Albania – education Before World War II, 80% of the Albanian population was illiterate. The teaching that was was mostly provided by religious organizations, and higher education did not exist. When the country became a people’s republic in 1945-46, an intensive...
Austria – education The Austrian education system, which has many similarities with southern Germany, still functioned in the year 2000, despite a number of recent reforms, still within the framework of a law from 1962. There is a nine-year compulsory education...
Belarus – Education Teaching is public and free. The compulsory schooling that begins when the children are six years old includes a primary school of four years and a superstructure of five years. This is followed by another voluntary two-year superstructure,...
Belgium – education The education system in Belgium has four stages: pre-school for 2-6-year-olds, primary school for 6-12-year-olds, secondary school for 12-18-year-olds and the higher education of 3-7 years. The Constitution guarantees free education, free choice of school and the right...
OFFICIAL NAME: Bosnia and Herzegovina CAPITAL CITY: Sarajevo POPULATION: 3,531,159 (Source: COUNTRYaah) AREA: 51,129 km² OFFICIAL LANGUAGE (S): Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian RELIGION: Muslims 50.7%, Serbian Orthodox 30.7%, Catholics 15.2%, Others/Uninformed 3.4% COIN: marka CURRENCY CODE: BAM ENGLISH NAME: Bosnia and Herzegovina...
Bulgaria – education Education is in 1990’s Bulgaria public and free at all levels. The compulsory primary school is eight years old. This is followed by a four- to five-year vocational or study-preparatory secondary education that can provide access to a...
Croatia – education Croatian education in the 1990’s aims partly to overcome the harmful effects of the war, and partly to implement new laws and curricula to replace the previously strongly centralized Yugoslav school system. There is mother tongue education for...
Cyprus – education After independence in 1960, each of the two dominant population groups got its own education system with resp. Greek and Turkish as languages of instruction. However, the use of English is still widespread in trade and administration. The...
Czech Republic – education The Austro-Hungarian tradition of the school system was adapted from the more centralist Soviet model from 1948, but after the system change in 1989 there has been extensive democratization, decentralization and to some extent also privatization while...
Denmark – education There are in Denmark in 2012 almost 2300 public schools and other educational institutions for children and young people, of which approximately 1320 primary schools, 540 independent schools and private primary schools, 265 continuing schools and almost 150...
Estonia – education In the 1990’s, education in Estonia was strongly influenced by an ideological reorientation after the Soviet period; it has manifested itself in reforms of the content of education, in the change of language of instruction from Russian to...
Faroe Islands – education The education system is built according to the Danish pattern. In the 1930’s, the Danish curricula and materials were gradually adapted to Faroese conditions, and from 1938, the Faroese language has been the language of instruction in...
Finland – education The economic growth after the 1960’s created in the 1970’s and 1980’s the basis for comprehensive pedagogical reforms in all parts of the education system. A bilingual education policy has thus ensured the Swedish-speaking and Sami minorities equal...
France – education The French school is in many respects a product of the Enlightenment’s human vision, the Napoleonic era of centralism and the separation of church and state. Since World War II, efforts have been made to combine a sharp...
Germany – education The 40 years of division of the German state after World War II led to the development of two very different education systems, which were characterized by resp. the structure of Western European society and the Soviet-oriented polytechnic...
Greece – education Education in Greece is characterized by significant generational, social and geographical differences. The education system is centrally managed, and the private schools make up only approximately 5% (1992). The nine-year compulsory education when the child is 5 1/2...
Hungary – education From World War II until 1990, education in Hungary was strongly Soviet-influenced, but thereafter decentralization and freedom of choice became key words in the following years’ reforms of the education system, which has ten years of compulsory schooling...
Iceland – education In Iceland’s school policy, great emphasis is placed on securing the mother tongue; this is done, among other things, through a state publishing house that publishes all teaching aids for children and young people’s education. Education is mainly...
Ireland – education In Ireland, education usually provided by state-sponsored, often Catholic institutions, is traditionally a matter for parents and the church. As a result, it is regulated to a lesser extent than in other industrialized countries. There is compulsory education...
Italy – education Education in Italy is characterized by the great differences between south and north. The education system, which was originally quite centrally controlled, has gradually become more decentralized as a result of a reform from 1974, just as it...
Latvia – education Immediately after independence, new education legislation was passed in 1991, based partly on the country’s 1922 constitution and partly on the desire to break with the massive Soviet-era Russification of Latvian education. However, the Russian minority in the...
Lithuania – education Following Lithuania’s independence in 1991, comprehensive reforms of the entire education system have been launched. Central goals of the reform efforts are democratization and strengthening of both the national Lithuanian content of education and international relations. There are...
Luxembourg – education The main challenges in the education system, which has 11 years of compulsory schooling, are the management of the three official languages and the teaching of the country’s many immigrants. There are only a few private institutions; they...
Malta – education The public education system is compulsory and free for 6-16 year olds and includes a six-year primary school and a five-year further course with both general lines and trade education. In primary school, students go to mixed classes,...
Moldova – education The school system plays a major role in building the country’s independence. From the early 1990’s, education has been oriented towards Romanian rather than towards Soviet-Russian conditions, and Moldovan has replaced Russian as the language of instruction. The...
Macedonia – Education The educational situation is characterized by national minorities, which are guaranteed by the Constitution to teach in their mother tongue. In addition to the Macedonian schools, there are Albanian- and Serbian-language schools. The public school system is free...
Norway – education The education system in Norway has developed according to roughly the same guidelines as the other Scandinavian countries: from the religiously oriented teaching in the Catholic court and monastery schools over the Latin schools and up to today’s...
Poland – education The school system in Poland has from 1989 been characterized by a pedagogical reorientation based on national and Western European oriented values, but also by limited economic resources. The education system as a whole is public and free...
Portugal – education The Portuguese school system is free and compulsory for 6-14 year olds. The goals of education policy are increased decentralization and a revision of the content of youth education. In the early 1990’s, approximately half of the working...
Romania – education From 1989 the educations, with EU support, reorganized in terms of content and structure with decentralization, humanization and democratization as objectives. National minorities, Hungarian and German, mother tongue instruction is offered. The education system, which is public and...