Public school

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Education
History of education
Pedagogy
Teaching
Homeschooling
Preschool education
Child care center
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Primary education
Elementary school
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Middle school
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This article deals with the government-funded school provided for public education; for the British public school see Independent school (UK).

Public schools, funded from tax revenue and most commonly administered to some degree by government or local government agencies as part of public education, are the most common type of educational institutions in many nations. Because many nations have compulsory education, these schools often are not allowed to discriminate which students it allows admission to.

Purpose

The term public school has two distinct (and virtually opposite) meanings depending on the location of usage:

• in the United States, Australia, and Canada: A school funded from tax revenue and most commonly administered to some degree by government or local government agencies as part of public education. This usage is synonymous with its British English equivalent, "state school."
• in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries: A traditional privately operated secondary school which commonly requires the payment of fees for its pupils, and is usually a boarding school. This usage is common in the United Kingdom (although can be ambiguous in Scotland). These schools, wherever located, often follow a British educational tradition and are committed in principle to public accessibility. Originally, many were single-sex boarding schools, but most independent schools are now co-educational with both boarders and day-pupils. This usage is synonymous with its American English equivalent, preparatory school.

Public schools exist primarily because of compulsory education laws. Most nations require students to attend school for a certain time period; while the exact requirements differ from one country to the next, often attendance is required from primary school age (between 5-6 years old) until completion of secondary school (anywhere between 16-18). Public schools exist so as to give the majority of children a place to meet this required attendance and so as to provide an equal educational opportunity to the population of children in each school's jurisdiction.

Public colleges and universities often are established to provide students access to higher education, although often these schools are not free but are significantly cheaper than other schools.

Origin

While public schools did not start to appear on a global scale until the 19th century, the idea of public education has sporadically been implemented throughout history. In Ancient Israel, around 63-64 C.E. when the Kohen Gadol (high priest) Yehoshua ben Gamla not only insisted that a unified system of teaching be established, but dictated that every Jewish community, regardless of size, must establish a school to educate every child, male or female, over the age of 5. These schools were were primarily religious in nature.

The Church of Scotland was established in 1560, during the Protestant Reformation period as the official state religion in Scotland, and in the following year it set out to provide a school in every parish controlled by the local kirk-session, with education to be provided free to the poor, and the expectation that church pressure would ensure that all children took part. In 1633 the Parliament of Scotland introduced local taxation to fund this provision. Schooling was not free, but the tax support kept fees low, and the church and charity funded poorer students. This had considerable success, but by the late 18th century the physical extent of some parishes and population growth in others led to an increasing role for "adventure schools" funded from fees and for schools funded by religious charities, initially Protestant and later Roman Catholic.

A part from these isolated incidents, it was not until compulsory education laws were passed, first in Europe and the United States, and then later in Asia, South America and Africa, that public schools became established. Before compulsory education laws, most countries had private educational institutions that charged a fee for admission and were only attainable based upon academic achievement, demonstrated potential or sometimes race, religion and other discriminatory factors, which often left a larger population of children without access to educational opportunities. Compulsory educational laws were designed to give all children equal opportunity for an education, but since most families could not afford tuition at private schools, governments were forced to set up schools on a wide scale.

Cultural Variants

Africa

South Africa

In South Africa, the South African Schools Act of 1996 recognized two categories of schools: public and independent. Independent schools include all private schools and schools that are privately governed. Independent schools with low tuition fees are state-aided and receive a subsidy on a sliding-scale. Traditional private schools that charge high fees receive no state subsidy. Public schools are all state-owned schools, including section 21 schools (formerly referred to as Model C or semi-private schools) that have a governing body and a degree of budget autonomy, as these are still fully-owned and accountable to the state. A majority of these schools are either elementary or High schools, since compulsory education begins at grade 1 and ends at grade 11.

Kenya

Public schools in Kenya are still currently being developed as free, compulsory education was not established in the country until the beginning of the 21st century. As of today, only primary education is free and run by the government, under the Harambee system. Now that education is free, attendance has increased and there is a shortage of teachers and classrooms with children not getting sufficient attention from teachers due to the overcrowding of classrooms. This is a result of both children attending that could not afford to before, and children being taken out of lower-tier private schools in order to take advantage of free education. This has created demand for low cost private school where parents that could afford to pay the fees can send children to learn in a better environment.

