School

School

First Page Mentioned (By Reference) : ch. “In the Beginning” – pg. 1

First Page Mentioned (By Name) : ch. “In the Beginning” – pg. 5

School is an every day fact of life for kids on the Island of Geb, although it's more of an optional situation for adults. To better understand this, the topic is broken down into a few overarching categories, and discussed in generalities, rather than explaining specifics.

Intercalary Months

 The effects of the intercalary months (Januarius and Febrarius) are marginal at best, and usually observed with administrative scheduling (such as parent teacher conferences, open houses, administrative bookkeeping, etc..).

Literacy Rates

All children in the five states are literate by kindergarten. Those in the Wildlands range from 65% to 100% literacy, based on the level of educational access. The drop in literacy rates seems to center around the more tribal areas, as even all of the small villages show 95-100% literacy by kindergarten. There are no illiterate children in organized villages, towns and cities from the 1st grade on. The stigma of illiteracy exists for those who are adults, if they have difficulty reading, however, it is a very “light” stigma, and often ignored out of politeness.

Learning Disabilities

Advances in medical and educational technology and knowledge has eliminated all forms of Learning Disabilities, and related physical/mental issues.

 Schooling Based on Grades/Years 

For preschool and kindergarten, the hours are very lax, and many schools will extend their toddler and young child services to include a day care style operation, if the parents wish.

For grades 1-2, the in-school instructional hours typically range in the low to mid 700s, however, the in-school time spent is in line with higher grades. The non-instructional hours are typically eaten up by semi-instructional activities, recess and field trips.

For grades 3-12, school occupies 840 instructional hours of their 365 ¼ day year. For most schools on Geb, this schedule breaks the school semesters up into four separate semesters of 8 weeks each. This leaves an average of 5 weeks of vacation period between each semester (a number which may vary due to unforeseen factors), 160 total school days, with 5 ¼ instructional hours per day. Lunch and time between classes makes each school day around 6 hours. The school year begins with the summer semester, and ends in the spring.

Using Ava's school as an example of this system in action, her 102 P.G.E.-103 P.G.E. school year (3rd grade) looks like this:

Higher Education (College)

While universities and colleges exist, higher education is a different beast, and is often heavily centered around apprenticeships, on the job training, etc... While classes with grades, and diplomas exist, employers care more about results. This can't be anymore true than with medicine oriented vocations. Due to the volatile nature of magic, performance outweighs any amount of class time or grade sheet. As a result, diplomas are more like certifications. Hours don't matter. Grades don't matter. Passing active qualifying examines, while showing a high level understanding of the topic, is what awards the certificates. As a result, people seek classes, worksheets, training seminars and other outlets of knowledge, in order to pass these certification benchmarks. Students are free to do this at their own level and speed. Since there is no such thing as unpaid internships, or unpaid apprenticeships, students receive their training along with their entry into the workforce. This isn't to say some learning activities are completely free. Classes and seminars are often accompanied by a tuition fee. However, since much of the training and learning process is a result of working, the financial burden on students is light.

Under no circumstances should this view of tuition or process demean the intelligence and knowledge required to enter the job force. Certifications are difficult to obtain, and many take years of study before they are awarded (even for gifted individuals). To top that off, those with certificates are often re-attending learning programs to keep up on new methods, and discoveries. On Geb, the name of the university carries weight with students, but not employers. This is because certifications are centered around a mandated standard, and that is ever moving forward based on new discoveries. So while a student may seek out the University of Sial for the best opportunities, what matters to the public sector is whether or not that student can pass their certifications in the real world. It's not uncommon for Applicant A from SU to be passed over for Applicant B from the Wildlands, with no university experience, if Applicant B has more certifications under their belt.

Related Entries:  Calendar; Cooper, Ava; Disability; Geb (The Island Of); Intercalary; P.G.E. (Post-Gigan Exodus); University of Sial, the (a.k.a. SU)

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