 percent change in the decade. The disparity at the college level has improved much less than that at the secondary level.

Cheating in exams is a big problem plaguing the Pakistani education system. Every year there are accounts of large scale cheating at various exam venues? Invigilators have been known to encourage cheating not only in public schools, but in foreign exams such as the SAT as well.

Education in Malawi has been a constant challenge. Malawi is an 8-4-4-education system consisting of primary school, secondary school and university education. There is little opportunity for pre-school. In 1994, the Government of Malawi decided to make a major change in their education and abolished school fees for primary schooling; this resulted in an increase in primary school enrollment from 1.9 million pupils a year to 3.2 million and an average pupil-teacher ratio of 72. The institution of Free Primary Education is successful in terms of the numbers of pupils attending but will not be able to meet the costs needed to support the infrastructure, i.e. 38,000 classrooms. The government will therefore move forward by strengthening partnerships among all divisions to receive 40% of the financing needed.

On June 19, 2009 approximately 120 students at Nanthomba Primary School went home excited for being rewarded of their achievements in different areas. They were rewarded as best achievers in class and after school activities, most punctual, most smart and well behaved students. Pens, notebooks, sandals, soap, toothbrushes, etc were the prizes given. These items are part of the school donations. 

While orphans and other vulnerable children need material and psychological support, all the students need motivation for excelling hence this strategy among others. The prizes were given on the open while every student was eager to be called.

Since such event occurred, students have greatly improved in the above performance areas.

The students at the Nanthomba Primary School built by the HELP organization (and their partners) are primarily local orphans, children from local villages and children of National Park employees. Originally, the school began with 320 pupils. To date, due to the eagerness and excitement of an education, the school has 750 students.  HELP operates the school, as well as supports three other community schools with teachers aids, in conjunction with the Ministry of Education and provides teachers with stipends and training,which contribute to the upgraded educational standards of the facility.

HELP is in the process of searching for land within walking distance to the village, with the hope of building a secondary school in the near future.

Zikomo Kwambiri!

Lemani