As of 2008, the government has introduced plans to offer free Secondary education to all. There are three types of secondary school: private schools, government-aided schools and harambee schools. The government-aided schools are more selective and only one out of four children are accepted into one. Acceptance is based on a child’s score on the Kenya Certification of Primary Education (KCPE). Most of the government-aided schools are boarding schools.

Egypt

Generally speaking, there are two types of government funded and controlled schools in Egypt: Arabic Schools and Experimental Language Schools. Arabic Schools, provide the governmental national curriculum in the Arabic Language, while Experimental Language Schools, teach most of the government curriculum in English, and add French as a second foreign language. These types can be found at all levels of compulsory education, which is considered Basic Education, made up of the Primary Stage and Preparatory Stage. Public higher education is free in Egypt, and Egyptian students only pay registration fees.

Asia

Japan

The Ministry of Education is responsible for overseeing all public schools in Japan, the majority of which are elementary and Jr. High schools, which are the years established for compulsory education. Even though upper secondary school is not compulsory in Japan, 99% of all lower secondary school graduates entered upper secondary schools as of 2005. Private upper-secondary schools account for about 55 % of all upper-secondary schools, whereas public schools make up 95% of all schools for primary and Jr. High school level education. Neither public nor private schools are free for upper secondary education. The Ministry of education estimated that annual family expenses for the education of a child in a public upper-secondary school were about 300,000 yen (US$2,142) in both 1980s and that private upper-secondary schools were about twice as expensive. A majority of the colleges and universities are public in Japan.

China

The People's Republic of China has a nationwide system of public education, which includes primary schools, middle schools (lower and upper), and universities. Nine years of education is technically compulsory for all Chinese students. Education in China is the responsibility of the Ministry of Education. The education system provides free primary education for six years (some provinces may have 5 years for primary school but 4 years for middle school), starting at age seven or six, followed by six years of secondary education for ages 12 to 18. At this level, there are three years of middle school and three years of high school. The Ministry of Education reported a 99 percent attendance rate for primary school and an 80 percent rate for both primary and middle schools. Since free higher education was abolished in 1985, applicants to colleges and universities competed for scholarships based on academic ability.

India and Sri Lanka

In India and Sri Lanka, due to the British influence, the term "public schools" implied non-governmental, historically elite educational institutions, often modeled on British public schools. The terms 'private' and 'government' school are commonly used to denote the type of funding. In consideration of government control /ownership, the central government administered Kendriya Vidyalayas (or Central Schools), Navodaya Vidyalaya system of schools qualify as per the American definition of "public" school. They are usually not completely privately run, being 'aided' by the government. The standard and the quality of education is quite high.Technically these would be categorized as private schools, but many of them have the name Public School appended to them, e.g., the Delhi "Public" Schools and Birla Vidya Mandir . Most of the middle class families send their children to such schools, which might be in their own city or far off (like Boarding schools). The medium of education is English, but as a compulsory subject, Hindi and/or the state's official language is also taught.

Oceania

A primary school in rural Victoria.

In Australia, public schools are called Government schools since they are financed and administered by the government. Government schools educate the majority of students and do not charge large tuition fees (most do charge a fee as a contribution to costs). The major part of their costs is met by the relevant State or Territory government. Government schools can be divided into two types: open and selective. The open schools accept all students from their government defined catchment areas, while selective schools have high entrance requirements and cater to a much larger area. Entrance to selective schools is often highly competitive.

In New Zealand, Primary and Secondary education is compulsory for students between the ages of 6 and 16 (15 with parental and school permission), and is a right until the end of the calendar year following the student's 19th birthday. There are three types of school: state, private (or registered or independent) and state integrated schools. State and state integrated schools are government funded. State integrated schools are former private schools which are now "integrated" into the state system under the Private Schools Conditional Integration Act 1975 .

Europe

Denmark

The Danish School system is supported today by tax-based governmental and municipal funding from day care through primary and secondary education to higher education and there are no tuition fees for regular students in public schools and universities. The Danish public primary schools, covering the entire period of compulsory education, are called folkeskoler (literally 'people's schools' or 'public schools'). The Folkeskole consists of a voluntary pre-school class, the 9-year obligatory course and a voluntary 10th year. It thus caters for pupils aged 6 to 17. It is also possible for parents to send their children to various kinds of private schools. These schools also receive government funding, although they are not public. In addition to this funding, these schools may charge a fee from the parents.

