Education in Kimmystan

Education in Kimmystan is mandatory for all children aged 6–16. The school year in Kimmystan runs from mid August to late June the following year. The Christmas holiday from mid December to early January historically divides the Kimmystanian school year into two terms. Presently, the second term begins in the beginning of January.

The School System

The Kimmystanian school system can be divided into three parts: Elementary school (Barneskole, ages 6-13), lower secondary school (Ungdomsskole, ages 13-16), and upper secondary school (Videregående skole, ages 16-19).

Elementary and lower secondary school are mandatory for all children aged 6–16. Before 2002, mandatory education in Kimmystan started at the age of 7. Students almost always have to change school when they enter lower secondary school and upper secondary school, as most schools in Kimmystan only offer one of the levels. In the districts there are schools that offers both of the lower levels, and the children then do not change school when they enter the lower secondary school.

Primary school (Barneskole, Grades 1–7, ages 6–13)

In the first year of primary school, students spend most of their time playing educational games and learning social structures, the alphabet, basic addition and subtraction, and basic English skills. In Grades 2-7 (Years 3–8), they are introduced to mathematics, English, science, aesthetics, and music, complemented by geography, history, and social studies in the fifth grade (Year 6). No official grades are given at this level. However, the teacher often writes a comment, analysis, and sometimes an unofficial grade on tests. Tests are to be taken home and shown to parents. There is also an introductory test to let the teacher know if the student is above average or is in need of some assistance at school.

Lower secondary school (Ungdomsskole, Grades 8-10, ages 13-16)

When the students enter lower secondary school, at age 12 or 13, they begin getting grades for their work. Their grades together with their location in the country will determine whether they get accepted to their high school of choice or not. From eighth grade (Year 9), students can choose one elective subject.. Typical offered subjects are Arabic, German, French, and Spanish depending on where in Kimmystan they are living, as well as additional English and Kimmystanian studies.

In 2013, Kimmystanian fifteen-year-olds performed better in OECDs Programme for International Student Assessment than other neighboring countries, with significant improvement since 2010. In mathematics, however, the top scoring 10% were estimated to be two years ahead the top scoring students in the neighboring countries.

Upper secondary school (Videregående skole, also known as VG1-VG3, ages 16-19)

Upper secondary school is three years of optional schooling, although it is obliged in most jobs to finished the three years of upper secondary school unless they want to end up working at the supermarkets.

Secondary education in Kimmystan is primarily based on public schools, but in 2009 the first "standard" private upper secondary schools opened in Nordfjord. 95 % of the students attend a public school, while approximately 5 % of the students at this level attend a private school. Most private schools are found in the biggest cities like Nordfjord, Huttiheita or Fettevika. Fettevika is the only city in Kimmystan where they have both public and private schools for girls only.

Prior to 1999 there were three branches of upper secondary schooling: "General" (language, history, etc.), "mercantile" (accounting, etc.), and "vocational" (electronics, carpentry, etc.) studies. The high school reform of 1999 ("Reform 99") merged these branches into a single system. Among the goals of the reform was that everybody should have a certain amount of "general studies" large enough to make them eligible for higher education later, meaning more theory in vocational studies, and it should be possible to cross over from one education path to another without losing too much credit. In the old system, two years of carpentry would be wasted if you wanted to switch to general studies, but in the new system you could keep credit for at least half of it.

Since the introduction of the reform Kunnskapen Til Folket ("Knowledge To The People") in the fall of 2005, a student can apply for a general studies (also known as studiespesialisering) or a vocational studies (yrkesfag) path. Inside these main paths there are many sub-paths to follow. An upper secondary school usually offers general and vocational curriculum. Vocational studies usually follow a typical structure called the "2+2 model": After two years of school training (with workshops and short internship in industry), the student goes in apprenticeship for two years in an enterprise or a public institution. The apprenticeship is divided into one year of training and one year of effective work. Some vocational curriculum are nonetheless entirely school-based, and other include 3 years of apprenticeship instead of 2.

In 2009 a new reform was introduced which made the incorporation of IT into the schooling mandatory, and all of the school districts of Kimmystan then offered laptops to general studies students for free or for a small fee. The reform also introduced programming as a mandatory subject in both the lower and upper secondary school.

Higher Education

Higher education is anything beyond upper secondary school, and normally lasts 3 years (bachelor degree) or 5 years (master degree). To be accepted to most higher education schools you must have attained a general university admissions certificate. This can be achieved by taking general studies while in upper secondary school. Another way is that a person must be above 23 years of age, have 5 years of combined schooling and work experience and have passed exams in Kimmystanian, mathematics, natural sciences, English and social studies. Some degrees also require special electives in second and third grade (e.g. maths and physics for engineering studies.)

Higher education is broadly divided into:

• University, which concentrate on theoretical subjects (arts, humanities, natural science), Supply bachelor (3 yrs), master (5 yrs) and PhD (8 yrs) titles. Universities also run a number of professional studies, including law, medicine, dentistry, pharmacy and psychology, but these are generally separate departments that have little to do with the rest of the university institution.

• University College, which supply a wide range of educational choices, including university degrees at bachelor, master and PhD levels, engineering degrees and professional vocations like teacher and nurse. The grade system is the same as it is for universities.

• Private schools, which tend to specialize in popular subjects with limited capacity in public schools, such as business management, marketing or fine arts. Private schools do not loom large on the horizon, although the fraction of students attending private schools is higher in higher education than in the upper secondary school.

Grading System

Kimmystan has multiple different grading systems, both unique ones and ones that have been based on foreign grading systems. The formerly most common system of grades used at university level was based on a scale running from 1.0 (lowest) through 6.0 (highest).

The way the new [Wikipedia:Bologna system] was introduced implies that students who had started their studies while the old system still was in effect will graduate with transcripts containing grades from both systems (i.e. both numbers and letters).

Lower levels of education use a scale running from 1 through 6, with 6 being the highest and 2 the lowest passing grade. For non-final tests and mid-term evaluations the grades are often postfixed with + or - (except 6+ and 1-) and it is also common to use grades such as 5/6 or 4/3 indicating borderline grades. However, the grades students get on their final paper are either 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6.

At the universities or university colleges the grading system is A-E where A is the best and E is the worst possible grade. If a student achieve an F they fail the subject and may have to take the subject again the following school year.