We had a slide show and presentation the other day to teach the students about the education system in Canada. I sat in on it because my class has asked me to teach them about it, and I don’t know the first thing about the Canadian education system! I wasn’t brought up in this country AND I don’t have any children.
Gosh, I learned a lot during that one-hour slide show. Let me see if I’ve got things straight. Canadians, correct me if I get any of this wrong.
First off, there are four types of tax-payer-funded schools in Canada: English public, English Catholic, French public, French Catholic.
Children must attend school from at least age 6 until age 18, plus there is half-day kindergarten for children aged four and five (junior and senior kindergarten). Currently this is a half-day program, but there is talk of making it a full-day program.
I was surprised to learn that each child must bring a lunch to school. Is that true? Are there no school lunch programs? When I raised my hand to ask about this, I was told that they don’t want kids bringing money to school. What about lunch tickets? How do you ensure that children from low-income families get a nutritious meal at least once a day?
Primary and secondary school in the four public systems is free, but students must pay for their supplies and occasional field-trip related costs. Can any Canadian parents out there add to that? What else are you on the hook for?
There are eight years of elementary or primary school (ages six through thirteen), followed by four years of secondary schooling. To graduate from high school and get an Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD) you need to complete a certain number of course hours, 40 community service hours and pass a literacy test.
Of the 30 credits needed to graduate, 18 are comprised of compulsory courses with the remaining 12 being elective courses. You receive one credit for every 110-hour course passed. Some students extend their secondary education over a period of four and a half or five years, and some take summer courses.
What happens if a child turns 18 and still has not accrued enough credits to graduate? The student will talk to a counselor. Depending on the number of credits needed, the student might be advised to continue in the regular high school or may be referred to an adult education centre with programs specifically designed to help drop-outs and others get a G.E.D.
One thing for parents to know is that once a child turns eighteen, all correspondence from the school will no longer be channeled through the parent(s), but will go directly to the now legally adult student.
Of course there are also private schools that charge tuition, but we didn’t get into that. Most of the Muslim students already know about those because their neighbourhoods have Islamic schools that teach Arabic and Holy Qur’an.
As a side note, here are some Canadian classroom terms and their American equivalents:
In America you’re in eighth grade; in Canada you’re in grade eight. The American teacher grades papers; the Canadian one marks them. In Canada if the teacher says he is going to take up the homework, it means the class is going to go over (check) the answers together. In America that would mean he is going to collect the homework. When an American teacher is sick, they call in a substitute teacher. In Canada they call in a supply teacher.
In Canada I hear a lot about revision. It seems to be the noun springing from “to reivew,” as in “to go over the material again before a test.” I never heard the word revision used in the American classroom, though we were always reviewing material.
That’s about it. What can you add to my education on education? Oh, and hey! What’s the difference between French immersion and French public? Sylvain told me once, but I forgot.