England, Wales and Northern Ireland

File:Eton College Quadrangle.png

School Yard, Eton College

In England, Wales, Northern Ireland the term "public school" refers to fee-charging independent secondary schools. These schools were (and are) public in the sense of being open to all students in principle, though at the time of their foundation most older schools were run by the established Church and were only open to boys of the same denomination.

In these countries, the terms state school and county school are used for schools provided at public expense. The National Curriculum is followed in all state schools in England, Northern Ireland, and Wales. In Northern Ireland secondary-level schools are divided into Grammar schools, Secondary modern schools and Catholic-maintained schools, with an increasing number of Integrated schools. Throughout education in the UK, state schools are under the control of local councils (Local Education Authorities in England and Wales; Department of Education in Northern Ireland), save for cases where independent schools are funded directly as in City Academies. Thus in the great majority of cases the phrase "state school" is a misnomer, and the more correct term "maintained school" is used in technical literature.

France

File:Le Collège La Mennais in Papeete.JPG

One of the schools in France

In France, academic councils called académies (English : academies) are responsible for supervising all aspects of public education in a given region. Schools are answerable to their académie, and the académies are answerable to the Ministry of Education. French territory is divided into 35 académies, 26 of which are located in mainland France and 9 in French overseas territories. One académie often spans a few départements, the most commonly used administrative unit in France. Académies also cover French schools located abroad so that the Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle in London, for example, falls under the jurisdiction of the Lille académie.

The académie headquarters (termed rectorat) is usually located in the largest city in the concerned territory. It is headed by a recteur. The main responsibility of the académie is to manage personnel and state budgets pertaining to the education system. It serves as a link between regional specificities and thcentralizeded governing body in Paris. It ensures the implementation of the official educationaprogramses produced by the Ministry. At one level down in the national education hierarchy, each département also has its own 'inspection académique' (academic inspection), headed by an inspecteur d'académie (academy inspector).

The French educational system is highly centralized, organized, and ramified. It is divided into three stages:

• primary education (enseignement primaire);
• secondary education (enseignement secondaire);
• tertiary or college education (enseignement supérieur)

Only the first two are compulsory, and even then academic progress and ability are determining factors of which type of education a student receives.

Germany

Education in Germany is provided to a large extent by the government, with control coming from state level, (Länder) and funding coming from two levels: federal and state. Curricula, funding, teaching, and other policies are set through the respective states ministry of education. Decisions about the acknowledgment of private schools (the German equivalent to accreditation in the US) are also made by these ministries. However, public schools are automaticallyrecognizedd, since these schools are supervised directly by the ministry of education bureaucracy.

School named after Goethe

A German public school does not charge tuition fees. The first stage of the German public school system is the Grundschule. (Primary School - 1st to 4th grade or, in Berlin and Brandenburg, 1st to 6th grade) After Grundschule (at 10 or 12 years of age), there are four secondary schooling options:

• Hauptschule (the least academic, much like a modernized Volksschule) until 9th or, in Berlin and North Rhine-Westphalia until 10th Grade.
• Realschule (formerly Mittelschule) until 10th grade.
• Gymnasium (high school) until 12th grade or 13th grade (with Abitur as exit exam, qualifying for admission to university).
• Gesamtschule (comprehensive school) with all the options of the three "tracks" above.

In Germany, most institutions of higher education are subsidized by German states and are therefore also referred to as staatliche Hochschulen. (public universities) Most German public universities and polytechnics do not charge for tuition, though fees for guest or graduate students are charged by many universities. However, many German states plan to introduce general tuition fees for all students at public institutions of higher education in the near future.

North America

The Seward School, Seattle, Washington.

America

Public-school education is the standard form of education in the United States and is provided mainly by local governments, with control and funding coming from three levels: federal, state, and local. Curricula, funding, teaching, and other policies are set through locally elected school boards by jurisdiction over school districts. The school districts are special-purpose districts authorized by provisions of state law. Generally, state governments can and do set minimum standards relating to almost all activities of primary and secondary schools, as well as funding and authorization to enact local school taxes to support the schools—primarily through real property taxes. The federal government funds aid to states and school districts that meet minimum federal standards. School accreditation decisions are made by voluntary regional associations. Public school is normally split up into three stages: primary (elementary) school (kindergarten to 4th or 5th or 6th grade), junior high (also "intermediate," or "middle") school (5th or 6th or 7th to 8th or 9th) and high school (9th or 10th to 12th, somewhat archaically also called "secondary school"), with some less populated communities incorporating high school as 7th to 12th. Some Junior High Schools (Intermediate Schools) contain 7th to 9th grades or 7th and 8th, in which case the High School is 10th to 12th or 9th to 12th respectively.

In the United States, institutions of higher education that are operated and subsidized by U.S. states are also referred to as "public." However, unlike public secondary schools, public universities charge tuition, though these fees are usually much lower than those charged by private universities, particularly for "in-state" students. Community colleges, state colleges, and state universities are examples of public institutions of higher education. In particular, many state universities are regarded as among the best institutions of higher education in the U.S., though usually they are surpassed in ranking by certain private universities and colleges, such as those of the Ivy League, which are often very expensive and extremely selective in the students they accept. In several states, the administrations of public universities are elected via the general electoral ballot.

Canada

Queen Elizabeth School in Canada

Public-school education in Canada is a provincial responsibility and, as such, there are many variations between the provinces. Junior Kindergarten (or equivalent) exists as an official program in some, but not most, places. Kindergarten (or equivalent) is available in every province, but provincial funding and the level of hours provided varies widely. Starting at grade one, at about age five, there is universal publicly-funded access up to grade twelve (or equivalent). Schools are generally divided into Elementary or Primary school (Kindergarten to Grade 7), and Secondary, or High School (Grade 8 to 12). In some schools, particularly in rural areas, the elementary and middle levels can be combined into one school. Commencing in 2003, Grade 13, or OAC, was eliminated in Ontario. It had previously been required only for students who intended to go on to university. Children are required to attend school until the age of sixteen.

Some Canadian provinces offer segregated-by-religious-choice, but nonetheless publicly-funded and publicly-regulated, religiously-based education. In Ontario, for example, Roman Catholic schools are known as "Catholic School," not "Public School," although these are, by definition, no less 'public' than their secular counterparts.

South America

Chile

Primary and secondary school are mandatory for all Chileans. The Chilean state provides a free public system of primary and secondary school education for those who cannot afford a private education. Public schools are funded by the government and managed by municipalities (local governments). Until recently, only primary school education was mandatory for Chileans. On May 7 2003, former president Ricardo Lagos, issued a law making high-school education also mandatory, giving the State responsibility for education of all Chileans under 18 years old. The twelve years of mandatory, free education, make Chile a special case within Latin America

Brazil

Education in Brazil' is regulated by the Federal Government, through the Ministry of Education, which defines the guiding principles for the organization of educational programs. Local governments are responsible for establishing state and educational programs following the guidelines and using the funding supplied by the Federal Government. Brazilian children must attend school a minimum of 9 years, however the schooling is usually inadequate. Today, Brazil struggles to improve the public education offered at earlier stages and maintain the high standards that the population has come to expect from public universities. The choice on public funding is an issue. In particular, the U.N. Development Goal of Universal Primary Education and a larger offer of education for students with special needs are pursued by Brazilian policy-makers.

Venezuela

Children are required to attend school from the age of six in Venezuela. They attend primary school until they are eleven. They are then promoted to the second level of basic education, where they stay until they are 14 or 15. Public schools make up a majority of the schools children attend due to poverty. Public school students usually attend classes in shifts. Some go to school from early in the morning until about 1:30pm and others attend from early afternoon until about 6:00pm. All schoolchildren wear uniforms. Although education is mandatory for children, some poor children do not attend school because they must work to support their families.

Venezuela has more than 90 institutions of higher education, with more than 6 million students. Higher education remains free under the 1999 constitution and was receiving 35% of the education budget, even though it accounted for only 11% of the student population. More than 70% of university students come from the wealthiest quintile of the population. To address this problem, the government established the Bolivarian University system in 2003, which designed to democratize access to higher education.

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Reese, William J. America's Public Schools: From the Common School to "No Child Left Behind. Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005. ISBN 080188196X
• Caldwell, Brian. Future Of Schools: Lessons From The Reform Of Public Education. Routledge, 1997. ISBN 0750707232
• Tan, Jee-Peng. Education in Asia: A Comparative Study of Cost and Financing. World Bank Publications, 1992. ISBN 082132098X
• Hörner, Wolfgang, Hans Döbert, Botho von Kopp, and Wolfgang Mitter. The Education Systems of Europe Springer, 2006. ISBN 1402048688
• McKerlich, Bill. Twelve Steps to Reform Canadian Public Education. Trafford Publishing, 2006. ISBN 1553697669)
• Lewis, H. D. The French Education System. Palgrave Macmillan, 1986. ISBN 0312304544

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